About:
In Bloody Ridge and Beyond: A World War II Marine's Memoir of Edson's Raiders in the Pacific by Martin Groft and Larry Alexander is a memoir of Mr. Groft during his time serving in World War II as a US Marine Raider. Mr. Alexander is an American journalist and military historian.
- 358 pages
- Publisher : Caliber
- Language : English
- ISBN-10 : 0425273008
My rating for Bloody Ridge and Beyond - 5
Buy Bloody Ridge and Beyond from Amazon.com*
More books by Marlin Groft*
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Thoughts:
The authors deliver an on the grounds account of Martin "Whitey" Groft's experience during his service fighting in the Pacific theater during WWII. The blistering descriptions of the asymmetric infantry warfare are frightening and exciting at the same time.
Mr. Groft was handpicked for the 1st Marine Raider Battalion, and elite unite led by Lieutenant Colonel Merritt "Red Mike" Edson. The memoir is a brutal, visceral example of what happens when a skeleton crew is forced to maintain a defensive position against an overwhelming, relentless adversarial force.
Man of la Book’s Margin Notes: The Human Component Under Absolute Stress
1. Groft and Bob Welch’s Saving My Enemy
While Groft’s narrative details the absolute hardening of a combatant to withstand an enemy onslaught, Bob Welch’s Saving My Enemy focuses on the long-term recovery. Welch documents the post-war lives of Don Malarkey (of Band of Brothers fame) and German soldier Fritz Engelbert, who unknowingly fought on opposite sides of the Battle of the Bulge.
Mr. Groft’s book is about fighting the enemy to the death; Mr. Welch’s looks at how former enemies can eventually find common grounds in shared trauma to find mutual healing. Mr. Groft emphasizes the discipline needed during battle, while Mr. Welch explores the complicated process of coming to an mutual understanding decades later.
2. Groft vs. Ray Ellis’s Once a Hussar
The contrast between the Marine Groft and British artilleryman Ray Ellis in Once a Hussar is a fascinating study in how different cultures implement their own coping mechanisms. Mr. Ellis' journey is chaotic, through the Western Desert Campaign, an Italian POW camp, and a daring escape into the Apennine Mountains.
While Mr. Groft’s memoir is certainly grittier, intense, and uses his hyper-focused Marine mentality to survive the meat-grinder of the Pacific. Mr. Ellis leverages classic British self-deprecating humor as a critical psychological buffer. Mr. Ellis treats the horrors of war with an observational wit that is needed to make sense of a world gone mad, whereas Mr. Groft relies on the specialized, unyielding esprit de corps of an elite Raider unit.
3. Groft and Guy Sajer’s The Forgotten Soldier
Mr. Groft successfully maintained his unit's integrity under extreme pressure, Guy Sajer’s masterpiece The Forgotten Soldier is quite the opposite, and tells of a collapsing army. Sajer, a Frenchman fighting for the German Wehrmacht on the Eastern Front, writes about the naivete of teenage ideology, and the collapse youthful ideals, patriotism, and basic humanity under the weight of unrelenting industrial slaughter.
Mr. Groft’s Marines fight with an intense, purposeful clarity. Sajer and his friends in the Großdeutschland division must endure a slow, frozen retreat of absolute despair, fighting purely because the alternative is freezing to death. While Mr. Groft successfully defends the line, Mr. Sajer captures the void left when the machine of war completely destroys the soul.
The soldiers of the isolated Raider Battalion faced many waves of frontal suicidal assaults by the Japanese suffered catastrophic losses, and even structural failures. Mr. Groft's transition from a civilian to a Marine Raider was a grueling one. He's memories of the battalion's desperate two-night stand on Guadalcanal where 840 Marines held off thousands of Japanese soldiers to save the Pacific campaign, is an amazing read and gives insights even if you read whole books about the battle.
I really enjoyed Bloody Ridge and Beyond by Martin Groft and Larry Alexander because of it's unpolished narrative, it's sharp, economical, and intense. Mr. Groft's experience is told from the claustrophobic bottom of a fox-hole, while being shot at with artillery, to the malaria filled jungles. He vividly describes the sensory overload of the nighttime banzai charges, which are as terrifying as one thinks.
Buy Bloody Ridge and Beyond from Amazon.com*
More books by Marlin Groft*
More books by Larry Alexander*
Mr. Groft and his fellow Raiders survived by transforming themselves into an unyielding, unbreakable battle on a remote ridge. When comparing this to modern asymmetric conflicts, do you think advanced tactical technology can ever fully replace the raw, localized resilience of deeply bonded infantry units, or is the human element still the ultimate force multiplier?
Zohar — Man of la Book
Disclaimer: I bought this book
*Amazon links point to an affiliate account, the money is usually spent on books
When comparing this to modern asymmetric conflicts, do you think advanced tactical technology can ever fully replace the raw, localized resilience of deeply bonded infantry units, or is the human element still the ultimate force multiplier?