Far on the Ringing Plains was an excellent read, interesting from the start to the end. Young man, some Mennonite boys, joining the new World War II to help America. The adventures through boot camp, specialized training, and finally shipping out to the South Pacific. Billy, Bud, Johnny, and others make up the story. There's young love, dysfunctional families, loud in-your-face drill instructors--and then finally war. Working their way through the jungle, fighting the "Japs" is their daily routine. The story moves between the foxholes of the Marines, with their weapons that strike terror in the enemy, and the constant battles. This is a book worth reading.

As a near 70-year old woman, I am astounded that I lost myself in this book! I have been an avid reader since grade school. My mother, a mother of eight, read voraciously and we came to know books opened the doors to let you slip through into another time and place. An escape from reality!

I chose this book for a glimpse of what life may have been for my father when Uncle Sam drafted him to fight in the year after Pearl Harbor. He left behind his wife and the first four of his babies to fight for his country!

After basic trading, he was shipped off to fight the Japanese in the Philippines. He was my hero in many ways. He came home in critical condition. Mayo Comic would restore his health. He would go on to father four more babies! I was the seventh.

He would not talk about the war. His battles. The pain. The anquish, I sensed. After my mother's sudden death at 69, I spent nights with him. My parent's had grown up together. Fell in love in their teens. Married after high school. They would live through the years he served his country. When I asked, one night, about that time he asked why I wanted to know? Got up and left the room.

When I came across this book, although this campaign was on another Pacific Island, I started reading it to get a feel of what might reflect a smidgen of what he lived through. I will never have those answers. But, between the covers of this book, I got a glimpse of what war might have been for him!

I want to thank the authors for presenting an outstanding glimpse of the horrors our military men experienced in their battles for America's freedom and the freedom in the world. This was an emotional walk for me! If only my father could have found the words. He is gone. Yet, always in my heart! ❤