SHOTS FIRED IN ANGER

1-201150

Lieutenant Colonel John B. George recounts his brutal experiences in front-line, WWII jungle warfare and examines the weapons, tactics, equipment, and combat mentalities that won and lost the fight.

For George, marksmanship was always more than a hobby-it was a preparation for national defense. When he is inducted into the US Army as a second lieutenant, he's shocked to see that the military lacks the same enthusiasm: the troops have not been taught to shoot or to march, and they are commanded by men obsessed with obsolete tactics and eyewash. It is only by desperate negotiating that he is able to secure two days of rifle training for his platoon before they are shipped to the Pacific.

On Guadalcanal, George leads from the front with a sniper's calm and a scientist's eye for detail, analyzing what works and what doesn't-from the terrifying but suicidal Japanese Banzai charge to the reliable and effective M1 Garand-in trial by fire. The author interviews his fellow soldiers, questions prisoners, disassembles captured and borrowed weapons, and uses, commands, and faces these strategies and implements of war on the battlefield.

All of this comes together in a fascinating combination of personal memoir / combat dossier, including stories of hunting, drinking, and military jokes played in the face of death.