Pacific Alamo: The Battle for Wake Island

Author John Wukovits has selected the perfect title for his new book, "Pacific Alamo." Like the famous stand of Colonel Travis and Jim Bowie that helped win Texan independence, the battle of Wake Island in December 1941 was a hopeless cause that turned into a tactical victory as the gallant and vastly outnumbered defenders managed to buy enough time for their comrades-in-arms to organize for eventual victory. In the process, the defenders of Wake gave America a much-needed rallying cry as it regrouped from the initial disaster at Pearl Harbor.

Wukovits's outstanding military history is a fitting tribute to the military and civilian personnel who fought and died on Wake Island in the dark days immediately following the Japanese attack on Hawaii. The author sets the stage by introducing key figures who fought there and describing the political situation that led to the Japanese first strike. The accounts of the battle itself are particularly well rendered, mostly told through the recollections of the defenders themselves. The accounts several Japanese soldiers are also included, helping to provide balance to the battle descriptions.

Equally important, Wukovits doesn't end the book with the American surrender, but instead goes on to describe the experiences of the survivors in Japanese captivity. The description of their three-plus year ordeal of beatings, starvation and appalling living conditions are as harrowing as the accounts of the battle. In the final chapter, Wukovits describes the fates of the survivors of the battle after the war. In the end, the picture that emerges is of a group of reluctant heroes who did their duty when their country called.

Overall, "Pacific Alamo" is a compelling work of narrative military history that should appeal both to history buffs as well as to general readers.


What the Wake Island Marines and Civilians Went Through   December 13, 2005
Dianne Roberts (Los Angeles, California United States)
12 out of 12 found this review helpful

I definitely like this type of military history. It touches a chord with you by more or less tracking a handful of representative marines and civilians throughout their entire experience in WWII, with the siege and eventual fall of Wake being the central act of the book. It very successfully weaves their personal stories together with overview descriptions of the battle and analysis of how the battle was proceeding.

The book starts with introducing its cast of characters. Many are small town or rural guys growing up in the Depression. For the most part they find themselves signing up in the Marines or joining a construction company that works on foreign military bases to get a job rather than join the ranks of the unemployed.

Life on Wake before the start of the war wasn't so bad apparently. Getting there involved a great time for a romp during the stopover in Hawaii, an exotic paradise that was also usually the first place the guys had seen beyond their hometown. Construction work on the island was performed both by the workers and the marines. They worked long hours and they were detached from their families, but there wasn't much else to do on Wake (a spit of three sand islands that barely jut out from the ocean) but work. Food was good, as was the medical care, and a camaraderie developed even before the start of the war.

Pearl Harbor of course changes everything on the island. One of the amazing things however is just how little those on Wake knew of the extent of the disaster to the U.S. Navy there. Throughout the entire siege they expected to see the Navy steam in over the horizon and summarily dispatch the Japanese. They wouldn't learn about how bad Pearl Harbor really was for three more years.

The defense of Wake was not easy, and the holdouts tenacity and bravery shines through in abundance. Radar had not yet been installed by the time the war started, the ship which was to deliver it was recalled when Pearl Harbor was struck. Being a low reef island there was no high ground nor any natural cover. The sound of crashing surf was so loud throughout the entire island that usually the first sign of a Japanese air raid would be bombs exploding on the airfield.

The description of the fighting is vivid, you really are pulling for the guys even though you know that they will eventually be defeated. There are a few tactical victories that they manage wrest from the Japanese however. The tiny two plane Wake Air Force downs a surprisingly large number of Japanese planes, including the plane and crew that landed the fatal blow to the USS Arizona just weeks earlier. The small number of guns on the island are fired with skill and care, enough so to sink a Japanese destroyer that strays too closely. When the Japanese finally do land a serious invasion force on each of the three small islands, one of the islands actually repels the entire force. Unfortunately the commanding officer (who comes off admirably) is not aware of this fact, but is aware that food and ammunition is running out, the other two islands are falling, and that the writing is on the wall. In a bitter moment he surrenders.

The Japanese were not "good winners" in WWII. The survivors of the siege were split up, and the book follows the group that is sent to Chinese prison camps mostly. Their journey to China via Japan on a transport is ghastly, as is their internment till the very end of the war. The separate group left on Wake were forced to rebuild the defenses in case of an American attack. Few of them survived the brutality of the Japanese Commanding Officer left in charge of the island though.

By following the men throughout their entire experience in the war this book gives a complete representation of what the human experience was on Wake, and not just a description of the battle. It's a great story of triumph, defeat, survival, and endurance.


