The Bush Blaster Battalion

About the Book

Read the little known story of the World War II Army Anti-Aircraft units in the Pacific, and how they helped win the war.

• Discover how and why one ack-ack battalion became known as the Bush Blasters.
• Learn how the men adapted to the danger, the heat, the rain, the mud, the mosquitoes, the misery and the boredom of life in the field.
• Read about strange and fascinating local customs of the New Guinea and Filipino people, from headhunting to John the Baptist.
• Find out how the Filipino people continued to fight and survive during years of Japanese occupation, and how they reacted to the arrival of the Allies.
• Learn the amazing hardships the Philippines endured, and how quickly conditions changed after the Allies arrived.
• Read letters from home, and how the war was fought in the cornfields and feedlots of the Midwest, as well as at the front.
• Get a feeling of the longings for home and the girls they left behind.
• See what memories still linger fifty-seven years after the war.

"He has quite a talent for writing."
-W. H. Ownby, local draft board official

"By the way, Kenny informs me that I'm now a literary sensation in the field of journalism. It seems that the local readers of the Journal Gazette are being held breathless by some of my letters."
-Excerpt from one of John's letters

About the Author

John Roy was raised on a farm in East Central Illinois, where he learned important skills for an army career: hard work, perseverance, personal responsibility, and how to handle a firearm. He attended postwar college on the GI bill, and soon became a successful business owner in southern California., He later retired in a beautiful home overlooking the Pacific. He passed away in April, 2007 and is survived by his wife and two sons.