The Ghost Mountain boys:
their epic march and the terrifying battle for New Guinea—the forgotten
war of the South Pacific by James Campbell
James Campbell’s Ghost Mountain Boys tells the harrowing
story of the 32nd Division’s WWII battle to prevent New Guinea from falling
into Japanese hands. The battle for New Guinea is considered by many to be the first great
land victory in the South Pacific Theater. The book tells the tale of National
Guardsmen whisked from the temperate Midwest and dropped into the dense jungles
of New Guinea with little training and with equipment unequal to
the task ahead.
In addition to the Japanese, soldiers of the U.S. and Australian armies faced
an even more fearsome enemy, the terrain they needed to traverse to complete their mission. This grueling terrain exacted the harshest toll of all,
accounting for almost 80% of the casualties of the campaign. If the enemies’
bullets were not enough, the soldiers were pitted against jungle, mountains,
insects, rain, mud, dysentery and malaria.
Through Campbell’s words, the reader sees the dramatic and often deadly
consequence of poor planning, indecisiveness and ego. Unlike many historical accounts, Campbell makes a real effort to humanize the enemy and
illustrate how ill-advised decisions on both sides led to unneeded bloodshed,
suffering and death.
