Shadows in the Jungle: The Alamo Scouts Behind Japanese Lines in World War II

Shadows in the Jungle: The Alamo Scouts Behind Japanese Lines in World War II

by Larry Alexander
Shadows in the Jungle: The Alamo Scouts Behind Japanese Lines in World War II

Shadows in the Jungle: The Alamo Scouts Behind Japanese Lines in World War II

by Larry Alexander

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Overview

From the New York Times bestselling coauthor of A Higher Call, an up-close-and-personal account of the Alamo Scouts in World War II.
 
Determined to retake the Philippines ever since his ignominious flight from the islands in 1942, General Douglas MacArthur needed a first-rate intelligence-gathering unit. Out of thousands, only 138 soldiers were chosen: the best, toughest, and most fit men the army had to offer. Their task: silently slip onto Japanese-held islands, stalk through the thick jungles, and assess enemy locations, conditions, morale, and troop strength, all while remaining undetected. It was an impossible task, doomed to failure, but incredibly, the Alamo Scouts were a valuable success.
 
Acclaimed author Larry Alexander follows the men who made up the elite recon unit that served as General MacArthur's eyes and ears during the Pacific War. Drawing from personal interviews and testimonies from Scout veterans, Alexander weaves together the tales of the individual Scouts, who often spent weeks behind enemy lines to complete their missions. Now, more than seventy years after the war, the story of the Alamo Scouts will finally be told.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781440687358
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date: 02/03/2009
Sold by: Penguin Group
Format: eBook
Pages: 368
Sales rank: 501,638
File size: 2 MB
Age Range: 18 Years

About the Author

Larry Alexander is the author of the New York Times bestselling Biggest Brother: The Life Of Major Dick Winters, The Man Who Led The Band of Brothers and the coauthor of A Higher Call: An Incredible True Story of Combat and Chivalry in the War-Torn Skies of World War II. He has been a journalist and columnist for the Intelligencer Journal newspaper in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, for more than a decade, winning numerous awards for excellence in journalism.

Table of Contents

Introduction The Best of the Best 1

1 Hollandia: "Looks Like We Walk Home." 9

2 "I'll Form My Own Intelligence Unit" 26

3 Recruitment and Training 44

4 The First Mission 69

5 "God Bless You, Brave Soldiers." 84

6 "… The Entire Shoreline Was Ablaze," 101

7 Final Operations in New Guinea 117

8 " … By Far the Best Show I've Ever Seen" 139

9 The Rescue at Cape Oransbari 157

10 "Maybe We Can Save the World." 170

11 Samar/Ormoc Bay 198

12 "Only an Act of God Is Going to Get You Out." 218

13 First In, Last Out 230

14 "If I Don't Make It, It's Up to You." 257

15 "I Wouldn't Trade the Whole Damned Jap Army for One Alamo Scout." 272

16 "It Would Have Been Near Suicide." 298

Epilogue Through the Years 307

Appendix A Alamo Scout Team Rosters 315

Appendix B Glossary of Terms 319

Selected Bibliography 321

Acknowledgments 323

Index 325

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"One of those rare works of nonfiction that does indeed read like a novel and also sheds light on a heroic and almost unknown group of men." —-Michael Korda, New York Times bestselling author of Ike: An American Hero

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