ISBN 0-87021-293-1
Dwight R. Messimer
1985, Naval Institute Press

Found:
East Bay Book Company
800-899-5544

A.J. Lutz lent me this book while I was doing research at San Diego Aerospace Museum. As I read the Forward by Adm. John J. Hyland (Ret), I remember thinking "Yeah, yeah. I've heard it before: it's a great book." Well, he was right and soon I was completely immersed. (Of course, it went out-of-print the next day, but I didn't have too much trouble finding a copy.) Here is an excellent writer/researcher telling the gripping story of the terrifying early months of WWII in the Southwest Pacific.

The book also gives a detailed account of the night-time evacuation of Corregidor which included, as far as I can tell, the nurses portrayed in the movie So Proudly We Hail. The PBYs were flown by Lt.(jg) Tom Pollock and Lt.(jg) Leroy Deede. (I was attending a reunion of PBY veterans while reading this story and suddenly found myself face-to-face with Tom Pollock; I'm embarrassed to say I was too awed to speak!) But that's only one of the amazing stories in this book - it's full of danger and real-life heroes.