Rock Force: The American Paratroopers Who Took Back Corregidor and Exacted MacArthur’s Revenge on Japan

When it comes to combat parachute assaults Corregidor was as hard as any ever made. Great book on this Airborne operation that makes you appreciate what it meant to be a paratrooper during that war. All the Way! 1/505th Parachute Infantry

This was a riveting history of the parachute assault conducted by the 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment(PIR) on the island of Corregidor. It was told from the first line leaders and individual soldiers perspectives. The author, Kevin Maurer, provided a straightforward recounting of the day to day conduct of the battle. It was a fast-paced story which caught the intensity of the parachute drop and combat plus well portrayed the long, dull periods as soldiers waited between combat events. The author caught the individual motivations of his prime participants, including their motivations for joining the Army as well as volunteering for duty as paratroopers. He also did an excellent job portraying how they were affected and learned to cope with their memories of the horrors of combat. The book was a comprehensive coverage of the tactical perspective for the Battle for Corregidor. The author showed an insiders knowledge on the complexity of airborne operations to be sustained during the initial forced entry phase and over the length of the battle. Mr. Maurer has a clear and inciteful writing style building the context of the story in full simple details while showing the range of emotions the combatants went through in this type of vicious, close in battle. Reading this book added vastly to my knowledge of WWII airborne operations. This was a small operation in comparison to Normandy or Market-Garden but for complexity and sheer difficulty, the jump on Corregidor was second to none. Although a highly detailed narrative the book was focused almost exclusively on the actions of the 503rd PIR. However, it excludes most of the actions from the amphibious part of the operation, which was conducted by a Battalion of the 34th Infantry Regiment. Also, although COL Jones, Commander of the 503rd PIR, was designated the task force commander over the entire operation none of the operational aspects of the battle from that perspective were covered. Despite these few criticisms, this an outstanding history of the 503rd PIRs fight during the battle for Corregidor and a must read for any military historian or person interested in the complexity of forced entry, airborne operations.

What a great story of little known event. This action is not well known and against unknown formidable opponents, the 503 Parachute Regiment dropped onto the top of Corregidor and after several weeks of battle conquered the island. I wish there were more maps when describing the fighting locations , otherwise a great story I highly recommend it .

Another great book about the greatest generation and the brave men who fought to take back Corrigador. These brave men gave everything they had to take back what the Japanese had taken.

Everyone knows about the loss of Corregidor. Obviously, it was retaken by the end of WWII but I dont recall ever reading a word about that nor thought to ask. The book is written from to POV of several participants (including one Japanese) who wrote diaries or memoirs or who lived in to their 90s and were interviewed. The airborne assault was perhaps the technically most difficult of the war.

The book as well written and actions of the soldiers impressive. Yet, considering the losses I have to wonder whether it would have been better to bypass the island and just let the Japanese food supply run out.

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