D-Days in the Pacific by Donald L. Miller

D-Days in the Pacific Reviews

• 
  Jack

  Interesting book, but very little about D-Day landings in the Pacific. More an overview of the Pacific War and there are better books about WWII in the Pacific. Very little new information and some of what is offered is incorrect. Good reading, but not for fans of WWII. More for someone wanting an overview.
• 
  David

  I feel that many or most people think of World War II primarily in terms of the war in Europe and consider D-Day to be specifically the allied invasion of Normandy, France, on 6 June, 1944. But the term D-Day is actually military code for the launch of any major military operation and, as such, there were more than one hundred D-Days in the Pacific Theater alone. In fact the invasion of Okinawa in the last stages of the war involved the largest invasion force of the war and dwarfed the Normandy invasion. D-Days in the Pacific by Donald L. Miller chronicles the major D-Days conducted in the Pacific War from the initial Japanese attacks on Pearl Harbor to the dropping of the atomic bombs on Japan. The individual actions are covered in detail island by island as the allied forced slowly fought their way towards an ever tightening encirclement of Japan's home islands as seen from the viewpoint of those on the front lines. Those who participated in these actions experienced some of the most savage fighting in American history as well as dealing with the many tropical diseases that killed or incapacitated more troops than were lost in actual combat. Highly recommended for those interested in the history of WWII.
• 
  Chris

  This book covered The Pacific Theater of the war from the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941 to the Japanese surrender in August 1945.  Before reading this book, I knew very little about this aspect of WWII. I think the biggest thing that I gained from it was to get a clearer picture of the 2 pronged attack scheme used by the Allies.  General McArthur was in charge of mostly Army forces in the South Pacific while Admiral Nimitz headed up the Navy and Marine offensives in the Central Pacific.  The overall Allied plan was to attack the Japanese forces from two fronts and work their way closer and closer to the Japanese mainland.  This strategy forced the Japanese military to leave one field of battle in a weakened state in order to defend another.  Some of the major engagements that were covered thoroughly were Guadalcanal, Tarawa, Peleliu, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa.  Also, the section covering the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombing runs was quite enlightening.  The place where I thought the book fell short was on the stories from common soldiers.  Some of the quotes ran several pages long, and seemed to just ramble on without conveying much.  It would have been better to cut back on this and only use some of the more relevant quotes.  All in all, it was a good, but not great book about the Pacific Theater of Operations. 
  
• 
  Thomas

  Oh my word! This book will make you rejoice for the men and women of the armed forces. The trials and adversities they overcame. A lot of what they sacrificed is overshadowed but the war in Europe, but this was savage warfare. This makes some of the suicide bombers and extremists in the Iraq and the middle east look tame.Be prepared this book will make you cry and wonder if todays generation of soldier would do the same.
• 
  Red

  A very interesting read. Gives a general overview of the war in the Pacific. Lots of first hand accounts which was great. Clears up a lot of racism against the Japanese and how the war was perceived in context. Overall a great read.
• 
  Richard Klueg

  The title might lead one to think that the book focuses on the various Pacific D-Day assaults in WW2, but it is actually an account of the entire Pacific war. That is not to say that I was at all disappointed in the book. I particularly appreciated all of the primary source/first hand quotes from participants in the events related.
  
  Although I was previously aware of the brutal, savage nature of the combat in this theater of war, this book impressed me all the more with how terrible it was. This increased my admiration and gratitude toward those who served and sacrificed. It also confirmed the necessity of using the atomic bomb to hasten the end of this terrible war.
• 
  Trilby

  I got this book hoping to read about the landings at Bougainville and Guam, which my father-in-law had participated in. Although I was disappointed that these landings were not described in the book, I nevertheless was impressed at the range of research that went into its making. I've read many books on the war in Europe, but knew only the basics about the war in the Pacific. Miller provides great detail of the horrors of fighting in the Pacific theater, from Pearl Harbor to Nagasaki. I learned a lot.
• 
  Doug

  The book is pretty good, providing excellent summaries of the many "D-Days" in the Pacific Theatre. The audio performance was not very good. The reader used cheesy accents when quoting any Japanese person. He mispronounced several place names I know - Ver-dun, not Ver-dune. Which ones that I don't know did he mispronounce? I don't know. A great performance can't fix a bad book but a bad performance certainly makes it harder to enjoy a good book.
• 
  norcalgal

  Informative, graphic, heartbreaking, inspiring. A tour-de-force book, including first hand accounts from the heroes who endured the War in the Pacific. Donald Miller has done a great service shining light on the theater of war, which has not received as much attention as the European theater. Kudos Miller, and kudos The Greatest Generation.
• 
  AnnieM

  An excellent look at the other side of WWII. I know very little on the Asian part of the war and this helped a lot.
• 
  Darren Sapp

  Military history fans will love this telling of that Pacific campaign with plenty of anecdotal personal stories. Miller's work isn't some dry textbook but reads much like Ambrose and McCullough.
• 
  Daren

  A synopsis of World War II excellently written. I wanted to have a glimpse of the reality of World War II in the Pacific and I was not disappointed. This account renders the historical record a little more accurately than previous accounts and corroborates accounts retold by my father, Arden R Rasmussen, as a gunner on the flagship aircraft carrier Suwanee (on which correspondent Ernie Pyle spent much of his Pacific time). As a side note, my father indicated they were given shore leave into Nagasaki if they would count the dead and give a general description of conditions there 5 days after the bomb was dropped, even though all knew entry there, such a short time after detonation, was not advised. He recounted horrible human conditions and incredible physical destruction on this leave into Nagasaki. -Daren R Rasmussen
• 
  Eric

  A $4.00 purchase unsurprisingly derived from a History Channel series.
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  Andy Anderson

  Awesome book about island battles in the Pacific during WW2.
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  Jack Tayloe

  Great book. A lot of detail concerning people.