The Bush Blaster Battalion: Army Anti-Aircraft in New Guinea and the Philippines (Three Stars)

This is a collection of letters written by John Roy, a young draftee who was trained as a U.S. Army antiaircraft gunner and staff NCO. He entered WWII in the middle of the fight and was shipped to the Pacific to fight the Japanese. He saw action in the New Guinea and Philippine campaigns.

While the experiences of Roy are real and uncensored by PC considerations and postwar perceptions, it can be tedious at times to read through all the letters. Roy, being a typical GI who was writing to several different people at home, wrote about the same things to each of them and even asked back about things written before. I think the book would have been better if it was rewritten as a narrative using the material and additional background information. It is a 400+ page collection of letters that would make a fine 150+ biography.