PRAISE FOR JAMES JONES’S WWII “Th e most stirring and lucid account of World War II that I have ever read.” Joseph Heller “[Jones] overcomes the vastness of the event by emphasizing his personal experience of it, thus giving the reader a foothold in the text that is far more satisfying than gliding across a glossy overview. He overcomes his limited viewpoint of the war by symbolizing it in the experience of the common infantryman and locating in that experience a unique signifi cance.” Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, New York Times, 1975 “Anytime he writes of war you can smell the gunsmoke. A book like this was needed to remind us what it was like. A remarkable achievement.” James Michener “Jones is a man of experience and memories. [He] has writ- ten WWII with passion, projected in accounts of actions he never saw no less than of actions in which he participated . anyone can salute WWII as providing vivid vicarious experiences, a mind- bending extension into new territory of whatever one knew before, not only about war but about human nature.” Alfred C. Ames, Chicago Tribune, 1975 “An expert, eloquent personal remembrance of batt les past, what it felt like to live each day as possibly one’s last, what it felt like to go into batt le, and fi nally what it felt like to get hit . writt en by one of the best combat novelists of our time.” San Francisco Examiner & Chronicle “Spectacular and revealing.” National Observer “Amazing . with his inimitable bent for realism, his perception and his combat infantry experiences in the South Pacifi c, he has somehow managed to write about the whole war, in all its far-fl ung theatres, and with its entire cast of combatants . brilliantly illu- minated with samples of the fi nest combat art to come out of the war . should be made required reading.” Cleveland Press “Combat, as it appeared to GIs who dodged bullets and watched their comrades die, is brilliantly portrayed . an antidote to the hundreds of books about the war which have been writt en by gen- erals and politicians.” New York Daily News “Anyone who truly wants to understand [our] civilization ought to read it.” Providence Journal “Superb . the sights, sounds and smells of the war as well as the feelings of the men who fought it. WWII will bring the memo- ries fl ooding back; for the student of that global confl ict and for the general readers . a vivid, highly instructive capsule course in what happened during those dramatic 44-plus months.” Philadelphia Bulletin “Th is may be Jones’ great contribution to the history of war.” New Haven Register JAMES JONES WWII A CHRONICLE OF SOLDIERING THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS Chicago and London James Jones (1921–77) was an American novelist best known for his World War II tril- ogy: From Here to Eternity, winner of the 1952 National Book Award, Th e Th in Red Line, and Whistle, the last published posthumously. During World War II, he was decorated with both the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart Medals. Th e University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 60637 Th e University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London © 1975 by the Estate of James Jones All rights reserved. Published 2014. Paperback edition 2014 Printed in the United States of America 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 1 2 3 4 5 ISBN-13: 978-0-226-18093-9 (paper) ISBN-13: 978-0-226-18109-7 (e-book) DOI: 10.728/chicago/9780226181097.001.0001 Originally published in the United States in a slightly diff erent form as part of an illustrated volume (Grosset & Dunlap, 1975) reprinted by Ballantine Books in 1976. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Jones, James, 1921–1977, author. WWII : a chronicle of soldiering / James Jones. pages cm “Originally published in the United Sates in a slightly diff erent form as part of an illustrated volume (Grosset & Dunlap, 1975) reprinted by Ballantine Books in 1976.”— Title page verso. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-226-18112-7 (cloth : alkaline paper)—ISBN 0-226-18112-X (cloth: alkaline paper)—ISBN 978-0-226-18093-9 (paperback : alkaline paper)—ISBN 0-226-18093-X (paperback : alkaline paper)—ISBN 978-0-226-18109-7 (e-book)— ISBN 0-226-18109-X (e-book) 1. World War, 1939–1945. 2. World War, 1939– 1945—Personal narratives, American. 3. World War, 1939–1945—Campaigns. I. Title. D743.J65 2014 940.54'0973—dc23 2014025252 Th is paper meets the requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992 (Permanence of Paper)..