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The mosquito bowl : a game of life and death in World War II  Cover Image Large Print Book Large Print Book

The mosquito bowl : a game of life and death in World War II / Buzz Bissinger.

Summary:
"When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, college football was at the height of its popularity. As the nation geared up for total war, one branch of the service dominated the aspirations of college football stars: the United States Marine Corps. Which is why, on Christmas Eve of 1944, when the 4th and 29th Marine regiments found themselves in the middle of the Pacific Ocean training for what would be the bloodiest battle of the war - the invasion of Okinawa--their ranks included one of the greatest pools of football talent ever assembled: Former All Americans, captains from Wisconsin and Brown and Notre Dame, and nearly twenty men who were either drafted or would ultimately play in the NFL. When the trash-talking between the 4th and 29th over who had the better football team reached a fever pitch, it was decided: The two regiments would play each other in a football game as close to the real thing as you could get in the dirt and coral of Guadalcanal. The bruising and bloody game that followed became known as "The Mosquito Bowl." Within a matter of months, 15 of the 65 players in "The Mosquito Bowl" would be killed at Okinawa, by far the largest number of American athletes ever to die in a single battle. The Mosquito Bowl is the story of these brave and beautiful young men, those who survived and those who did not. It is the story of the families and the landscape that shaped them. It is a story of a far more innocent time in both college athletics and the life of the country, and of the loss of that innocence. Writing with the style and rigor that won him a Pulitzer Prize and have made several of his books modern classics, Buzz Bissinger takes us from the playing fields of America's campuses where boys played at being Marines, to the final time they were allowed to still be boys on that field of dirt and coral, to the darkest and deadliest days that followed at Okinawa." --publisher's website.

Record details

  • ISBN: 9780063242258
  • ISBN: 0063242257
  • Physical Description: xvi, 757 pages, 8 unnumbered pages : illustrations, map ; 24 cm
  • Edition: First Harper large print edition.
  • Publisher: [New York] : Harper Large Print an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, [2022]

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:
Includes bibliographical references (pages 531-749).
Formatted Contents Note:
Prologue -- McLaughry -- Everybody's watching -- Schreiner -- Butkovich -- Land of the free -- The army way -- The letter -- Murphy -- Odette -- Football is war -- Separate and unequal -- Remember the McKean -- Sunday sheet -- Bauman -- Forget me not -- Committed to the deep -- The patrol -- Pen pal -- Not a damn thing -- Temptation -- Millimeter -- March of the crabs -- The Mosquito Bowl -- Bound for hell -- Buckner -- April fool -- Abandon ship -- The tortoise -- The little girl -- Return to sender -- A thousand ants -- At all costs -- Crazy for revenge -- Carry on -- Last stand -- Regret to inform -- Why? -- Three stars -- Counting the days -- Cessation of hostilities -- Silence -- Epilogue.
Subject: United States. Marine Corps > Biography.
Football > United States > History > 20th century.
Football and war > United States.
Football players > United States > Biography.
World War, 1939-1945 > Pacific Area.
Large type books.
World War, 1939-1945 > Campaigns > Solomon Islands > Guadalcanal.
World War, 1939-1945 > Campaigns > Japan > Okinawa Island.
Football > United States > History.
Genre: Biographies.

Available copies

  • 10 of 11 copies available at SPARK Libraries.

Holds

  • 0 current holds with 11 total copies.
Show All Copies
Location Call Number / Copy Notes Barcode Shelving Location Status Due Date
Albright Memorial Library LARGE TYPE 940.5425 BISSING (Text) 50686016243219 Adult Nonfiction Available -
Alexander Hamilton Memorial Free Library LP 940.54 BIS (Text) 37268003150976 AHMFL Large Print Available -
Altoona Area Public Library LP 940.54252294 BIS (Text) 33240005149714 Adult Large Print Nonfiction Available -
Carbondale Public Library LARGE TYPE 940.5425 BISSING (Text) 50688010849801 Adult Nonfiction Available -
Dillsburg Area Public Library Adults 940.54 BIS Large Print (Text) 34001001425451 Adult Area Available -
Martin Library Adults 940.54 BIS Large Print (Text) 33454005883772 Reading Room Available -
New Oxford Library LP 940.5425 BISSINGER (Text) 35740635877574 Large Print Nonfiction Available -
Parkland Community Library LARGE PRINT 796.332 BIS (Text) 34422007272178 Adult Large Print Nonfiction Available -
RPL - Southeast Branch Library LP 796.332 Bis (Text) 33223008887084 Large Print Non-fiction Available -
Bethlehem Main Library 796.332 (Text) 33062009392136 Large Print Nonfiction Available -


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