Red Blood, Black Sand: Fighting Alongside John Basilone from Boot Camp to Iwo Jima

by Chuck Tatum

Overview

In 1944, the U.S. Marines were building the 5th Marine Division—also known as “The Spearhead”—in preparation for the invasion of the small, Japanese-held island of Iwo Jima. . . 

When Chuck Tatum began Marine boot camp, he was just a smart-aleck teenager eager to serve his country. Little did he know that he would be training under a living legend of the Corps—Medal of Honor recipient John Basilone, who had almost single-handedly fought off a Japanese force of three thousand on Guadalcanal.

It was from Basilone and other sergeants that Tatum would learn how to fight like a Marine and act like a man—skills he would need when he hit the black sand of Iwo Jima with thirty thousand other Marines.

Red Blood, Black Sand is the story of Chuck’s two weeks in hell, where he would watch his hero, Basilone, fall, where the enemy stalked the night, where snipers haunted the day, and where Chuck would see his friends whittled away in an eardrum-shattering, earth-shaking, meat grinder of a battle.

This is the island, the heroes, and the tragedy of Iwo Jima, through the eyes of the battle’s greatest living storyteller, Chuck Tatum.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780425257425
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	05/07/2013
Pages:	368
Sales rank:	51,346
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.10(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Norman Dietz, a writer, an actor, and a solo performer, has recorded over 150 audiobooks, many of which have earned him awards from AudioFile magazine, the ALA, and Publishers Weekly. Additionally, AudioFile named Norman one of the Best Voices of the Century.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“In my judgment, no combat veteran’s memoir is better . . . and only a handful are equal.”—Stephen E. Ambrose

“Chuck Tatum was there, a participant in and a witness to history. If it is possible to answer the question ‘What was it like?’, he tells you in this book.” —Tom Hanks

Editorial Reviews

"In my judgment no combat veteran's memoir is better . . . and only a handful are equal." —-Stephen E. Ambrose

From the Publisher