In 1942, Washington Post writer Sam Stavisky heard that the U.S. Marine Corps was creating a unique unit of rifle-toting writers, the Combat Correspondent Corps. After completing the rigors of boot camp every grunt must endure, a chosen few civilian reporters would be transformed into Marines, then be assigned to the Pacific to engage in and report on the war there. Already rejected by all branches of the military because of his poor vision, Sam jumped at the chance to volunteer. Soon he found himself hacking his way across the coral atolls of the Pacific, engaging in some of the fiercest fighting of World War II. He and his fellow Marines took part in five Solomon Islands campaigns and a score of operations, including patrols with the legendary "Marine's Marine," Chesty Puller. Culled from original sources and from stories filed fifty years ago, Sam Stavisky has written a heart-pounding eyewitness account of those hellish battles--and of the sacrifice and heroism of the American men who have immortalized the name of the U.S. Marines in the annals of war.

Author Biography

Apart from his thirty-four months as a World War II Marine Combat Correspondent, Sam E. Stavisky worked for The Washington Post as a reporter, editorial writer, or columnist, from 1938 to 1954. He also wrote for many magazines, including the Saturday Evening Post, Look, Life, and Collier's. In 1954, he started his own firm, a PR and lobbying organization, in Washington, New York, London, and Rio de Janeiro. Sam and his wife, Bernice, who lectures on France, reside in Washington, D.C., and Singer Island, Florida. They have two daughters and a grandson.