“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.

"My first telegram came Sep. 3 1942 that my son was missing in action. And the next telegram came Aug. 18 1943 that he was Declared Dead. Till this day I do not know what happened to him." Mrs. Ann M. Lyons, August 7, 1957. Between 1942 and 1944, nearly four hundred Marines virtually vanished in the jungles, seas, and skies of Guadalcanal. They were the victims of enemy ambushes and friendly fire, hard fighting and poor planning, their deaths witnessed by dozens or not at all. They were buried in field graves, in cemeteries as unknowns, or left where they fell. They were classified as "missing," as "not recovered," as "presumed dead." And in the years that followed, their families wondered at their fates and how an administrative decision could close the book on sons, brothers, and husbands without healing the wounds left by their absence. 'Leaving Mac Behind' reconstructs the lives, last moments, and legacies of some of these men. Original records, eyewitness accounts, and recent discoveries shed new light on the lost graves of Guadalcanal's missing Marines--and the ongoing efforts to bring them home.

No one has ever written a book like this before. Most books whose subject matter concerns military activities involve descriptions of heroic actions performed by the participants and give details of equipment, strategies, tactics, unit movements, and the like. Some try to develop the colorful personalities of the central characters and relate stories of how these men influenced the battle, but no one has ever written a book like this one. What you are about to read is a comprehensive research study which accurately identifies and locates the undiscovered graves of many Marines and Sailors killed in action during the battle for the island of Betio, Tarawa Atoll, Gilbert Islands. I must caution you that this is not a book about war. It is not about the United States Marine Corps, the United States Navy, Army or any other military organization. It is rather, a book about honoring sacrifice. It was written to recognize and honor a small group of American heroes, all of whom died in service to their country and to the cause of freedom. Who these men were and what they did materially affects the way we live today, and it is in their memory this work was created.

Tracing the lives of some two hundred Native Hawaiian teachers, preachers, pastors, and missionaries, Nā Kahu provides new historical perspectives of the indigenous ministry in Hawai‘i. These Christian emissaries were affiliated first with the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, and later with the Hawaiian Evangelical Association. By the mid-1850s literate and committed Hawaiians were sailing to far reaches of the Pacific to join worldwide missionary endeavors. Geographical locations ranged from remote mission stations in Hawai‘i, including the Hansen’s disease community at Kalaupapa; the Marquesan Islands; Micronesia; fur trade settlements in Northwest America; and the gold fields of California. In their reports and letters the pastors and missionaries pour out their hopes and discouragements, their psychological and physical pain, and details of their everyday lives. The first part of the book presents the biographies of nineteen young Hawaiians, studying as messengers of Christianity in the remote New England town of Cornwall, Connecticut, along with “heathen” from other lands. The second part—the core of the book—moves to Hawai‘i, tracing the careers of pastors and missionaries, as well as recognizing their intellectual and political endeavors. There is also a discussion of the educational institutions established to train an indigenous ministry and the gradual acceptance of ordained Hawaiians as equals to their western counterparts. Included in an appendix is the little-known story of Christian ali‘i, Hawaiian chiefs, both men and women, who contributed to the mission by lending their authority to the cause and by contributing land and labor for the construction of churches. The biographies reveal the views of pastors on events leading to the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom, which brought about great divisions between the haole and Hawaiian ministry. Many Hawaiian pastors who sided with the new Provisional Government and then the Republic, were expelled by their own congregations loyal to the monarchy. During the closing years of the century, alternate forms of Christianity emerged, and those pastors drawn to these syncretic faiths add their perspectives to the book. Perhaps the most illuminating biographies are those in which the pastors give voice to a faith that blends traditional Hawaiian values with an emerging ecumenical Christianity.