As Rugged as the Rest

Joe Boy House did not have to go to war. As the only son in a farming family, he could have gotten a deferment and stayed safely at home. That's certainly what his parents hoped for. But after Japan attacked Pearl Harbor and plunged America into World War II, Joe Boy – like millions of other young men across the country – was determined to answer the call to duty.

When he left for Marine Corps training in 1943, the 19-year-old recruit had never been out of the state of Washington. He'd attended a one-room schoolhouse, helped his dad run their farming and logging operations, and kept a protective eye on his three adoring sisters. As Rugged as the Rest is the story of a young Marine's journey from bootcamp in San Diego to a speck of an island in the Pacific called Iwo Jima. His many letters home described everything from his stint as a prison chaser at the Puget Sound Navy Yard to his place in the formation of the Marine Corps' Fifth Division at Camp Pendleton to the rigorous amphibious training at Camp Tarawa in Hawaii.

Then, on February 19, 1945, Joe Boy hit the beach on the Japanese island of Iwo Jima, where one of the bloodiest battles in Marine Corps military history was fought. In describing the combat that took place there, Admiral Chester W. Nimitz famously said:  Among the Americans who served on Iwo Jima, uncommon valor was a common virtue. More than 70,000 Americans landed on that tiny island. This personal story of one includes elements shared by them all.