by Herb Marlow (Author)
Sergeant Murphy is about a young Marine who joined the Corps in 1939 to become a career man. Then came the war, and the book follows Sergeant John C. Murphy of the 1st Marine Division in the battles of Tulagi, Edson's Ridge on Guadalcanal, Cape Gloucester, Peleliu and finally Okinawa. Murphy was in the thick of the action in all of the battles, and he was wounded several times.
Having read accounts of the battles from war records to reminiscences and personal accounts I believe I have kept to the facts as much as possible while writing a book of historical fiction about a fictional character; my readers will let me know if I have been successful.
The U.S. Marine Corps was given the short end of everything in the Pacific war, as the U.S. Army always took precedence for equipment and supplies and replacements. Things grew better after the German's surrendered on May 9, 1945, but it was common knowledge when the U.S. was fighting on two major fronts that the leaders in Washington D.C. felt the war in Europe was more important than the war in the Pacific, and the European Theater was first on the supply line.