A war is a huge undertaking sometimes better digested and understood when studied in small snippets...Even an operation the size of the Iwo Jima invasion, when taken as one event cannot be covered adequately, or at all, by even a library shelf, much less one book...Mitch Weiss, as an investigative journalist, uncovered one mostly forgotten engagement known only to those who were there, and to those they left behind...
After being made aware by a survivor's relative of an armed reconnaissance, planned as a pre-invasion intelligence gathering mission three days before the assault, and of its lifelong effect on one man, Weiss began assembling information which culminated in a detailed account of a small part of a military event, and its rippling repercussions on its participants...
This may be the most painstakingly recreated story I've encountered in my military reading...Detailed research may be commonplace, and even expected by demanding readers, but the seamless stitching of bits of information into a coherent storyline here far exceeds anything I've read...Not only the meticulous research into unfamiliar lives, but the skillful reassembly of events make even a non-combatant feel as if he had taken part in the battle and its aftermath...
Considering the selfless sacrifice and harrowing experiences exhibited in such a brief span of time, not to mention the high honors and recognition of valor bestowed by awed and grateful commanders, it is truly astounding that this story was previously untold...But given the desire by most of the participants to put memories of the events in the past, even knowing that task to be an impossible one, it is understandable that the story surfaced reluctantly and in small pieces...
Much has been written of the "horrors of war" and of what is now recognized as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), but until reading this book I understood much less of it than I thought...The author is to be commended on what must have become a labor of love for him...
There is even a connection to Ulithi Atoll, where I believe my uncle may have served, and I now have a greater understanding of his reluctance to discuss his wartime experiences..."The Heart of Hell" is high on the Truckman Recommended List...
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