Publisher's Synopsis
The Final Duty Station is a memoir about my Father's military service with the US Marine Corps during World War II. It is written in the first-person narrative as if he is finally telling his family his experiences from "The Final Duty Station" which is Marine lingo for Heaven. It covers the period from 1941 through 1945 as he details all the experiences he had during those pivotal war years in our Nation's history. It provides context on the broad strategic issues as well as the very personal side of one Marine's journey into manhood. Although it is basically a war story his children and grandchildren always wanted and had the right to hear, very little was derived from any oral history he passed down. Instead, it took the author eight years of research which included visits to the island of Guadalcanal and other locations the First Marine Division was deployed. Details include what happens in Boot Camp at Parris Island, how amphibious Marine Divisions are deployed for war, the emotions of experiencing non-stop attacks on hostile tropical islands against an unrelenting Japanese fighting force. Personal stories of interactions with family (based on personal letters), fellow Marines and what happened when recovering in a hospital in Melbourne, Australia. The book further explores his next duty assignment in New Guinea as the Marines prepare for The Cape Gloucester campaign and how he is ultimately rotated back "Stateside" after two long years in the Pacific. Finally, he serves out the remainder of the war at The Marine Barracks in Boston until receiving his honorable discharge soon after the war ends. It explores the real possibility that he leaves his fiance in Australia pregnant, fully expecting to reunite with her as soon as the fates of war would allow. However, through circumstances out of their control, they never do get back together to marry and raise the child together.
