These books are new, right out of the box I received them in. Since my late wife and I owned the publishing company I still have brand new copies. We spent two years of our lives working on this book every day, often late into the night. I edited,designed and published this book. They retail for $24.00. I'm selling them here on eBay for the bargain price of $18.00 which includes shipping and handling. All the errors in grammar, punctuation and spelling you can blame me and my late wife. Some nights we were just worn out and missed some errors before it went to press.
As the publisher, editor, designer if requested I'll be happy to sign your copy of this fine book.

Here's the jacket blurb by the late Hugh Ambrose, former vice president of The National WWII Museum.
"Hal Braun cut a wide swath through World War II. He spent years fighting a dirty, stinking war against a ferocious opponent. Along the way, he cut loose on the racism and narrow-minded bureaucracy he found rampant in the U.S. Army. Against his enemies, Hal was by turns brave, rebellious, profane, idealistic, opportunistic and patriotic. His memoirs, suffused with his own wicked sense of humor, offer a fresh perspective on the soldiers and the war. Hal's story makes me wonder how he ever got away with it all."  Author/Historian Hugh Ambrose

Dedication
"This book is dedicated to every man who served in Bushmaster Ranks during WW II’s bloody Pacific combat.  Fallen from these ranks are my wonderful comrades and life long friends Ramon Acuna, Bambino Sannito, John Carl, Edwin ‘Doc’ Gillespie, Dr. Bill Daily and Maricopa Bull Cameron, Harold Tolle and too many other to list.
Appearing in this book are Ray Brett, Norman Peregoy, Bob Shirkey, Alex Mihalko, Jim Walker, Dixie Walker, Don Curtis and Stan Mynar.  This book could not have come into existence without our shared experiences and the patience of my wife Ingrid, my heartfelt thanks to them all and to Jim Culberson for getting our story on the road.  Thanks for the memories."
Bushmaster Hal Braun.

Introduction, by Jim Culberson
"This book began for me with a purchase I made on an internet auction site.  It was a large amount of material that had been saved by the aged sister of an Army Sergeant named Robert R. Jacobson of Seattle, Washington.  She fell on hard times and had someone she knew put her late brother’s W.W. II keepsakes and photographs up for auction.  Known as “Jake” to his friends her late brother had been a streetcar conductor in Seattle before the war and like so many Americans had joined the Army to go and fight for his country.  He wound up in an Army unit known as the “Bushmasters” and fought in the Philippines before becoming part of the American force that occupied Japan at the close of hostilities.  I won the internet auction and found myself in possession of items that represented a man’s life accomplishments.  Wanting to know more about this individual I began searching the web for more information on the Bushmasters.  It was there that I came across Capt. Hal Braun.
Capt. Hal Braun did not know Jake Jacobson, probably because Jacobson was a replacement who was sent to take the place of a soldier wounded in combat in the Philippines and sent home, like Hal.
Hal and I began to correspond long distance via email and over a period of months I began to learn his fascinating story.
The Bushmasters were America’s most ethnically diverse fighting unit in the very segregated Army of W.W. II.  When they went into battle in New Guinea they were a green National Guard unit from Arizona that had had jungle training in Panama.  They found themselves initially thrown into battle against one of Japan’s most elite fighting units, the fearsome 36th Tiger Division, in some of the most hellish terrain on planet Earth, the jungles of New Guinea.  They prevailed through a combination of sheer grit, guts and good leaders.  Capt. Hal Braun was one of those good leaders.  He still fights to this day trying to get the surviving Bushmasters their long-denied Presidential Unit Citation.
Hal came out of Officer’s Training School a “90 day wonder.”  Graduating as a Lieutenant who didn’t (and still doesn’t) suffer fools gladly he rubbed (and still rubs) some people the wrong way because he isn’t afraid to speak his mind.  He wound up in command of Company B after his immediate superiors were knocked out of action early on in combat in New Guinea.
I had the great good fortune to finally meet Capt. Hal Braun, his lovely wife Ingrid and his friend since the War, Sergeant Norman Peregoy, in late March 2004 at Ft. Benning, GA.  Hal had the honor of being chosen to be one of the few inductees chosen for induction into the Infantry Hall of Fame that year.  Learning of the upcoming event and living only about a two-day drive from Ft. Benning I immediately asked if I could attend.  It was a great honor and privilege to be able to be there and I must say that meeting the bright, enthusiastic, courageous, young Officer Candidates at Ft. Benning added a to a truly great experience.  It would be hard to find a more dedicated, great bunch of people than the Officer Candidates at Ft. Benning.
I only got to spend two days with Hal, Ingrid and Norm so we crammed a lot into that short time.  Hal and Norm regaled me with tales of their wartime experiences and I soaked it all up like a sponge.  Hal donated his original W.W. II patrol map, that he had used on Noemfoor Island, to the Infantry Museum at Ft. Benning and Norm donated his bullet-holed helmet which he had kept all these years since it was shot through by a Japanese bullet which removed the top of one of his ears.  I took a lot of photographs, some of which are reproduced in this book.
I think most people with a casual interest in W.W. II do not realize the important role that U.S. Army Infantry units played in the fierce fighting in the South Pacific.  I guess that the Marines had better P.R. so they seem to get the lion’s share of the credit.  Not many journalists spent time with the troops in the steaming, fetid, disease infested jungles that our troops fought and died in over there.  It was a much nicer assignment to be sent to Europe to cover the war there I suppose.  At any rate, the U.S. Army Infantry was there in the South Pacific and hit many beaches before the Marines.  Hal’s story tells it like it was.  No holds barred, no punches pulled.  Follow him now, back in time, to an America before wide-screen, digital T.V., fast food, computers and people who love to tear this great country down."

