Okinawa
The Last Battle
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Narrated by:
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Joe Barrett
About this listen
On 1 April, 1945, the largest amphibious assault of the Pacific Theater began. The battle for the island of Okinawa would last for the next 82 days. Through the course of this dramatic battle, over 20,000 Americans would lose their lives, and over 75,000 Japanese were killed in one of the bloodiest clashes of World War II. Okinawa: The Last Battle is a remarkably detailed account of this monumental event by four soldiers who witnessed the action first-hand. They take the listener to heart of the fight explaining the preparations for the invasion, under its codename Operation Iceberg, through to the major conflicts at the beachhead, Ie Shima, breaking through the defenses surrounding Shuri, and overcoming the last-ditch counter-offenses of the Japanese.
This book is a must-listen for anyone interested the Pacific Theater and how the United States Marines and Army were able to overcome the Japanese in the last few months of the war. Corporal Eugene B. Sledge said of the battle: "The Japanese fought to win-it was a savage, brutal, inhumane, exhausting and dirty business."
Okinawa: The Last Battle was written by US Army historians who participated in the Ryukyus campaign as members of a group organized to accompany the American forces to the Ryukyus and secure at first hand the materials for a history of their operations. Maj. Roy E. Appleman was attached to the 27th Division, M/Sgt. James M. Burns and Lt. Col. Stevens accompanied the Tenth Army headquarters, and Capt. Russell A. Gugeler served with the 7th Division on Okinawa. After the war, many of the authors went on to become prominent military historians. Appleman passed away in 1996, Burns in 2014, Stevens in 2001, and Gugeler in 1985. Their work was first published in 1948.
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A Dark and Bloody Ground: The Hurtgen Forest and the Roer River Dams, 1944-1945
- By: Edward G. Miller
- Narrated by: Peter Hassinger
- Length: 9 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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victorious American army, having driven through Belgium almost unopposed, ran head-on into German soldiers on their own home ground, in some of the most rugged country in western Germany - and at the beginning of the worst fall and winter weather in decades.
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Gripping story of a little known corner of WW2.
- By The Bookwyrm Speaks on 09-24-16
By: Edward G. Miller
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On to Victory
- The Canadian Liberation of the Netherlands, March 23 - May 5, 1945
- By: Mark Zuehlke
- Narrated by: William Dufris
- Length: 16 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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It is remembered in the Netherlands as "the sweetest of springs," the one that saw the country's liberation from German occupation. But for the soldiers of First Canadian army, who fought their way across the Rhine River and then through Holland and northwest Germany, that spring of 1945 was bittersweet. While the Dutch were being liberated from the grinding boot heel of the Nazis, their freedom was being paid for in Canadian lives lost.
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Confusing at times, narrator impossible
- By Charlotte Ward on 10-05-13
By: Mark Zuehlke
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Breakout from Juno
- First Canadian Army and the Normandy Campaign, July 4 - August 21, 1944
- By: Mark Zuehlke
- Narrated by: Dan Woren
- Length: 15 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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The ninth book in the Canadian Battle Series, Breakout from Juno, is the first dramatic chronicling of Canada's pivotal role throughout the entire Normandy Campaign following the D-Day landings.
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Disappointing narration and geography
- By Gary on 04-13-14
By: Mark Zuehlke
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War at the End of the World
- Douglas MacArthur and the Forgotten Fight for New Guinea 1942-1945
- By: James P. Duffy
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 14 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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One American soldier called it "a green hell on Earth". Monsoon-soaked wilderness, debilitating heat, impassable mountains, torrential rivers, and disease-infested swamps - New Guinea was a battleground far more deadly than the most fanatical of enemy troops. Japanese forces numbering some 600,000 men began landing in January 1942, determined to seize the island as a cornerstone of the empire's strategy to knock Australia out of the war.
