The Ghost Mountain Boys: Their Epic March and the Terrifying Battle for New Guinea---the Forgotten War of the South Pacific
Written by James Campbell
Narrated by Stephen Hoye
4.5/5
()
About this audiobook
Comprised of National Guardsmen from Michigan and Wisconsin, reserve officers, and draftees from across the country, the 32nd Division lacked more than training-they were without even the basics necessary for survival. The men were not issued the specialized clothing that later became standard issue for soldiers fighting in the South Pacific; they fought in hastily dyed combat fatigues that bled in the intense humidity and left them with festering sores. They waded through brush and vines without the aid of machetes. They did not have insect repellent. Without waterproof containers, their matches were useless, and the quinine and vitamin pills they carried, as well as salt and chlorination tablets, crumbled in their pockets. Exhausted and pushed to the brink of human endurance, the Ghost Mountain Boys fell victim to malnutrition and disease. Forty-two days after they set out, they arrived two miles south of Buna, nearly shattered by the experience.
Arrival in Buna provided no respite. The 32nd Division was ordered to launch an immediate assault on the Japanese position. After two months of furious-sometimes hand-to-hand-combat, the decimated division finally achieved victory. The ferocity of the struggle for Buna was summed up in Time magazine on December 28, 1942, three weeks before the Japanese army was defeated: "Nowhere in the world today are American soldiers engaged in fighting so desperate, so merciless, so bitter, or so bloody."
Reminiscent of classics like Band of Brothers and The Things They Carried, this harrowing portrait of a largely overlooked campaign is part war diary, part extreme adventure tale, and-through letters, journals, and interviews-part biography of a group of men who fought to survive in an environment every bit as fierce as the enemy they faced.
James Campbell
James Campbell was born in Glasgow. Between 1978 and 1982 he was editor of The New Edinburgh Review. Among his books are Paris Interzone: Richard Wright, Lolita, Boris Vian and others on the Left Bank, and This Is the Beat Generation. As 'J.C.', he wrote the NB column on the back page of the Times Literary Supplement, a selection of which will be published later in the year. His critically acclaimed biography of James Baldwin, Talking at the Gates, was published by Polygon in February 2021.
More audiobooks from James Campbell
Braving It: A Father, a Daughter, and an Unforgettable Journey into the Alaskan Wild Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Color of War: How One Battle Broke Japan and Another Changed America Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Related to The Ghost Mountain Boys
Related audiobooks
Hell in the Pacific: A Marine Rifleman's Journey from Guadalcanal to Peleliu Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Strong Men Armed: The United States Marines Against Japan Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Last Man Standing: The 1st Marine Regiment on Peleliu, September 15-21, 1944 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Lions of Iwo Jima: The Story of Combat Team 28 and the Bloodiest Battle in Marine Corps History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The War Journal of Major Damon 'Rocky' Gause Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Measureless Peril: America in the Fight for the Atlantic, the Longest Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5South Pacific Cauldron: World War II's Great Forgotten Battlegrounds Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Guadalcanal Diary: 2nd Edition Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Bones of My Grandfather: Reclaiming a Lost Hero of WWII Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Jersey Brothers: A Missing Naval Officer in the Pacific and His Family's Quest to Bring Him Home Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Suicide Battalion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Indestructible: The Unforgettable Memoir of a Marine Hero at the Battle of Iwo Jima Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Dawn Like Thunder: The True Story of Torpedo Squadron Eight Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hill 488 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Given Up for Dead: America's Heroic Stand at Wake Island Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Sink ‘Em All: Submarine Warfare in the Pacific Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5You Can't Get Much Closer Than This: Combat with the 80th "Blue Ridge" Division in World War II Europe Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I'm Staying with My Boys: The Heroic Life of Sgt. John Basilone, USMC Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Frozen Chosen: The 1st Marine Division and the Battle of the Chosin Reservoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Forgotten Soldier Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Saipan: The Beginning of the End Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Last Stand of Fox Company: A True Story of U.S. Marines in Combat Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5First Over There: The Attack on Cantigny, America's First Battle of World War I Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Hell In A Very Small Place: The Siege Of Dien Bien Phu Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/582 Days on Okinawa: One American’s Unforgettable Firsthand Account of the Pacific War’s Greatest Battle Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Undefeated: America's Heroic Fight for Bataan and Corregidor Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Brotherhood of Heroes: The Marines at Peleliu, 1944-The Bloodiest Battle of the Pacific War Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Wars & Military For You
