McManus, John C. To the End of the Earth: The U.S. Army and the Downfall of Japan, 1945.
New York: Caliber, 2023. ISBN: 9780593186886
In January 1945, no one knew what would happen. There was no notion that the war would finally be over. Instead there was a resolve to continue the grind of the war until victory could be obtained. In To the End of the Earth, John McManus finishes the tale of the U.S. Army in the Pacific that he started in Fire and Fortitude.
McManus opens with General McArthur's invasion Luzon in the Philippines and the march across the island to liberate Manila and the POWs on the island while keeping Japanese forces pinned in the mountains. Next up is changes in China with General Wedemeyer replacing General Stilwell and the completion of the Burma Road that provided a narrow land route for supplies to reach China from India. The third major front was Okinawa where the U.S. Army and Marines faced a determined enemy who had a plan to bleed American forces as much as they possibly could. The final act has McManus taking a last look at American POWs located in Japan, Korea, and elsewhere as Truman takes over and decides to use weapons rather than blood to end the war. McManus closes the book by following some of the well-known names into their lives after the end of the war.
In To the End of the Earth, John McManus brings his trilogy to a fitting close. Throughout these three books, McManus provides the broad scope of the battles while using individual stories to highlight often overlooked details. All too often, the U.S. Marines get the glory when talking about World War II in the Pacific. But the Marines could never have succeeded without the help of the U.S. Army. In this trilogy, the U.S. Army gets its due!