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The WW2 New Guinea Campaign
- By William R. Todd-Mancillas (Name includes hyphen and capitalized M). on 09-26-18
By: James P. Duffy
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Dünkirchen 1940
- The German View of Dunkirk
- By: Robert Kershaw
- Narrated by: Richard Trinder
- Length: 15 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Dünkirchen 1940 is the first major history on what went wrong for the Germans at Dunkirk. As supreme military commander, Hitler had seemingly achieved a miracle after the swift capitulation of Holland and Belgium, but with just seven kilometres before the panzers captured Dunkirk – the only port through which the trapped British Expeditionary force might escape – they came to a shuddering stop. Only a detailed interpretation of the German perspective – historically lacking to date – can provide answers as to why.
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Finally, Dunkirk makes sense!
- By MortonC on 06-15-24
By: Robert Kershaw
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The Darkest Summer
- Pusan and Inchon 1950: The Battles That Saved South Korea---and the Marines---from Extinction
- By: Bill Sloan
- Narrated by: Michael Prichard
- Length: 13 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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The outcome of the Korean War was decided in the first three months. The Darkest Summer is the hour-by-hour, casualty-by-casualty story of those months---a period that saw American and UN forces almost driven into the sea by the North Korean invaders, then stage an incredible turn-around that reversed the entire course of the war.
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Great intro to Korea
- By I Ate Your Pug For Lunch and It was Tasty on 01-14-11
By: Bill Sloan
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Utmost Savagery
- The Three Days of Tarawa
- By: Colonel Joseph H. Alexander United States Marine Corps (Ret.)
- Narrated by: Tom Weiner
- Length: 8 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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On November 20, 1943, in the first trial by fire of America’s fledgling amphibious assault doctrine, 5,000 men stormed the beaches of Tarawa, a seemingly invincible Japanese island fortress barely the size of the 300-acre Pentagon parking lots. Before the first day ended, one-third of the marines who had crossed Tarawa’s deadly reef under murderous fire were killed, wounded, or missing. In three days of fighting, four Americans would win the Medal of Honor and six thousand combatants would die.
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The Definitive Battle History of Tarawa
- By Iain on 02-23-11
By: Colonel Joseph H. Alexander United States Marine Corps (Ret.)
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Bloody Okinawa
- The Last Great Battle of World War II
- By: Joseph Wheelan
- Narrated by: George Newbern
- Length: 13 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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On Easter Sunday, April 1, 1945, more than 184,000 US troops began landing on the only Japanese home soil invaded during the Pacific war. Just 350 miles from mainland Japan, Okinawa was to serve as a forward base for Japan's invasion in the fall of 1945. Nearly 140,000 Japanese and auxiliary soldiers fought with suicidal tenacity from hollowed-out, fortified hills and ridges. Under constant fire and in the rain and mud, the Americans battered the defenders with artillery, aerial bombing, naval gunfire, and every infantry tool.
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Very Technical
- By J.Brock on 07-16-21
By: Joseph Wheelan
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The Frozen Chosen
- The 1st Marine Division and the Battle of the Chosin Reservoir
- By: Thomas McKelvey Cleaver
- Narrated by: Norman Dietz
- Length: 15 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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The Frozen Chosen is an account of the breakout from the Chosin Reservoir in North Korea by the First Marine Division from November to December 1950, following the intervention of Red China in the Korean War. Fought during the worst blizzard in a century, it is considered by the US Marine Corps to be the Corps' finest hour. Fourteen Medals of Honor, a record for any American battle, and 85 Navy Crosses attest to the intensity of the battle.
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Fascinating story, very bad narration
- By Mat J Monk on 03-31-17
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Inside the Nazi War Machine
- How Three Generals Unleashed Hitler's Blitzkrieg Upon the World
- By: Bevin Alexander
- Narrated by: Ray Porter
- Length: 7 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Under orders of the Fuhrer, the German General Staff reluctantly drew up a lackluster plan of invasion for France. Yet it was the audacious scheme of three of Hitler’s top generals that brought down France’s military force, Rather than simply move troops to engage the enemy, for the first time they would unleash the tank and drive straight into the heart of their foe.
