20th-century american american-history american-soldiers autobiography battle battle-of-okinawa battle-of-peleliu battle-scenes battlefields battles battleship biography bloodshed bombardment bravery brutal-warfare brutality bunker camaraderie collegesuccess combat conquest courage death e.b.-sledge english extreme-conditions eyewitness-account fear first-person-narrative frontline general generalinterests gripping grit gritty grueling gruesome grunt harrowing hellish-conditions heroism historical historical-nonfiction history hobbies infantry intense intense-fighting iwo-jima japan japanese japanese-army japanese-empire japanese-forces japanese-soldiers kamikaze marine-corps marine-corps-grunt marine-corps-history marines memoir military military-history military-memoir military-strategy military-tactics military-training militaryhistory non-fiction nonfiction okinawa pacific-campaign pacific-island-battles pacific-islands pacific-theater pacific-theatre pacific-war peleliu personal-account personal-experience personal-narrative personalmemoirs real-life sacrifice socialsciences soldier soldiers survival survivors transportation trauma troops true-story u.s.-marine-corps united-states united-states-marine-corps unitedstates us-marines usmc v-j-day veteran veterans violence war war-atrocities war-literature war-memoir war-stories warfare world-war-ii worldwarii wwii