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Description - Pacific Payback by Stephen L Moore

Pacific Payback tells of the first six months of World War II, as the young Dauntless dive bomber crews of the USS Enterprise tore across the Pacific in search of revenge against the naval power that killed their Navy comrades at Pearl Harbor. The 183 days that separated Pearl Harbor from the victory at Midway was a time of almost constant action and fearsome casualties. Many were killed by enemy Zero fighters, blasted by anti-aircraft fire, or forced to crash-land in the Pacific. Yet the Enterprise's Dauntless crews would be the first to strike an offensive blow against Japanese installations in the Marshall Islands, the first to sink a Japanese warship, and would shepherd the Doolittle Raiders' bombing of Tokyo.

Not until Midway, though, would the Dauntless crews have the chance to truly settle the score for Pearl Harbor. In June 1942, the Japanese mobilized the best of its navy to draw out the American aircraft carrier fleet for a dramatic showdown. Admiral Yamamoto believed that off Midway Island, Japan could destroy the U.S. Navy once and for all. Thus did the fate of the Pacific War rest on these young aviators, who would risk everything to bring down their enemy's seemingly unsinkable combat fleet in the war's biggest test yet.

"Deeply researched and well written....By far the most detailed account of USS Enterprise's dive-bombers and their decisive role at the Battle of Midway."*

Sunday, December 7, 1941, dawned clear and bright over the Pacific....

But for the Dauntless dive-bomber crews of the USS Enterprise returning to their home base on Oahu, it was a morning from hell. Flying directly into the Japanese ambush at Pearl Harbor, they lost a third of their squadron and witnessed the heart of America's Navy broken and smoldering on the oil-slicked waters below.

The next six months, from Pearl Harbor to the Battle of Midway-a dark time during which the Japanese scored victory after victory-this small band of aviators saw almost constant deployment, intense carrier combat, and fearsome casualties. Many were killed by enemy Zero fighters, antiaircraft fire, or deadly crash landings in the Pacific, while others were captured and spent years in POW camps. Yet the Enterprise's Dauntless crews would be the first to strike an offensive blow against Japanese installations in the Marshall Islands, would be the first to sink a Japanese warship, and would shepherd the Doolittle Raiders' bombing of Tokyo.

Not until Midway, though, would Dauntless crews get the chance to settle the score...and change the course of World War II.

Drawing on dozens of new interviews and oral histories, author Stephen L. Moore brings to life inspiring stories of individual sacrifice and bravery-and the sweeping saga of one of America's greatest triumphs.

INCLUDES PHOTOS

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