Bones of My Grandfather: Reclaiming a Lost Hero of WWII
Written by Clay Bonnyman Evans
Narrated by Clay Bonnyman Evans
4.5/5
()
About this audiobook
“War, reclamation, and what Tim O'Brien called "the Lives of the Dead" are eternal literary themes for men. Clay Bonnyman Evans has honored that lineage with this masterful melding of military history and personal quest.”―Ron Powers, co-author of New York Times #1 bestsellers Flags of Our Fathers and True Compass, along with No One Cares About Crazy People and others
In November 1943, Marine 1st Lt. Alexander Bonnyman, Jr. was mortally wounded while leading a successful assault on a critical Japanese fortification on the Pacific atoll of Tarawa, and posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest military honor. The brutal, bloody 76-hour battle would ultimately claim the lives of more than 1,100 Marines and 5,000 Japanese forces.
But Bonnyman's remains, along with those of hundreds of other Marines, were hastily buried and lost to history following the battle, and it would take an extraordinary effort by a determined group of dedicated civilians to find him.
In 2010, having become disillusioned with the U.S. government's half-hearted efforts to recover the "lost Marines of Tarawa," Bonnyman's grandson, Clay Bonnyman Evans, was privileged to join the efforts of History Flight, Inc., a non-governmental organization dedicated to finding and repatriating the remains of lost U.S. service personnel. In Bones of My Grandfather, Evans tells the remarkable story of History Flight's mission to recover hundreds of Marines long lost to history in the sands of Tarawa. Even as the organization begins to unearth the physical past on a remote Pacific island, Evans begins his own quest to unearth the reclaim the true history of his grandfather, a charismatic, complicated hero whose life had been whitewashed, sanitized and diminished over the decades.
On May 29, 2015, Evans knelt beside a History Flight archaeologist as she uncovered the long-lost, well-preserved remains of of his grandfather. And more than seventy years after giving his life for his country, a World War II hero finally came home.
Clay Bonnyman Evans
Clay Bonnyman Evans is a native of Colorado. After a first try at college, he spent seven years working as a cowboy before returning to his first love, journalism. He has worked for the Los Angeles Times, Orange County Register, and Daily Camera (Boulder, Colorado), and other publications. He is the author of three previous books, a memoir about his cowboy days, a children’s book, and a history of an iconic Colorado store, and has published hundreds of freelance stories in dozens of publications. He lives with his wife in Hilton Head Island and Boulder, and enjoys dogs, running, bicycling, and long-distance hiking.
Related to Bones of My Grandfather
Related audiobooks
The War Journal of Major Damon 'Rocky' Gause Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Storm on Our Shores: One Island, Two Soldiers, and the Forgotten Battle of World War II Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Given Up for Dead: America's Heroic Stand at Wake Island Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5You'll Be Sor-ree!: A Guadalcanal Marine Remembers the Pacific War Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Escaping with His Life: From Dunkirk to D-Day & Beyond Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Undefeated: America's Heroic Fight for Bataan and Corregidor Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Jersey Brothers: A Missing Naval Officer in the Pacific and His Family's Quest to Bring Him Home Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Finish Forty and Home: The Untold World War II Story of B-24s in the Pacific Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5On Hallowed Ground: The Last Battle for Pork Chop Hill Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Last of the 357th Infantry: Harold Frank's WWII Story of Faith and Courage Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Hero of the Pacific: The Life of Marine Legend John Basilone Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5SHOT DOWN: The true story of pilot Howard Snyder and the crew of the B-17 Susan Ruth Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Story of Wake Island Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Invasion Diary Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Lucky 666: The Impossible Mission Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Guadalcanal Diary: 2nd Edition Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5With Their Bare Hands: General Pershing, the 79th Division, and the Battle for Montfaucon Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Until the Eyes Shut: Memories of a machine gunner on the Eastern Front, 1943-45 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/540 Thieves on Saipan: The Elite Marine Scout-Snipers in One of WWII's Bloodiest Battles Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Marine Raiders Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Mongoose Bravo: Vietnam: A Time of Reflection Over Events So Long Ago Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Scimitar into Stanley: One Soldier's Falklands War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Brotherhood of Heroes: The Marines at Peleliu, 1944-The Bloodiest Battle of the Pacific War Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Citizen Soldiers: The U S Army from the Normandy Beaches to the Bulge to the Surrender of Germany Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Shots Fired in Anger: A Rifleman's Eye View of the Activities on the Island of Guadalcanal Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5All the Gallant Men: An American Sailor's Firsthand Account of Pearl Harbor Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Miracle at Midway Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Islands of the Damned: A Marine at War in the Pacific Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Wars & Military For You
The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of September 11, 2001 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/577 Days of February: Living and Dying in Ukraine, Told by the Nation’s Own Journalists Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ghosts of Honolulu: A Japanese Spy, A Japanese American Spy Hunter, and the Untold Story of Pearl Harbor Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Book of Five Rings Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Last Kingdom Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Mysterious Case of Rudolf Diesel: Genius, Power, and Deception on the Eve of World War I Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Valiant Women: The Extraordinary American Servicewomen Who Helped Win World War II Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5You're Stepping on My Cloak and Dagger Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Four Battlegrounds: Power in the Age of Artificial Intelligence Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Diary of Anne Frank Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5On Palestine Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Making of the Atomic Bomb: 25th Anniversary Edition Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Korean War: A History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5When I Come Home Again: 'A page-turning literary gem' THE TIMES, BEST BOOKS OF 2020 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Rape of Nanking: The History and Legacy of the Notorious Massacre during the Second Sino-Japanese War Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Invisible Generals: Rediscovering Family Legacy, and a Quest to Honor America's First Black Generals Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Kill Anything That Moves Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Unbroken Bonds of Battle: A Modern Warriors Book of Heroism, Patriotism, and Friendship Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin - Book Summary: How U.S. Navy SEALS Lead And Win Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Countdown 1945: The Extraordinary Story of the Atomic Bomb and the 116 Days That Changed the World Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Nazi Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill Roosevelt, Stalin, and Churchill Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fat Leonard: How One Man Bribed, Bilked, and Seduced the U.S. Navy Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Reviews for Bones of My Grandfather
6 ratings0 reviews