Some of the stories and poems may be inappropriate for persons under 16
“I’m standing in the room where she was dying. She’s talking in a high, new voice I’ve never heard before. ‘Why are there so many animals in the ceiling?’ she said. What are the very last things you say in your life? What are the last things you saw before you turn into dirt? When […]
“When my father died, it was like a whole library had burned down.” – Laurie Anderson, “Same Time Tomorrow”
“There are no great men, just great challenges which ordinary men, out of necessity, are forced by circumstances to meet.” – Fleet Admiral William Frederick “Bull” Halsey, Jr. (quoted by James Brady in Flags of Our Fathers)
“I don’t know how Zelenskyy had it together as well as he even did. It was so insulting. I don’t know—like, the fact that he didn’t bitch-slap Trump makes him a better man than I’ll ever be.” – Trae Crowder, “So Canada’s Bad and Russia’s Good Now Apparently,” Liberal Redneck, March 4, 2025
“Vice Admiral Turner declared the island [Saipan] secured, putting the time at 1615 of 9 July [1944]. The next day an official flag-raising took place at [Marine General] Holland Smith’s headquarters in Charan Kanoa. For the Marines at Marpi Point, a tragic sight took the edge off a happy occasion. Hundreds of Japanese civilians, fearful […]
“Just before sunrise, about 0400 on 7 July [1944], like some ancient barbaric horde, the Japanese soldiers started down the Tanapag plain from around Makunsha. The attack route followed mainly along the coastal railroad. The men were led by officers, and they were equipped with machine guns, mortars, and tanks. Yet it was like military […]
“At 0730 on 1 July [1944], the 1st Battalion, 29th Marines, in a well executed tank-infantry thrust, overran Tommy’s Pimple with no casualties. The battalion then advanced, in conjunction with 2/8, toward the Tanapag Harbor area. To the regimental left, on 1 July, the 1st Battalion, 8th Marines, was joined by 2/2, relieving 3/8, and […]
“Success at last crowned the efforts of the 27th Infantry Division, for on 29 and 30 June [1944] the soldiers burst through Death Valley and drew alongside the 8th Marines. The 106th Infantry joined the 105th in overrunning the valley, a company from 1/106 wiped out the stragglers trapped in Hell’s Pocket, and 2/165 eliminated […]
“Colonel Wallace’s 8th Marines, with 2/25 again withdrawn to corps control, found itself up against a formidable barrier, four small hills, one lying within the zone of each battalion. Because of their size in comparison to [Mount] Tapotchau, the hills were dubbed the Four Pimples. To make identification easier, each of them was given the […]
“After six crowded days aboard an LST [Landing Ship, Tank], many Marines were ready to fight anybody.” – Major Carl W. Hoffman, USMC, Saipan: The Beginning of the End