Guadalcanal Diary (book)
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Guadalcanal Diary is a memoir written by war correspondent Richard Tregaskis. The book recounts the author's time with the United States Marine Corps on Guadalcanal in the early stages of the pivotal months-long battle there in 1942.
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[edit] Criticism of bias
The book has been hailed consistently for over half a century as a harrowing and realistic account of modern warfare as experienced in the tropical Pacific Theater of Operations, with allowances for the inherent bias of an American journalist living with American soldiers in a warzone. It is evident in the manuscript that Tregaskis did make sincere journalistic efforts to control his natural bias.
[edit] Criticism of racism
The speech of the Marines interviewed in the work, when referring to their Japanese counterparts, is littered with derogatory terms that would offend most liberal minded Americans today, but it is worth noting that oftentimes in a war, a combat soldier will do anything to lessen the psychological and moral impace of the reality of his trained purpose, including playing down the end-result of exterminating human life by dehumanizing his adversaries.
[edit] Narrative style
Tregaskis relates combat and conversation in an immediately accessible vernacular, taking care to cite the full name, rank and hometown of each of the Marines he encountered over the weeks he was on the island.
[edit] Legacy
The book was so well received at home upon publication, and spoke such volumes on the cameraderie amongst the Marines, that the USMC still makes Guadalcanal Diary required reading for all officer candidates.
In 1943 the memoir was made into a film.
