A national bestseller when it was originally published in 1942 and the subject of a 1945 John Ford film featuring John Wayne, this book offers a thrilling account of the role of the U.S. Navy's Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron Three during the disastrous Philippine campaign early in World War II. The author uses an unusual, but thorough, spellbinding format to tell the story: an interview with four heroic young participants. Ranked with the great tales of war by the Saturday Review of Literature, it is a deeply moving book ...
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A national bestseller when it was originally published in 1942 and the subject of a 1945 John Ford film featuring John Wayne, this book offers a thrilling account of the role of the U.S. Navy's Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron Three during the disastrous Philippine campaign early in World War II. The author uses an unusual, but thorough, spellbinding format to tell the story: an interview with four heroic young participants. Ranked with the great tales of war by the Saturday Review of Literature, it is a deeply moving book that describes the four officers' extraordinary exploits from the first appearance of Japanese planes over Manila Bay to the squadron's calamitous end-including getting Gen. Douglas MacArthur safely to Australia. Filled with action, drama, and history, this unique portrayal of America's little Dunkirk was described by the New York Times as being almost unbearably painful at times, yet so engrossing that few who begin it will be able to put it down until they have finished its adventure-packed pages.
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Add this copy of They Were Expendable: an American Torpedo Boat Squadron to cart. $95.65, new condition, Sold by GridFreed rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from North Las Vegas, NV, UNITED STATES, published 1998 by Naval Institute Press.
Add this copy of They Were Expendable to cart. $103.11, new condition, Sold by GridFreed rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from North Las Vegas, NV, UNITED STATES, published 1942 by Harcourt.
In December of 1941 the military forces of Imperial Japan rapidly advanced into Asia and the Pacific Ocean. They Were Expendable is a fast-moving narrative portraying U.S. Navy motor torpedo boat operations against the naval forces of Japan in the Philippines in late 1941 and early 1942. The story is related to us from the perspective of four Navy officers who fought invading Japanese ships. These American Navy officers and men successfully utilized the newly developed motor torpedo boats. Despite great odds these brave sailors fought until the American forces ultimately surrendered to Japan. The book also depicts how the torpedo boats evacuated General Douglas MacArthur and his family from the Philippines. This is an occasionally grim but gripping book about the many heroes of The Greatest Generation who fought in World War II.
