Can I read Building for War : The Epic Saga of the Civilian Contractors and Marines of Wake Island in World War II on EtoBox?

Building for War : The Epic Saga of the Civilian Contractors and Marines of Wake Island in World War II by Bonita L. Gilbert is a history book available to read on EtoBox.

What is Building for War : The Epic Saga of the Civilian Contractors and Marines of Wake Island in World War II about?

The story of the Americans who came under attack five hours after Pearl Harbor was hit: “Intriguing, informative, gripping, and at times very moving” (Naval Historical Foundation).   This intimately researched work tells the story of the thousand-plus Depression-era civilian contractors who came to Wake Island, a remote Pacific atoll, in 1941 to build an air station for the US Navy—charting the contractors’ hard-won progress as they scramble to build the naval base, as well as runways for US Army Air Corps B-17 Flying Fortresses, while war clouds gather over the Pacific.   Five hours after their attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese struck Wake Island, which was now isolated from assistance. The undermanned Marine Corps garrison, augmented by civilian-contractor volunteers, fought back against repeated enemy attacks, at one point thwarting a massive landing assault. The atoll was under siege for two weeks as its defenders continued to hope for the US Navy to come to their rescue. Finally succumbing to an overwhelming amphibious attack, the surviving Americans, military and civilian, were taken prisoner. While most were shipped off to Japanese POW camps for slave labor, a number of t

Who reads Building for War : The Epic Saga of the Civilian Contractors and Marines of Wake Island in World War II?

Author

Bonita L. Gilbert

Publisher

Casemate Publishers & Book Distributors, LLC

Published

2012

Language

EN

ISBN

9781612001296

Category

history

Subjects

History, Biography, Memoir

Rating

4.8 / 5 (53 ratings)

Updated

2026-03-14