In the Shadow of Suribachi
By Joyce Faulkner
Red Engine Press

Reviewed by J. Keith Jones

“In the Shadow of Suribachi” is a heart wrenching tale of young men facing their defining moment on Iwo Jima… and in some cases their last. These 36 days on the smelly rock island profoundly changed the lives of those who survived the experience.

Ms. Faulkner tracks the lives of her characters from childhood – through a series of vignettes – in their varied lives up to the war then beyond into their older years. In the process she manages to work in a number of interesting historical events. Among these is the great fire at the Ringling Brothers Circus in Cleveland in 1942 and the Kent State shootings.

“In the Shadow of Suribachi” illustrates just how varied the lives of those fighting in the war were. If not for the war it is unlikely that any of these men whose lives are now forever linked would have ever met.