Friday, September 11, 2009

Windtalkers - Book Review


Based on a true World War 2 operation, the Navajo Indian Codetalkers, this book is written by Max Allan Collins.
Joe Enders, a Marine, was a soldier fighting in World War 2. During one of the battles at Tarawa Atoll, he was the only one who survived. All his companions died because he had caused their deaths by sending them straight into the Japanese enemies' firepower. Enders was racked with guilt and was haunted by the deaths of the men he had caused.
By chance, two men with different backgrounds met when Enders and his men were on a mission to protect the Navajo "codetalkers" from falling into Japanese hands. The Navajo code was a secret code used by the Allies, which baffled even the best Japanese codebreakers. If the secret of the code were divulged to the Japanese, they would have the upper hand in the world war.
Enders, a marine who is fighting his past guilt and Ben Yahzee, a Navajo codetalker battling prejudice and inner fears, join in the hell of the war-torn Pacific. Through the battles they fight together, Sergeant and Private eventually become close friends.
Finally, Enders met his match in a battle with the Japanese. He dies, but with the satisfaction that he had fought bravely in the war and that he was going to join his dead companions in the afterlife.
All I can say is that it is a great story about courage and how terrible a war is like.

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