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Good listen ..... however...
- By Alan on 06-10-13
By: Bevin Alexander
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D-Day
- The Battle for Normandy
- By: Antony Beevor
- Narrated by: Cameron Stewart
- Length: 19 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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Renowned historian Antony Beevor, the man who "single-handedly transformed the reputation of military history" (The Guardian) presents the first major account in more than 20 years of the Normandy invasion and the liberation of Paris. This is the first book to describe not only the experiences of the American, British, Canadian, and German soldiers, but also the terrible suffering of the French caught up in the fighting.
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A commendable book
- By Michael on 01-19-10
By: Antony Beevor
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The Lions of Iwo Jima
- The Story of Combat Team 28 and the Bloodiest Battle in Marine Corps History
- By: Major General Fred Haynes (USMC-Ret.), James A. Warren
- Narrated by: Michael Prichard
- Length: 9 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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It was the bloodiest battle in Marine Corps history, claiming a third of all marines killed in World War II. The relentless fighting on Iwo Jima lasted for 36 days, but most of us only know the iconic photo of five soldiers raising the American flag on Mount Surabachi. For Fred Haynes, a young captain in Combat Team 28, Surabachi was one marker in a ferocious blood-letting against an enemy of 22,000 warriors who were dug into caves and tunnels.
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Excellent Account of the Battle
- By Jesse on 11-25-11
By: Major General Fred Haynes (USMC-Ret.), and others
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A Frozen Hell
- The Russo-Finnish Winter War of 1939-1940
- By: William R. Trotter
- Narrated by: Matthew Lloyd Davies
- Length: 11 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1939, tiny Finland waged war - the kind of war that spawns legends - against the mighty Soviet Union, and yet, their epic struggle has been largely ignored. Guerrillas on skis, heroic single-handed attacks on tanks, unfathomable endurance, and the charismatic leadership of one of this century's true military geniuses - these are the elements of both the Finnish victory and a gripping tale of war.
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Causes and consequences of ruso-finish 1939 war
- By William R. Todd-Mancillas (Name includes hyphen and capitalized M). on 04-06-18
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While the Germans knew an invasion was inevitable, no one knew where or when it would fall. Those manning Hitler's mighty Atlantic Wall may have felt secure in their bunkers, but they had no conception of the fury and fire that was about to break. After the initial assaults of June established an Allied bridgehead, a state of stalemate prevailed. The Germans fought with great courage - hindered by lack of supplies and overwhelming Allied control of the air. This book describes the catastrophe that followed, in a unique look at the war from the losing side.
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a different view of Normandy 1944
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Armor and Blood
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a different view of Normandy 1944
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What listeners say about Okinawa
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Derail
- 03-10-20
Good Okinawa History
This is written right after the war, so details of the campaign/battles were still fresh. The book discusses several battles with great detail without bogging down in useless numbers. It also has numerous stories of individual heroics.
I also liked the discussions about logistics, psy-ops operations and managing the local government and population. These hardly ever get discussed in these types of history books.
I would recommend reviewing maps of the campaign before listening to better understand all the maneuvers and battle locations.
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- Krystle T
- 08-06-24
Outstanding detail
The military historians covered the battle incredibly well and they were engaging and put it together in the perfect manner. Great read
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- J.Brock
- 12-14-21
Very detailed
“Okinawa” is a technical analysis of the campaign. It’s not any sort of a narrative, though many outstanding individuals are profiled. Nevertheless the facts of the battle are astounding. Worth a very close, hard listen. Joe Barrett is wonderful as always.
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- Amazon Customer
- 10-02-23
Facts and Figures
Being that my father fought on Okinawa, 96th Division, 381st Division, Company F . , I find I can follow my father’s Division movements and correlate with what I remember him telling me. I am a detail person and this book does that!
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