All the Gallant Men - Donald Stratton & Ken Gire

All the Gallant Men

By Donald Stratton & Ken Gire

  • Release Date: 2016-11-22
  • Genre: Biographies & Memoirs
Score: 4.5
4.5
From 96 Ratings

Description

The New York Times bestselling memoir of survival and heroism at Pearl Harbor

“An unforgettable story of unfathomable courage.” —Reader’s Digest

In this, the first memoir by a USS Arizona sailor, Donald Stratton delivers an inspiring and unforgettable eyewitness account of the Pearl Harbor attack and his remarkable return to the fight. 

At 8:10 a.m. on December 7, 1941, Seaman First Class Donald Stratton was consumed by an inferno. A million pounds of explosives had detonated beneath his battle station aboard the USS Arizona, barely fifteen minutes into Japan’s surprise attack on American forces at Pearl Harbor. Near death and burned across two thirds of his body, Don, a nineteen-year-old Nebraskan who had been steeled by the Great Depression and Dust Bowl, summoned the will to haul himself hand over hand across a rope tethered to a neighboring vessel. Forty-five feet below, the harbor’s flaming, oil-slick water boiled with enemy bullets; all around him the world tore itself apart.

In this extraordinary, never-before-told eyewitness account of the Pearl Harbor attack—the only memoir ever written by a survivor of the USS Arizona—ninety-four-year-old veteran Donald Stratton finally shares his unforgettable personal tale of bravery and survival on December 7, 1941, his harrowing recovery, and his inspiring determination to return to the fight.

Don and four other sailors made it safely across the same line that morning, a small miracle on a day that claimed the lives of 1,177 of their Arizona shipmates—approximately half the American fatalaties at Pearl Harbor. Sent to military hospitals for a year, Don refused doctors’ advice to amputate his limbs and battled to relearn how to walk. The U.S. Navy gave him a medical discharge, believing he would never again be fit for service, but Don had unfinished business. In June 1944, he sailed back into the teeth of the Pacific War on a destroyer, destined for combat in the crucial battles of Leyte Gulf, Luzon, and Okinawa, thus earning the distinction of having been present for the opening shots and the final major battle of America’s Second World War.

As the seventy-fifth anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack approaches, Don, a great-grandfather of five and one of six living survivors of the Arizona, offers an unprecedentedly intimate reflection on the tragedy that drew America into the greatest armed conflict in history. All the Gallant Men is a book for the ages, one of the most remarkable—and remarkably inspiring—memoirs of any kind to appear in recent years.

*Library Journal

Reviews

  • All The Gallant Men

    5
    By jrmcs
    I have this book in hard copy, fantastic read.
  • All The Gallant Men

    5
    By Bob 67
    Thank you, Donald Stratton, for writing such a wonderful book of our history. A magnificent contribution to our nation. I was four years old when Pearl Harbor was attacked by the Japanese on December 7, 1941. I remember vividly hearing the famous words of President Roosevelt, "This Day Shall Live In Infamy". I was the youngest of 8 children..the oldest brother serving in the army and the next brother in the Navy during the war. You can imagine why I remember so well. I was such a frightened little girl. My brothers returned safely and never spoke of their experiences. They both died early deaths. How I have wished I could ask them questions. My thanks to you for your courageous service for our country. Thank you, Velma, for your love and support to your wonderful husband. You both have been blessed with each other. God bless, Helen Schultz
  • WOW!!!

    5
    By ursa major too
    This is a national treasure. Thank you for the wind-down through to your feelings now.

Comments