The Ghost Mountain boys: their epic march and the terrifying battle for New Guinea, the forgotten war of the South Pacific

Campbell brings to vivid life one of the more forgotten, grislier campaigns of World War II, the Buna Trail campaign in New Guinea. The Japanese were trying to get a foothold on the south coast of the island, opposite Australia. The American Thirty-second Infantry Division had the job of driving them back over the Owen Stanley Mountain. It succeeded, at the cost of more than 10,000 casualties, four-fifths of them from tropical diseases contracted in the face of heavy rain, astonishing depths of mud, rugged terrain, perpetually rancid weather, shortage of supplies (including medicines), and, not incidentally, the Japanese. The most poignant part of the book consists of the letters of an army surgeon who eventually committed suicide, but every part of the book entitles it to a berth in WWII collections.--Green, Roland Copyright 2007 Booklist

Author Campbell (The Final Frontiersman) retraces the steps of the U.S. Army?s 32nd Infantry Division, and its harrowing fight to capture Buna, New Guinea from the Japanese, in this grunt?s-eye-view of one harrowing WWII mission. The 32nd was a National Guard Division that had made a name for itself on the battlefields in WWI, but by the time America entered WWII, they were less than prepared. Still, the division was shipped to Australia without any effective combat training, from which they were sent to navigate New Guinea?s rain forests without any jungle training, or even proper supplies. Eager to take the fight to the enemy, the men of the 32nd were not ready for their fight against the island itself, a poorly mapped country with no overland roads, virtually impassable mountains, crocodile-filled swamps and disease-carrying mosquitoes. Campbell?s novel-like retelling shows how they accomplished what many would call impossible, or at least suicidal; at the same time, Campbell accounts for the Japanese in New Guinea, who suffered the same, if not worse-both high commands viewed New Guinea as crucial, but not crucial enough to properly support. This intense narrative is a fitting tribute and an excellent, relevant illustration of that elusive phenomenon known as the fog of war. (Oct.) Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information.

Campbell's unit history and actual retracing of a National Guard battalion nearly destroyed in "Bloody Buna" is an absorbing account of the climax of the New Guinea campaign, perhaps MacArthur's worst-managed battle and a terrible ordeal for the seasoned Australian and raw American troops who fought there. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Campbell (The Final Frontiersman, 2005, etc.) recreates the horror endured by Allied soldiers during the brutal New Guinea campaign of 1942-43. Overshadowed by Marine heroics on nearby Guadalcanal, New Guinea combatants suffered triple the casualties and even worse conditions. The author builds his story around the 32nd Division, formed in 1940 but only minimally trained when it was abruptly sent to Australia, where it received no preparation for jungle fighting before moving to defend southern New Guinea in September 1942. In a bitter irony, two thirds of Japanese forces marching from the north through trackless jungles and freezing mountains died in the attempt, and the starving, disease-ridden remnants were already retreating when the 32nd began its advance. Fewer Americans died in the struggle north, but the story of their suffering makes painful reading, and the ragged, gaunt soldiers who survived had left most of their equipment behind. MacArthur assured local commanders that few Japanese remained when, in fact, they were numerous and protected by superb fortifications. Victory came after two months of ghastly fighting under terrible tropical conditions by soldiers who were short of supplies, malnourished and sick. The 32nd Division suffered 90 percent casualties. The book succeeds best describing events far from the battlefield. MacArthur's genius was evident only in the publicity releases pouring from his headquarters. Directing the campaign from a distance (unlike the Marines' Vandergrift at Guadalcanal), he ignored the immense difficulties of terrain and climate, rejected good intelligence when it contradicted his prejudices, repeatedly ordered poorly prepared units into suicidal attacks and then announced he'd won victories with minimal casualties. Despite a plethora of material including letters and diaries from both sides, Campbell recounts the fighting as Sunday supplement fiction, describing the action in purple prose as his soldiers snarl invented dialogue and engage in passionate internal monologues. Readers who tolerate the overheated cinematics will discover a gripping story. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Campbell brings to vivid life one of the more forgotten, grislier campaigns of World War II, the Buna Trail campaign in New Guinea. The Japanese were trying to get a foothold on the south coast of the island, opposite Australia. The American Thirty-second Infantry Division had the job of driving them back over the Owen Stanley Mountain. It succeeded, at the cost of more than 10,000 casualties, four-fifths of them from tropical diseases contracted in the face of heavy rain, astonishing depths of mud, rugged terrain, perpetually rancid weather, shortage of supplies (including medicines), and, not incidentally, the Japanese. The most poignant part of the book consists of the letters of an army surgeon who eventually committed suicide, but every part of the book entitles it to a berth in WWII collections. Copyright 2007 Booklist Reviews.

Campbell's unit history and actual retracing of a National Guard battalion nearly destroyed in "Bloody Buna" is an absorbing account of the climax of the New Guinea campaign, perhaps MacArthur's worst-managed battle and a terrible ordeal for the seasoned Australian and raw American troops who fought there.

Author Campbell (The Final Frontiersman) retraces the steps of the U.S. Army's 32nd Infantry Division, and its harrowing fight to capture Buna, New Guinea from the Japanese, in this grunt's-eye-view of one harrowing WWII mission. The 32nd was a National Guard Division that had made a name for itself on the battlefields in WWI, but by the time America entered WWII, they were less than prepared. Still, the division was shipped to Australia without any effective combat training, from which they were sent to navigate New Guinea's rain forests without any jungle training, or even proper supplies. Eager to take the fight to the enemy, the men of the 32nd were not ready for their fight against the island itself, a poorly mapped country with no overland roads, virtually impassable mountains, crocodile-filled swamps and disease-carrying mosquitoes. Campbell's novel-like retelling shows how they accomplished what many would call impossible, or at least suicidal; at the same time, Campbell accounts for the Japanese in New Guinea, who suffered the same, if not worse-both high commands viewed New Guinea as crucial, but not crucial enough to properly support. This intense narrative is a fitting tribute and an excellent, relevant illustration of that elusive phenomenon known as the fog of war. (Oct.) Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information.