Charleston County Public Library

War is not just for heroes, World War II dispatches and letters of U.S. Marine Corps combat correspondent Claude R. "Red" Canup, edited by Linda M. Canup Keaton-Lima ; foreword by Keith Oliver

eng

Includes bibliographical references (page 251) and index

autobiography

government publication of a state province territory dependency etc

photographsillustrationsmaps

index present

non fiction

War is not just for heroes

bibliography

767719859

edited by Linda M. Canup Keaton-Lima ; foreword by Keith Oliver

World War II dispatches and letters of U.S. Marine Corps combat correspondent Claude R. "Red" Canup

"Filling a gap in U.S. Marine Corps aviation history, War Is Not Just for Heroes rescues the incredible true stories written by one marine as a combat correspondent in the Pacific during World War II as shared through his dispatches, letters, diary entries, personal notes, and tapes. At a time when the average recruit was a strapping, healthy eighteen-year-old male fresh out of high school, the U.S. Marine Corps began recruiting experienced reporters who formed the coalition of hard-hitting, frontline journalists known as Denig's Demons. These men combined their combat training with their years of newsprint experience, establishing the impregnable power and prowess of the U.S. Marine Corps and the portable typewriter. Armed with their rifles, typewriters, and skills, combat correspondents reported what was often the only news from Pacific islands. Writing about heroic missions and daily activities from war zones, marine combat correspondents linked marines back to their hometown communities. Hailing from Anderson, South Carolina, and enlisting at the age of thirty-three, journalist and combat correspondent Claude R. "Red" Canup (1911-1999) was a prolific chronicler of the war zone. Canup recounted the startling, poignant, and at times surreal life of a marine during the war. Combining a dry sense of humor with a biting rhetoric and snappy intellect, his dispatches and letters juxtapose the good with the bad, life with death. Canup joined Marine Aircraft Group 45 and spent several peaceful months on Ulithi, a tiny island transformed from a steaming jungle into a strategically located marine air base. In his homespun manner, Canup enthusiastically reports on every detail, from basketball games to outdoor movies to island culture. Without missing a beat, Canup describes the unfolding battle of Okinawa with the insight of a weathered marine. After joining Marine Aircraft Group 31 in April 1945, he experienced 185 red alerts in 131 days with a grit and haunting honesty that memorialize the sacrifice and bravery of his fellow marines. Reporting from Yontan and Chimu airfields, Okinawa and Yokosuka naval bases, and elsewhere in Japan, Canup offers a compelling firsthand perspective on the war's final years."--Publisher

pt. 1. Answering the commandant's call -- Red Canup, combat correspondent -- From sidelines to shorelines -- Letters before Ulithi ; June-September 1944 -- pt. 2. Ulithi -- Tojo's front yard : September 9-October 15, 1944 -- Marine Aircraft Group 45 : October-December 1944 -- New year, same rock ; January-February 1945 -- pt. 3. Okinawa -- MAG 31 and tactical air force Ryukyus (I) : April 3-May 12, 1945 -- Bunker Hill pilots : May 12-13, 1945 -- Black Mac's killers : Yontan Airfield, May 1945 -- Giretsu attack on Yontan : May 24, 1945 -- MAG 31 and tactical air force Ryukyus (II) : May 15-July 7, 1945 -- Chimu Airfield : July 1-September 7, 1945 -- pt. 4. Japan -- Occupation duty calls : September 7-16, 1945 -- Prisoners of war ; September 16, 1945 -- 30 : October-November 14, 1945 -- The "ruptured duck" flies home : November 15-December 25, 1945