ANGELS AGAINST THE SUN
A WWII Saga of Grunts, Grit, and Brotherhood
The 11th Airborne—nicknamed ‘The Angels’— were trained to enter combat via airdrop: by parachutes and engineless gliders. They were one of five such divisions created by the US Army during the war and the only one sent to the Pacific theater. There they were pitted against two merciless foes: the Imperial Japanese Army and the combined forces of monsoons, swamps, insects, mud, privation and disease. The Angels’ combat operations were some of the most dramatic of the war, ranging from miserable jungle battles to the gritty urban combat required to push the Japanese out of Manila, the Philippine’s capital city of almost a million inhabitants.
Based on exhaustive archival research, including interviews, letters, and diaries, Angels Against the Sun takes readers on a soldier’s journey from the routine of stateside training to the diversions of football, boxing and distilling moonshine before descending into the hardships and tragedies of war. Written in an engaging, character-driven, narrative-style, the book provides readers with the human perspective of little-known aspects of the war in the Pacific.
Table of Contents (Jump to Topic)
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PRAISE FOR THE BOOK
These authors were kind enough to offer their reviews of the book.
MAJOR FIGURES
These are just a few of the 11th Airborne Division troopers in Angels Against the Sun.
Joseph M. Swing
11th AIRBORNE DIVISION
Swing, commissioned upon graduation from West Point in 1912, took command of the 11th Airborne Division at the time of its formation in early 1943 at Camp Mackall, North Carolina. A First World War veteran, the fifty-year-old general led a division of troopers whose average age was nineteen.
Manuel Pérez Jr
511th PARACHUTE INFANTRY REGIMENT
A twenty-two-year-old Mexican-American from Chicago, Pérez was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for actions during the battle for Manila. In a one-man assault, Pérez single handedly shot, blew up, stabbed or beat to death twenty-three of the enemy.
Mills T. Lowe
511th PARACHUTE INFANTRY REGIMENT
Raised during the depression on a Virginia peanut farm without indoor plumbing, Lowe had a workmanlike childhood that served him well in the Army. Promoted through the ranks, he led a machinegun platoon through two campaigns and multiple banzai attacks before losing an eye to Japanese shrapnel.
Kazuo Yoshida
76th LANGUAGE DETACHMENT
A second-generation Japanese-American, Yoshida (left) volunteered twice: first to enlist and again for parachute school. He was a member of the Angels’ intelligence section responsible for interrogating prisoners, translating captured documents and intercepting enemy radio transmissions.
Thomas Mesereau
511th PARACHUTE INFANTRY REGIMENT
Mesereau’s experiences bookend the Angels’ campaign in the Pacific: as a captain, he led his company into battle on the division’s first day of combat. At war’s end, promoted to major, he was present on the deck of the USS Missouri for Japan’s formal surrender.
PHOTOS OF THE 11TH AIRBORNE'S PACIFIC CAMPAIGN
AUTHOR Q & A
Question: What inspired you to write the book?
James:
My first book recounted the story of the 17th Airborne Division so it seemed natural that for my second effort I should chronicle another of the lesser-known airborne units. Additionally, I found it a personal challenge to switch from the European theater to the Pacific. So, it was the combined appeal of shedding light on an overlooked Army unit in a theater typically associated with the Marine Corps that motivated me.
Coincidently, the US Army recently reactivated the 11th Airborne Division in Alaska, which not only validates the continued necessity of the airborne capability, but also provides a continuation of the historic legacy started in early 1943.
Question: Could you tell us where the book picks up and what is covered?
James: The book is largely chronological, starting with the formation of the division in 1943. Readers follow the troopers through their training, which includes runs up the fabled Mount Currahee, made famous by the 101st’s Band of Brothers. After several delays, the Angels are sent to New Guinea and then to the Philippines for their first combat. Their campaign ranged from the Leyte jungles, to Manila’s urban sprawl, to Luzon’s mountains and finally to Japan where the Angels landed in the vanguard of the occupation—several days before the formal surrender, as a matter of fact.
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