WE ARE THE WOUNDED

by Keith Wheeler ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 26, 1945

The Pacific Is My Best -- November 1943 -- revealed Keith Wheeler as an Ernie Pyle with a tougher typewriter, as he shared his experiences from Dutch Harbor to the Southwest Pacific in a very human story. Now -- in a book about those men for whom the war is not over -- and about some for whom the war will never be over -- he writes another very human book in terms of the wounded, and he speaks from personal experience of months of hospitalization after Iwo Jima. He was lucky; two first rate doctors were in practically the next foxhole when he ""got his"" -- literally in the neck and jew -- and so he didn't bleed to death. He was taken very quickly from beach to ship -- and later from hospital ship to shore hospital and then by plane to the big base hospital above Pearl Harbor. He was sick enough to be able to share the mental experience of being wounded seriously; he recovered sufficiently to be able to capture the mood and spirit and experience of others with whom he made contact. And he has reported it as he found it -- with its grimness, its fears, its horrors -- and its hope. He doesn't spare the reader -- and if at times it seems hard to take, remember we are only reading about it. Here in operation you see the selfless dedication of doctors and nurses -- and patients who are getting better and can do their share; you see, too, some of those not so dedicated; you realize what strides medicine has made, and how science -- and humanity -- have improved the chances for the wounded over the last war. You see, too, the price that is paid -- and appreciate in small measure the gallantry of those who pay. All types of battle casualties are discussed, and dramatized in human terms. For this reason the book should carry more weight than more impersonal books such as Maisel's Miracles of Military Medicine.

Pub Date: Nov. 26, 1945

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Dutton

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1945

Categories: NONFICTION