{"product_id":"9781469169200","title":"Island Hopping With VB-144","description":"John W. Holcomb was born in 1923 in Denver, Colorado, and  \u003cbr\u003eon December 7, 1941, while visiting his girlfriend at his future  \u003cbr\u003ein-laws', heard over the radio about the attack on Pearl Harbor.  \u003cbr\u003eAnd like almost everyone of that generation, he volunteered  \u003cbr\u003eto join the armed forces. He joined the United States Navy.  \u003cbr\u003eAfter boot camp, he married his sweetheart, Eunice E. \"Diddy\"  \u003cbr\u003eGreenwald. After which he sailed out on the USS Altamaha  \u003cbr\u003eto Guadalcanal as a member of a TBF torpedo squadron. After which he became  \u003cbr\u003ea member of squadron VB-144 of Vega Ventura medium bombers and went to  \u003cbr\u003eMidway Island and Tarawa Island and participated in the island-hopping campaign  \u003cbr\u003eacross the Pacifi c, bombing such places as Kwajalein, Eniwetok, Roi-Namur, and  \u003cbr\u003emany other islands forgotten except by those brave young warriors who were there.  \u003cbr\u003eThis book is dedicated to all of them. Let us never forget. After the war, John settled  \u003cbr\u003edown to the business of raising a family with his sweetheart. They had fi ve children.  \u003cbr\u003eHis oldest son, Larry N. Holcomb, later volunteered to join the marine corps and  \u003cbr\u003eserved in Vietnam as a recon member and suffered severe injuries in that confl ict.  \u003cbr\u003eWe will always remember and honor both of them.  \u003cbr\u003eStephen P. Holcomb","brand":"Xlibris Corporation","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47126111355120,"sku":"9781469169200","price":3.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781469169200_p0.jpg?v=1763699261","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781469169200","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}