Iwo, 26 Charlie

The island of Iwo Jima was the epic land and sea battle that produced one of the iconic images of WWII: the Marines raising the American flag on Mount Surabachi, an active volcano that was the site of intense hand to hand combat. In this gripping novel, P. T. Deutermann follows a young gunnery liaison officer, Lee Bishop, who during the ferocious battle for the island is pulled from his station aboard the USS Nevada to serve onshore as a spotter, calling in coordinates for the ship to target with missiles.

But Bishop is completely unready for what he will witness and experience: a literal hell, during which 26,000 Americans are killed in a fight to the very last man, which culminates in the blistering, sulfurous tunnels of Surabachi itself, where an entire platoon of Marines is held captive. Iwo, 26 Charlie is a dramatic, utterly authentic novel by an award-winning writer.