Red Arrow Across the Pacific by Mark D. Van Ells
Like many Wisconsin cities, Milwaukee has a Red Arrow Park. Distinctive red arrows (with horizontal cross bars) can be seen on highway markers across the state. Most passersby have little idea that the markers commemorate the Red Arrow Division (32nd Infantry), a unit of Wisconsin and Michigan National Guardsmen that fought in both world wars.
Mark D. Van Ells focuses on the division’s island-hopping campaign during World War II. The author relies on official records, press reports and letters and diaries of the soldiers themselves. He succeeds at putting their service in context. The Red Arrow fought many battles, often little-remembered assaults on Japanese held islands, but spent much of the war in camps, in transit and on leave. The Philippines capital, Manilla, was a treat for the men—the first major city they were able to visit in two years. When the war ended, the Red Arrow became part of the occupation forces in Japan before being disbanded in 1946.
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