Battle Cry [antikvár]

ForewordIn writing a book such as Battle Cry it was necessary to decide early in the work whether or not to fictionalize the names of units, ships, batties and places. Because the book covers such a vast territory and so many units are involved I would have had to fictionalize the entire history of the Pacific war to avoid any such identifications. To do justice to a story of the Marine Corps I felt that a sound historic basis would be the only fair avenue of approach. The Second Marine Division, its battles and movements, are a matter of public record. There are many instances where events have been fictionalized for the sake of story continuity and dramatic effect.After deciding it would be folly to attempt to veil the fact that this was the Second Marine Division, and more specifically the Sixth Regiment, there arose a problem that could possibly cause future misunderstandings. There may or may not be alive to-day men who held various ranks and commands in the Corps, duplicating ranks and commands held by fictitious characters in this book. For example: we know that there was but one commander of the Marines in the Pacific, there could be but one Division commander at Tarawa, and the same goes for the Sixth Regiment, the Second Battalion, and Fox Company. The men who held these commands in no way resemble the imaginary characters in the book who held the same commands and can in no way be identified as the same people. They are the creatures of my imagination and I alone am responsible for them and their actions.My pride in serving with the Marines is obvious to anyone reading Battle Cry. I admired and respected the officers of my battalion. But, as a Pfc, I had little knowledge of their personal lives or motives.Huxley, Shapiro, Phi^ps,. Bryant, Bryce and the rest were necessarily drawn solely from my imagination, and any similarity to real persons holding their commands is truly a case of mistaken identity.I hope this explanation of the circumstances clarifies any questions and I sincerely trust no one will suffer embarrassment.Leon M. Uris