When it comes to sheer savagery endured by the American fighting man

Few combat theaters could match the Pacific in World War II: the sodden malarial and Japanese infested jungles of New Guinea and Guadalcanal, the kamikaze pilots for whom death was no deterrent, and the blood-soaked beaches taken by island-hopping Marines.

Here, in their own words, are the compelling stories of American soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines, as told to decorated combat veteran Lt. Colonel Oliver North.