Heroes Don't Run: A Novel of the Pacific War

Adam's father and his sailor crew died when the battleship Arizona sank during the bombing of Pearl Harbor. To his horror, Adam witnessed the sinking. In fact, he and two of his buddies were actually out in the harbor near the Arizona when it exploded and sank. The concussive wave from the huge sinking ship dumped Adam and his buddies from their rowboat right into Pearl Harbor.At age seventeen, now Adam wants to join the war effort. He feels it is the honorable thing to do to avenge his father's death. Since he is not eighteen he cannot join the Marines because his mother won't sign waiver papers. Cleverly, Adam tells his mother he wants to visit his grandfather's farm on the East Coast because he is bored to death with life in Bakersfield, California.Adam has little difficulty persuading his grandfather, a World War I veteran who has lost an arm, to sign for him. Within a very short time, Adam is in the Marines facing all the physical and mental duress imposed on his mind and body by his rigorous training. Adam refuses to drop out. He believes officers who tell him "the training will keep you alive in combat."In  Heroes Don't Run  as a Marine graduate in the spring of 1945, Adam finds himself shipboard heading for the island of Okinawa, a last major Japanese stronghold before Japan itself. Strangely, his entire outfit lands from their LST without gunfire, yet Adam can hear and feel the formidable rumbling of distant guns and explosions at both ends of the island.Sergeant Rosenthal leads Adam's frightened platoon over several hills toward the battlefront. Adam cannot believe the carnage he witnesses: dead bodies thrown askew, arms, legs, heads, lying about as if they were the dismembered parts of mannequins; and everywhere, destroyed vehicles either blown apart or burning and smoking. He is terrified but moves on.Adam and his friend Ben engage a difficult uphill battle overtaking the caves and tunnels leading to the top of Okinawa. He watches in horror as he and his unit must kill hordes of Japanese soldiers, who are chased from their tunneled out hiding places, but who charge toward them as kamikaze warriors. Adam is sickened. Now he wishes he was back home, but he refuses to run.  Heroes Don't Run .In one trench-like foxhole, Adam sees a mortar flying directly toward his group of Marines. There is no time to scramble away; hardly a chance to utter any warning. What he feels next is a huge uplifting blast and a noise that deafens him--then nothing.I will leave the outcome of this bloody tale to young readers who, like me, will keep gobbling up the pages of  Heroes Don't Run  to find out what happens to Adam, his best friend Ben, and brave Sergeant Rosenthal who tries his best to protect his men. Any high school youngster will find this book easy to follow with a vocabulary befitting his reading level.This is not a story for the faint hearted because its action and descriptions are intense and bloody. Nevertheless, I would recommend the book to any reader who wants to glimpse the madness Marines faced first hand on the Okinawa battlefield during the waning days of WWII. It is easy to see why so many fighters who return home don't want to talk about war. All these men are heroes.Other interesting reads: A Boy at War: A Novel of Pearl Harbor A Boy No More (Aladdin Historical Fiction) We Were One: Shoulder to Shoulder with the Marines Who Took Fallujah Indestructible: The Unforgettable Story of a Marine Hero at the Battle of Iwo Jima

This World War II experience is told through the eyes of a 17 year old boy who wishes to enlist in the Marines because both his grandfather and father fought in a war. Because his father died at Pearl Harbor, his mother will not sign for him join, so he goes to his grandfather and talks him into it. He then tells his story of a young boy going through bootcamp and war. Along the way he learns about friendship, fear, respect, and life, all while almost instantly chaning from a boy to man.This story has the pace of a war, going from one incident to the next without dwelling on anything for too long. I usually do not like war stories, but I think this is a great war novel for older children to read and experience what war is like for children. It will open your eyes to the harsh reality of children fighting wars and what they have to go through. My copy of the book also has a brief historical note of the last major battle of WWII along with literature circle questions for teachers that follow Bloom's Taxonomy.

The book was in great condition and exactly what I needed. No complaints here!

The book was awesome and great, but sad and happy, I loved this book I think this was one of the best books in the series, the good thing is they kinda lived happily ever after.

It's a really good book. It has allot of detail. It really hooks you in and makes you feel like your there with the main character. I recommend this book to anyone interested war stories and action books (This book was read by my 11 year old son. The review is by him as well.)

My son who hates to read stuck with this series. I'm not sure how much he enjoyed it-- but he read it. So, that's something, right?

My son is enjoying the series. This is a boy who does not enjoy reading. It's a easy read so I rated it a three simply because it posed no challenge for him.

this is a great book 5 stars 10 out of 10 no matter which way you say it this is one of the best books i have ever read other than the other two in this series i recommend buying them all togethergreat bookbuy it!