Letters from the Pacific 1943-1946 (Inscribed. First Edition.)

The United States of America: Self-Published, 1959. First Edition. Hardcover. Very Good +. 10.25" x 7.25" x 0.5. Illustrated . Inscribed by the Author. This is a collection of letters and stories that the author's father, First Lieutenant Walter Curley, Sr. had kept from his son, First Lieutenant Walter J. P. Curley Jr., during a three year period serving as a United States Marine during World War II. Warmly inscribed by the author on the front flyleaf. Bound in burgundy buckram, a facsimile of the author's signature is lettered in gilt on the cover. Gilt lettering on the spine. Heavily illustrated at the back with photos, maps, letters, and other artifacts in black and white. Photos of father and son in their military uniforms are shown side-by-side within the illustrations. Contents are in three parts: 1) Preparation: South Carolina, Virginia, California, Hawaii; 2) Attack: Iwo Jima, Okinawa; and 3) Occupation: Marianas, Shanghai, Tientsin, Peking. [10], 3-85 pp. [42] illustrations. <br><br>CONDITION: Light soiling on the cover with slightly bumped, lightly frayed corners. Leaves are unmarked except for warm inscription at the front. Light foxing within introductory pages, otherwise clean and crisp pages. Illustrations are incredible and tell quite the story in themselves. Hinges are strong and the binding is sound. A wonderful copy. VG+ Full refund if not satisfied. <br><br>INTRODUCTORY LETTER / PREFACE: <br>"Exactly fifteen years ago I was on the Island of Hawaii preparing for the assault on the Japanese-held island of Iwo Jima. During the period from July 1943 until March 1946 I went from Marine Boot Camp training in South Carolina to Officers' Class at Quantico, Virginia, Marine Corps installations in California, staging areas in the Hawaiian Islands, then to Iwo Jima, Okinawa, Saipan, Tinian, Guam, China, and eventually back to the United States. <br><br>This period saw America and her Allies through a crucial phase of the Pacific war. As regularly as circumstances would permit, I wrote to my mother and father of the events in which I participated and of the feelings that possessed me then. <br><br>Several months ago I found in my father's house a collection of a number of the letters which I had written during the three year period. Some letters are missing; others never arrived. The letters which follow, however, may serve to recall moments of intense interest to us all at the time, and to reflect a type of warfare that probably has ceased to exist. <br><br>History has moved swiftly since the end of World War II. There will come a time when the events and opinions expressed in these letters will be all-but-forgotten in the press of more immediate problems. This is as it should be. <br><br>Walter J. P. Curly, Jr.; November, 1959