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Chesty Puller

A Marine Legend in World War II

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The dramatic battlefield story Chesty Puller, Marine hero of World War II

In 1942, when Chesty Puller first stepped foot onto Guadalcanal in America’s first major land campaign against Japan, he had already served two remarkable decades as a US Marine. Yet it was on that Pacific island where the Puller legend would come to life. For months, Chesty and his Marines fought the Japanese in close-up jungle combat, at times resorting to bayonets and even fists. During the Battle for Henderson Field, Puller’s Marines held off wave after wave of enemy attackers over the course of three consecutive nights. His courage under fire and unbreakable devotion to his men inspired not just those under his own command but Marines everywhere. As the war marched on, one bloody battle after another, from Guadalcanal to Peleliu, Chesty became the most decorated Marine in US history. Now, acclaimed military historian John Wukovits, author of Pacific Alamo, tells the story of Chesty Puller's incredible valor and combat leadership in the Pacific War.
© From the author's collection
John Wukovits is a military expert and an authority on U.S. history in the Pacific Theater of World War II. He is the author of Pacific Alamo: The Battle for Wake Island, as well as several military biographies and many articles for such publications as WWII History, Naval History, World War II, The Journal of Military History, Naval War College Review, and Air Power History. View titles by John Wukovits

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The dramatic battlefield story Chesty Puller, Marine hero of World War II

In 1942, when Chesty Puller first stepped foot onto Guadalcanal in America’s first major land campaign against Japan, he had already served two remarkable decades as a US Marine. Yet it was on that Pacific island where the Puller legend would come to life. For months, Chesty and his Marines fought the Japanese in close-up jungle combat, at times resorting to bayonets and even fists. During the Battle for Henderson Field, Puller’s Marines held off wave after wave of enemy attackers over the course of three consecutive nights. His courage under fire and unbreakable devotion to his men inspired not just those under his own command but Marines everywhere. As the war marched on, one bloody battle after another, from Guadalcanal to Peleliu, Chesty became the most decorated Marine in US history. Now, acclaimed military historian John Wukovits, author of Pacific Alamo, tells the story of Chesty Puller's incredible valor and combat leadership in the Pacific War.

Author

© From the author's collection
John Wukovits is a military expert and an authority on U.S. history in the Pacific Theater of World War II. He is the author of Pacific Alamo: The Battle for Wake Island, as well as several military biographies and many articles for such publications as WWII History, Naval History, World War II, The Journal of Military History, Naval War College Review, and Air Power History. View titles by John Wukovits

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