No Average Day: The 24 Hours of October 24, 1944 (American Military Experience)

October 24, 1944, is not a day of national remembrance.Yet, more Americans serving in World War II perished on that day than on December 7, 1941, when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, or on June 6, 1944, when the Allies stormed the beaches of Normandy, or on any other single day of the war.In its telling of the events of October 24, No Average Day proceeds hour by hour and incident by incident.The book begins with Army Private First-Class Paul Miller’s pre-dawn demise in the Sendai #6B Japanese prisoner of war camp.It concludes with the death of Navy Seaman Second Class Wanza E.Matthews, moments before midnight, after the Japanese submarine I-56 attacked his ship off New Guinea.The sinking of the hellship Arisan Maru-a lesser-known tragedy of the war-bookends and weaves through the two-dozen selected other incidents. No Average Day eschews the conventional discourse of the war’s origins, its great battles, and the maneuvering of generals, admirals, and politicians.Instead, it direct