Unknown Valor: A Story of Family, Courage, and Sacrifice from Pearl Harbor to Iwo Jima
Martha MacCallum, with Ronald J. Drez, 2020
HarperCollins
336 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780062853851
Summary
In honor of the 75th Anniversary of one of the most critical battles of World War II, Martha MacCallum pays tribute to the heroic men who sacrificed everything at Iwo Jima to defeat the Armed Forces of Emperor Hirohito—among them, a member of her own family, Harry Gray.
Admiral Chester Nimitz spoke of the "uncommon valor" of the men who fought on Iwo Jima, one of the bloodiest and most brutal battles of World War II. In thirty-six grueling days, nearly 7,000 Marines were killed and 22,000 were wounded.
Martha MacCallum takes us from Pearl Harbor to Iwo Jima through the lives of these men of valor, among them Harry Gray, a member of her own family.
In Unknown Valor, she weaves their stories—from Boston, Massachusetts, to Gulfport, Mississippi, as told through letters and recollections—into the larger history of what American military leaders rightly saw as an eventual showdown in the Pacific with Japan.
In a relentless push through the jungles of Guadalcanal, over the coral reefs of Tarawa, past the bloody ridge of Peleliu, against the banzai charges of Guam, and to the cliffs of Saipan, these men were on a path that ultimately led to the black sands of Iwo Jima, the doorstep of the Japanese Empire.
Meticulously researched, heart-wrenching, and illuminating, Unknown Valor reveals the sacrifices of ordinary Marines who saved the world from tyranny and left indelible marks on those back home who loved them. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
Martha MacCallum is anchor and executive editor of The Story with Martha MacCallum, seen Monday through Friday on Fox News. She is also co-anchor of Fox News election coverage, moderating town halls and debates with the presidential candidates, alongside Bret Baier and Chris Wallace.
Prior to becoming anchor of The Story, MacCallum anchored, "The First 100 Days," reporting nightly on the first months of the Trump administration and interviewing the President on his 100th Day. She has covered presidential and mid-term elections for Fox News since 2004, as well as extensive reporting from the field on the primary races across the country.
MacCallum has reported from Normandy, France during the 75th Anniversary of D-Day, and from Iwo Jima’s "Reunion of Honor." Prior to Fox News, MacCallum was an award winning reporter for CNBC, covering homeland security and the US economy, and a reporter/producer for Wall Street Journal Television. (From the publisher.)
Book Reviews
Martha MacCallum has written a magnificent history, at once a sweeping and fresh account of one of the most dramatic chapters in our past—and an intimate portrait of all that’s best and most heroic in the American spirit
Sohrab Ahmari
Martha is magnificent and so is this book. This is a story of love and military battle told with clarity and heart.
Peggy Noonan
If you want your faith in America restored, you simply must read this book.
Marc Thiessen
Martha MacCallum has written a wonderful book on the bravery and sacrifices of those who "island-hopped" from Guadalcanal to Iwo Jima. Part family memoir, part personal history of small-town America at war, and part chronicle of Marine amphibious landings from 1942 to 1945, Unknown Valor is a beautifully written and stirring reminder to present generations that much of what we now take for granted was given to us by the sacrifices of those whom we must never forget.
Victor Davis Hanson
Unknown Valor is at once so gripping and moving about the war in the Pacific that I lost several nights sleep, refusing to go to bed until I’d read it all. The book blends fascinating details of Martha MacCallum's family’s personal story and sacrifice, and the touching moments of hope and family life add a special flavor to the story. Even though we all know how the war ends, what we gain from the book is a deeper appreciation for the scope and scale of the patriotism, dreams, and heartache that lived on. Unknown Valor is a triumph.
Dana Perino
Martha MacCallum’s Unknown Valor is an elegantly written and deeply researched history of how the U.S. Army and Marines won the Pacific theater island-hopping campaign in the Second World War. The sheer heroism of these American fighters on the battlefield is staggering. Every page soars with gritty realism and patriotic perseverance. A powerful saga about the greatest generation!
Douglas Brinkley
Discussion Questions
We'll add publisher questions if and when they're available; in the meantime, use our LitLovers talking points to help start a discussion for UNKNOWN VALOR … then take off on your own:
1. Most of what most of us know about World War II centers on the European theater of operations, especially D-Day. How familiar were you, before reading Unknown Valor, with the brutal battles fought in the Pacific? Why is our understanding, even historical interest, centered so heavily on Europe as opposed to the Pacific?
2. What did you find most surprising about Martha MacCallum's account? What was most heart- or gut-wrenching about the island battles?
3. Discuss some of the harrowing examples of heroism on the battlefield. Is it possible for you to imagine yourself on any one of the beaches or jungles? Had you lived through it, how do you think you might have fared?
4. How does Martha MacCullum's own family history color her telling, and your reading, of Unknown Valor?
5. Which of the letters and personal recollections did you find most moving or most memorable?
6. Do you have a personal connection with the Pacific war—anyone in your family, or a friend of your family, who served? Have those marines or their family members ever opened up to you about their experiences? What about the parents, siblings, and spouses left back home—have any shared their recollections, their worries and fears about the dangers faced by the men they loived?
7. To gain an eye-opening, visual sense of the Pacific war, consider spending part of your meeting watching the Japanese episodes in Ken Burns's War, his 2007 series on World War II.
(Questions by LitLovers. Please feel free to use them, online and off, with attribution. Thanks.)