The Invasion of Okinawa was one of the bloodiest battles of WWII Pacific. Roy Wilkes, Private, USMC was unfortunate enough to have a front-row seat. True, gripping stories and pictures reveal the mind, heart, and soul of a fighting WWII Marine.
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"Inspired by his older brother, an Illinois teenager named Roy Wilkes joined the Marine Corps in 1945. Trained as a rifleman and assigned to the 6th Marine Division, PFC Wilkes eventually found himself in the Pacific, on a Japanese-held island called Okinawa. Seventy miles long, fewer than ten miles across, and just 350 miles from Japan, Okinawa was the last stop on America's ambitious island-hopping campaign of World War II. It was also the bloodiest and most costly.
War is Personal relates Roy Wilkes' Okinawa experience in his own words, compiled by his daughter, Elaine Wilkes, and illustrated with family and archival photographs. Alternately poetic, unflinchingly harsh, and dryly funny, Roy's account captures not just the personal cost of war, but expresses the ways in which Roy wrestled with his wartime memories to forge a meaningful and unusually productive life. Reading War is Personal, I felt informed, moved and, ultimately, encouraged."
"One Marine's deeply personal account of the cold realities of combat."
"With chilling interviews and pictures, Elaine Wilkes takes us back to WWII in Okinawa, the pain, the death, and that thousand-yard stare. This is a must-read book for any of us with loved ones or friends who fought and served -- for we cannot possibly comprehend the battlefield terror that changed their inner being forever. 'War is Personal' helps us to better understand the things that they are unable to share with us.”
"This book is a valuable addition to WWII literature, as it reveals the mind, heart, and soul of a fighting Marine. It also has numerous actual photos from World War II Okinawa. It's engrossing from beginning to end."