Excerpt from the book.
Battle of Hill 201 on Noemfoor Island July, 1944
"Using the DUKWs again B Company crossed that river and began to look for a fight. Stragglers from the bombing and shelling were seen heading inland. Twenty-seven were counted but at too far a distance to be taken care of. The advance reached a Dutch Mission which had been partially destroyed by the Japanese. This area had several hills and a very large garden of vegetables. After patrolling the area Colonel Shoemaker, 1st Battalion Commander, allocated the various hills to the companies of his battalion. B Company plus D Company tied in with C Company on what later was named Hill 201. The enemy had constructed a log fence about four-feet high from the swamp below to the crest of the hill. Along that fence was a foot path leading right into B Company’s command post (a large foxhole) next to Sergeant Tony Pinto’s D Company machine gun’s position. Sounds of enemy activities could be heard from that swamp below. Colonel Shoemaker alerted all company commanders that an attack was expected at moon set about 4 a.m. and not respond to enemy attempts to get us to reveal our positions. At Wakde they had called out my name when the attack started but here on Noemfoor I was in higher company. With the difficulty our visiting team had with certain English letters we were surprised to hear, “Puck Losevelt!, Puck GIs!, Puck you!”
Scared as we were we still laughed especially after Ray Brett said even the Republicans were after us now. Private Alex Mihalko had seen a bush moving up our hill and other forms were getting closer but still we held our fire. Then a screaming wave started to run at our positions. We opened fire and some one on our hill yelled, “And Eleanor too! And your Hairy Heetow!”
The first wave was down and the second ran over their fallen comrades. The Japanese soldier was a fierce enemy but we already noted a weakness. Their officers and non coms had a white phosphorous strip on their backs so troops could follow in the dark. If a leader was downed the troops, unlike ours, tended to mill about or do that fanatical Hari Kiri bit to take out one of us. Now that they had discovered our D Company machine guns they zeroed in on those. Suddenly Tony Pinto’s gun malfunctioned and we had to pick off the individual attackers. One shot at Tony and his neck was creased by the near miss. Despite that wound Tony cleared the ruptured cartridge and began firing again. Dead enemies were piled up so high before his gun he had to elevate it. This night the attackers got only to the edges of our positions and we held fast. That log fence funneled the attackers right into our positions. Peshlakai said it was odd being an Indian inside a log stockade fighting to cut the enemy off at the pass. By dawn the hillside was littered with dead and dying enemies. A few live ones hid in the mess of bodies and fired at anyone trying to see what the score was. Other companies had not been attacked and wondered what all the firing was about. As B Company men went about the final clearing of that hillside Major Erb came over from the rear of our positions to see what we had done. Seeing the piles of dead he ordered the men to stop shooting and capture a live prisoner. He was told that had already been done. My 1st person account of this night appeared in W.W. II Magazine, July 1996. Colonel Shoemaker’s “Oriental Obliteration” was covered in the March 1945 Infantry Journal." Photo of battle aftermath shown with this eBay sale is in the book.