Given Up for Dead: America's Heroic Stand at Wake Island

Bill Sloan

Jun 2021 · Tantor Media Inc · Narrated by David Cochran Heath

About this audiobook

On December 8, 1941, just five hours after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Japanese planes attacked a remote US outpost in the westernmost reaches of the Pacific. It was the beginning of an incredible sixteen-day fight for Wake Island, a tiny but strategically valuable dot in the ocean. Unprepared for the stunning assault, the small battalion was dangerously outnumbered and outgunned. But they compensated with a surplus of bravery and perseverance, waging an extraordinary battle against all odds. When it was over, a few hundred American Marines, sailors, and soldiers, along with a small army of heroic civilian laborers, had repulsed enemy forces several thousand strong-but it was still not enough. Among the Marines was twenty-year-old PFC Wiley Sloman. By Christmas Day, he lay semiconscious in the sand, struck by enemy fire. Another day would pass before he was found-stripped of his rifle and his uniform. Shocked to realize he hadn't awakened to victory, Sloman wondered: Had he been given up for dead-and had the Marines simply given up? In this riveting account, veteran journalist Bill Sloan re-creates this history-making battle, the crushing surrender, and the stories of the uncommonly gutsy men who fought it.

About the author

Bill Sloan is renowned military historian and the author of more than a dozen books, including The Ultimate Battle and Brotherhood of Heroes. A former investigative reporter and feature writer, Sloan lives in Dallas, Texas.

David Cochran Heath has voiced characters for computer games and public television, hosted an instructional video series for automotive repair, and was the narrator for a long-running radio program for kids. He has recorded over 140 books, including three versions of the Bible as sole reader: ESV, KJV, and NIrV.