American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Nazi Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill Roosevelt, Stalin, and Churchill Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of September 11, 2001 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Book of Five Rings Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Mysterious Case of Rudolf Diesel: Genius, Power, and Deception on the Eve of World War I Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5You're Stepping on My Cloak and Dagger Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Valiant Women: The Extraordinary American Servicewomen Who Helped Win World War II Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/577 Days of February: Living and Dying in Ukraine, Told by the Nation’s Own Journalists Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Last Kingdom Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Korean War: A History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5When I Come Home Again: 'A page-turning literary gem' THE TIMES, BEST BOOKS OF 2020 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Four Battlegrounds: Power in the Age of Artificial Intelligence Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin - Book Summary: How U.S. Navy SEALS Lead And Win Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Ghosts of Honolulu: A Japanese Spy, A Japanese American Spy Hunter, and the Untold Story of Pearl Harbor Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Rape of Nanking: The History and Legacy of the Notorious Massacre during the Second Sino-Japanese War Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Saved: A War Reporter's Mission to Make It Home Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Kill Anything That Moves Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Founding Mothers Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Diary of Anne Frank Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Dirty Tricks Department: Stanley Lovell, the OSS, and the Masterminds of World War II Secret Warfare Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5On Palestine Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Invisible Generals: Rediscovering Family Legacy, and a Quest to Honor America's First Black Generals Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Watchmaker's Daughter: The True Story of World War II Heroine Corrie ten Boom Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Heart of Everything That Is: The Untold Story of Red Cloud, An American Legend Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for The Ghost Mountain Boys
14 ratings5 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I am not going to even attempt to review this one. There is a wonderful review posted by J. Green that speaks to the book better any attempt I may make. I do have some personal thoughts that I will add: - The details provided of the wounded and the fighting are graphic and not for the faint of heart. - The presentation of MacArthur is not an overly positive one as it tars the war hero, explaining some of the 'fictions' MacArthur wrote and said about the war effort. This didn't surprise me - I had refused to believe he was the amazing leader that he was painted to be - but I was still horrified to learn that he made sweeping statements without even setting foot on the battlefield, AND that his wife and child travelled with him in the Pacific theater during WWII while he was overseeing activities. He took his family into the war zone with him. Good Grief. - Great presentation of Papua New Guinea, its population, their customs, history and geography which was the real reason I decided to listen to this audiobook as I usually don't read war books of this nature. Some cringe-worthy mentions - like the cannibalism bit and the fact that a wife is shut up in her hut with the dead body of her husband were rather unsettling to read about.Overall, a well presented, intimate examination of a battle between the Japanese and Allied forces that really reminded me just how global the battles of WWII were, touching corners of the world that do not get the same mention or importance in the history books as the battles that were fought in Europe and the Northern Pacific regions receive.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A well constructed narrative drawn from the letters, diaries and interviews drawn from the men of the 32nd Infantry Division (Wisconsin/Michigan National Guard) who fought in the Buna campaign in Papua New Guinea. This includes personnel who conducted a harrowing march of the Own Stanley mountains. As would be expected Douglas MacArthur is shown in less than favoring light during this ill-informed poorly-supported offensive. A very nice job on a little known sideshow of WWII. If interested in the topic please check my catalog under the SWPA tag.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A well written book covering the Buna campaign, focusing on the titular Ghost Mt Boys. This all occurred early in the war and pitted woefully unprepared troops against a savage island. The Japanese troops suffered as badly and possibly worse. The drive that was required to push a military action thru to a conclusion is hard to comprehend in the 21st century. The suffering of the frontline troops is described in detail and is difficult to absorb. The leadership of the armies was groping to find a solution and under tremendous opposition within their own sides. A hell of a way to fight a war.The author is clear that his task was to tell a specific story, not the whole battle or campaign. He does this well.The soldiers who carried this fight to the end deserve the highest regard. War is ugly and the war in this corner of the world, particularly so.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The harrowing story of the U.S. 32nd Infantry Division – a National Guard division – and their long trek across the treacherous New Guinea jungle/swamp/mountains in 1942/43 to help the Australian Army expel the Japanese from the island. The division took serious casualties, not only from battle but from a variety of jungle diseases, their condition exacerbated by a lack of proper equipment and supplies. General Douglas MacArthur, commander of the Southwest Pacific Forces, fresh from having been run out of the Philippines, is unflatteringly portrayed as more of a master of publicity than a master of war and tactics.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Narrator was really good. Well written. Very interesting, never boring