Winner of The 2020 Best Book Award for Military History — American Bookfest
An elite platoon of Marine Scout-Snipers, Lieutenant Frank Tachovsky's "40 Thieves" were chosen for their willingness to defy rules and beat all-comers. When two Marines got into a fight, the loser ended up in the infirmary, the winner in the brig. Tachovsky wanted the winner on his team—a brush with military law was a recommendation.
These full-blooded men were trained in a ruthless array of hand-to-hand killing techniques and then thrown into the battle for Saipan—Emperor Hirohito's "Treasure" and the bulwark of the Japanese Empire in the Pacific—where they would wreak havoc in and around, but mostly behind, enemy lines. They witnessed inhuman atrocities; walked into an ambush after the cunning Japanese used wounded Marines as bait; endured body-punishing extremes of heat, hunger, and thirst; fought a relentless enemy who would not surrender; and watched best friends die.
Now Tachovsky's son Joseph tells their remarkable story—a story he didn't even know until after his father's death—reported from an extensive documentary record, including priceless mementos his father kept, and from exhaustive interviews with survivors who served under Lieutenant "Ski."
This is how America won the war in the Pacific, where "uncommon valor was a common virtue." 40 Thieves on Saipan: The Elite Marine Scout-Snipers in One of World War II's Bloodiest Battles is true history. It's also an adventure you don't want to miss.

zlib/no-category/Joseph Tachovsky/40 Thieves on Saipan: The Elite Marine Scout-Snipers in One of WWII's Bloodiest Battles_25048461.mobi

Tachovsky, Joseph; Kraack, Cynthia

Regnery Publishing, Incorporated, An Eagle Publishing Company

Skyhorse Publishing

Salem Books

United States, United States of America

World War II Collection, 2020

New York, 2020

S.l, 2020

1, 2020

Before there were Navy SEALs, before there were Green Berets, there were the 40 Thieves: the elite Scout Sniper Platoon of the Sixth Marine Regiment during World War II. Behind enemy lines on the island of Saipan'where firing a gun could mean instant discovery and death'the 40 Thieves killed in silence during the grueling battle for Saipan, the "D-Day" of the Pacific. Now Joseph Tachovsky'whose father Frank was the commanding officer of the 40 Thieves, also called "Tachovsky's Terrors"'joins with award-winning author Cynthia Kraack to transport readers back to the brutal Battle of Saipan.Built on hours of personal interviews with WWII veterans, their personal papers, letters and documentation from the National Archives,40 Thieves onSaipanis an astonishing portrayal of elite World War II combat. It's also a rare glimpse into the lives of World War II Marines. The poorest equipped branch of the services at that time, Marines were notorious thieves. To improve their odds for victory against the Japanese, they found it necessary to improve their supply chains through "Marine Methods," stealing. Being the elite of the Sixth Regiment, the Scout-Sniper Platoon excelled at the craft'earning them the nickname of the "40 Thieves" from their envious peers. Upon returning from a 1943 trip to the Pacific theater, Eleanor Roosevelt observed, "The Marines I have met around the world have the cleanest bodies, the filthiest minds, the highest morale and the lowest morals of any group of animals I have ever seen. Thank God for the United States Marines."

2023-05-11