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by Bob Dole (Foreword by), Orrin G. Hatch (Introduction by), Gary W. Toyn (Author)
Experience Iwo Jima, arguably the bloodiest battle of the modern era, from the perspective of an extraordinary battlefield medic, George Wahlen. As a Navy corpsman he was targeted by the Japanese, making his job of saving the injured even that much more deadly. How he saved so many lives is among the many mysteries of his incredible story. After earning three purple hearts in a matter of days, witnesses of Wahlen's heroics remain dumbfounded that he actually survived. For his actions he was awarded the Medal of Honor, America's highest military honor. But after the war, he told no one about the medal. Even his wife didn't know he was a national hero for many years after their marriage. For more than six decades he has kept the details of his story to himself, but family and friends have since convinced him to tell the gritty details of his war-time experience. His story is told using over 180 rare and unpublished photographs, many of which were previously censored for being too graphic for public sensitivities. As many now learn of Wahlen's survival, sacrifice and bravery, his story is considered among the most dramatic accounts of heroism in U.S. military history.
Author Biography
Growing up in Huntsville, Utah, Gary W. Toyn has traveled the globe under contract for the Defense Department, having been launched off aircraft carriers in the Persian Gulf and having survived a helicopter crash in the jungles of Honduras. He has interviewed world political leaders, dissidents, and heads of state. He has also organized humanitarian relief efforts for Romanian orphanages, for the first private university in the former Soviet Union, and for struggling libraries in post-communist Eastern Europe. In all, he has worked and traveled in nearly fifty countries. He is the author of The Quiet Hero, the biography of WWII Medal of Honor recipient George Wahlen, co-compiler of Life Lessons from Fathers of Faith, author of Life Lessons from Mothers of Faith, and Divine Intervention: Inspiring True Stories from LDS Survivors.
