THE LEATHERNECKS COME THROUGH
Book Details + Condition: Fleming H. Revell Company (New York, London and Edinburgh). Fifth Edition, 1944 (nd). Hardcover. 224 pages. Includes an Introduction by Lieutenant Colonel Cornelius P. Van Ness of the Marine Corps. Inscribed and signed by the author on the first blank page, with an illustration of a cross. In the book, Navy Chaplain and Lieutenant W. Wyeth Willard documents his harrowing experiences with the Second Marine Division during the Guadalcanal and Tarawa campaigns of WWII. He provides a firsthand narrative account of these pivotal battles, including his own personal involvement and observations as a chaplain. For more information on the author, please see below.
Firm binding; rubbed corners and edges; light wear to boards, with some fading / discoloration present; chafed spine ends; bookplate to inside front board; toning to pages; interior is clean and free of markings, save author's inscription and illustration to the half-title page. All books are carefully packed, and shipped in boxes.
"Willard had already distinguished himself as an author, businessman, pastor and founder of Camp Good News in Forestdale, MA, before volunteering as a chaplain during WW II. Ministering to spiritually needy soldiers, he landed in 1943 with the 2nd Marine division at the battle at Guadalcanal, and was awarded the Legion of Honor Medal for his service to them during the battle at Tarawa in the Gilbert Islands. According to one report he was '…credited with serving more consecutive days under constant enemy fire than any chaplain in the history of the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps.' In 1944 he was awarded the Legion of Merit, the Navy’s highest honor. Lieutenant Willard’s stirring wartime chronicle, The Leathernecks Come Through, brought him national fame." [Wheaton College Archives]