Pacific Alamo The Battle for Wake Island   July 28, 2003
Bruce L. Hansen (Menifee Ca. United States)
16 out of 18 found this review helpful

An outstanding book on what has become a not so well known battle at the beginning of WWII. The author did a great job of research in bringing this book to life.All of the men who fought and died on those 3 islands and the ones who lived we owe a never ending debt of gratitude.What they endured during their capitivity and how each man delt with the punishment and cruel conditions makes this book a must read for anyone interested in history,especially World War II buffs.Great book!


One of the Top Four Books on the defence of Wake Island!   December 29, 2003
Gregory R. Cunningham (Winchester, VA United States)
23 out of 29 found this review helpful

Pacific Alamo by John Wukovits rates in the Top Four books on the defence of Wake Island. I am the great-nephew of Retired Rear Admiral Winfield Scott Cunningham, then Island Commander, and have collected material and books for over 24 years on the heroic events at Wake Island.

Being a little biased, Wake Island Command, by Winfield Scott Cunningham, published by Little, Brown in 1961, is number 1 in my book. It was written with the assistence of Lydel Sims, but my uncle told me everything in the book was written by him and he took full responsibility for it's contents. He was always a gentleman and always gave high praise for the men (Marine, Army, Navy and civilians) that served under him during the defence of Wake.

Number 2: "A Seige of Wake Island: Facing Fearful Odds, by Gregory Urwin, University of Nebraska Press, 1997 is the next greatest book. His well researched account, using over 70 personal interviews (including an interview with Devereux and Admiral Cunningham), comes the closest in the depiction of the events at Wake Island. The author and I disagreed on only one piont (the trap of December 11th), but everything else is exactly described. He even was able to confirm that the Marine Corp' went out of it's way to 'Blacken' the reputation of Navy Commander Winfield Scott Cunningham to make the defense of Wake Island a strictly 'Marine Affair'.

Number 3: "A Magnificent Fight: The Battle for Wake Island" by Robert Cressman, Naval Institute Press, 1995 is 3rd on my Top Four list. His true to life depiction of the events at Wake Island gives you chills. The 'Devereax/Cunningham Controversy' is fully discused in the appendix and gives a fair and balanced view.

Number 4: "Pacific Alamo" by John Wukovits now rounds out the top 4. His vivid details and personnal interviews bring out the whole truth of the events at Wake Island. I agree with every word of the book (the trap on December 11th was given to Devereux and Cunningham equally) and even the repromand to both leaders for extending the dispute for so long.

These are my picks. I hope you enjoy.

P.S.: Another recent book, "Given Up for Dead" by Bill Sloan should be avoided at all costs. He gives a strictly biased 'opinion' using a 'ghost written' book as his number one source and a magazine article by Peter Andrews in a 1987 issue of American Heritage, which is full of inaccurate statements and used many slanderous, and false statements concerning Commander Cunningham's role during the defence.


A Decent Place to Find Wake Island   November 2, 2005
Jason M. Fedota (Gold River, CA)
6 out of 6 found this review helpful

Pacific Alamo recounts the historic battle at Wake Island where a small battalion of Marines, civilian contractors and a two-plane air force repelled a small Japanese armada and delayed Japanese attacks on other key Pacific targets. The story traces the legend from the initial construction and staffing of the Wake outpost to the battles with the Japanese to the surrender and imprisonment and ultimate release of the Wake soldiers.

For those like me who don't know the tale here are the basics; 500 serviceman and some volunteer civilian workers manning only a few gun emplacements and a two-plane air force sink two ships and one submarine, down two planes and kill 340 enemy troops providing much needed re-assurance to a cautious nation suffering after the defeat at Pearl Harbor. Fifteen days later the second wave of Japanese attacks including ground forces overwhelm the Wake defenders, which begins a three and a half year imprisonment in brutal Japanese prison camps.

Pacific Alamo does a good job of incorporating tales of valor amongst the gritty details of preparing and fighting the battle. Like the story of how Major Devereaux, knowingly facing an overwhelming force, allowed the enemy to draw in frighteningly close before firing a shell to ensure the effectiveness of his small battery of guns. Or, stories like that of Capt. Elrod who fought as an aviator until there were no more planes to fly and then took up a machine gun and died protecting a gun emplacement during the Japanese land invasion. These tales, captured in the photograph of time that included Pearl Harbor, were all the more dramatic as serious doubts of the Navy's ability to protect the West Coast were infiltrating the Country. As is the trap for many books based on oral history, the book spends a great number of pages describing the background of the soldiers who provide the historical information. While it is interesting to get to know the soldiers, this is not the first book to go a little too long on the people side of the story. The most exciting part of the book is the 100 pages that describe the siege and the battles. Overall this was a very solid book for someone looking to understand the history of the battle for Wake Island.