Read Building for War: The Epic Saga of the Civilian Contractors and Marines of Wake Island in World War II

Building for War: The Epic Saga of the Civilian Contractors and Marines of Wake Island in World War II

Bonita L. Gilbert

4.9/5 (17672 ratings)

Description:The story of the Americans who came under attack five hours after Pearl Harbor was "Intriguing, informative, gripping, and at times very moving" (Naval Historical Foundation).This intimately researched work tells the story of the thousand-plus Depression-era civilian contractors who came to Wake Island, a remote Pacific atoll, in 1941 to build an air station for the US Navy--charting the contractors' hard-won progress as they scramble to build the naval base, as well as runways for US Army Air Corps B-17 Flying Fortresses, while war clouds gather over the Pacific.Five hours after their attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese struck Wake Island, which was now isolated from assistance. The undermanned Marine Corps garrison, augmented by civilian-contractor volunteers, fought back against repeated enemy attacks, at one point thwarting a massive landing assault. The atoll was under siege for two weeks as its defenders continued to hope for the US Navy to come to their rescue. Finally succumbing to an overwhelming amphibious attack, the surviving Americans, military and civilian, were taken prisoner. While most were shipped off to Japanese POW camps for slave labor, a number of the civilians were retained as workers on occupied Wake. Later in the war, the last ninety-eight Americans were brutally massacred by their captors. The civilian contractors who had risked distance and danger for well-paying jobs ended up paying a steep their freedom and, for many, their lives.Written by the daughter and granddaughter of civilians who served on Wake Island, Building for War sheds new light on why the United States was taken by surprise in December 1941, and shines a spotlight on the little-known, virtually forgotten story of a group of civilian workers and their families whose lives were forever changed by the events on this tiny atoll.We have made it easy for you to find a PDF Ebooks without any digging. And by having access to our ebooks online or by storing it on your computer, you have convenient answers with Building for War: The Epic Saga of the Civilian Contractors and Marines of Wake Island in World War II. To get started finding Building for War: The Epic Saga of the Civilian Contractors and Marines of Wake Island in World War II, you are right to find our website which has a comprehensive collection of manuals listed.
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ISBN: 1612001416

Description: The story of the Americans who came under attack five hours after Pearl Harbor was "Intriguing, informative, gripping, and at times very moving" (Naval Historical Foundation).This intimately researched work tells the story of the thousand-plus Depression-era civilian contractors who came to Wake Island, a remote Pacific atoll, in 1941 to build an air station for the US Navy--charting the contractors' hard-won progress as they scramble to build the naval base, as well as runways for US Army Air Corps B-17 Flying Fortresses, while war clouds gather over the Pacific.Five hours after their attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese struck Wake Island, which was now isolated from assistance. The undermanned Marine Corps garrison, augmented by civilian-contractor volunteers, fought back against repeated enemy attacks, at one point thwarting a massive landing assault. The atoll was under siege for two weeks as its defenders continued to hope for the US Navy to come to their rescue. Finally succumbing to an overwhelming amphibious attack, the surviving Americans, military and civilian, were taken prisoner. While most were shipped off to Japanese POW camps for slave labor, a number of the civilians were retained as workers on occupied Wake. Later in the war, the last ninety-eight Americans were brutally massacred by their captors. The civilian contractors who had risked distance and danger for well-paying jobs ended up paying a steep their freedom and, for many, their lives.Written by the daughter and granddaughter of civilians who served on Wake Island, Building for War sheds new light on why the United States was taken by surprise in December 1941, and shines a spotlight on the little-known, virtually forgotten story of a group of civilian workers and their families whose lives were forever changed by the events on this tiny atoll.We have made it easy for you to find a PDF Ebooks without any digging. And by having access to our ebooks online or by storing it on your computer, you have convenient answers with Building for War: The Epic Saga of the Civilian Contractors and Marines of Wake Island in World War II. To get started finding Building for War: The Epic Saga of the Civilian Contractors and Marines of Wake Island in World War II, you are right to find our website which has a comprehensive collection of manuals listed.
Our library is the biggest of these that have literally hundreds of thousands of different products represented.

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Building for War: The Epic Saga of the Civilian Contractors and Marines of Wake Island in World War II

Building for War: The Epic Saga of the Civilian Contractors and Marines of Wake Island in World War II

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