With the Deadeyes on Leyte and Okinawa: A Memoir of the 96th Infantry Division in the Pacific War Hardcover – June 1, 2026

Recounts a frontline soldier’s Pacific War experience, blending combat hardship, personal reflection, and wartime artistry.Harvey Ball, communications sergeant in Company L, 383rd Infantry Regiment, 96th Infantry Division, served on the front lines in the Pacific during World War II. His memoir recounts the division’s training, and the horrific conditions endured during months of brutal fighting on Leyte and Okinawa. Three comrades were killed by a wayward shell as they stood beside him. Ball himself was awarded the Bronze Star for heroism.Blending battlefield detail with personal reflection, his account contrasts the official record with the infantryman’s lived reality—exhaustion, terror, and the camaraderie that sustained men through jungles, caves, and mountains. Moments of humanity shine through, from poetry shared in the mud to rare R&R breaks, even as the war closed with the atomic bomb and Japan’s surrender.A gifted artist whose best-known creation is the iconic smiley face, Ball also sketched life at the front. He drew portraits of comrades for their families and captured scenes of wartime chaos. These sketches, alongside his memoir, offer a deeply personal insight into the Pacific War.Table of ContentsPreface by Jacquelyn SteinIntroductionPART I: MacArthur’s Return to the Philippines1 Our War Begins2 I’ve Never Seen a Jap—I Never Want to See One3 The War at the Front4 The War at the Rear5 The Mountain War6 Warfare7 Holiday at War8 End of Leyte’s War9 R&RPART II: Advance Toward Japan10 Coming: Another Campaign11 To the Enemy’s Ground12 Our New War13 Advance to Battle14 The Enemy’s Time, the Enemy’s Place15 Our War Continues16 Bloody Kakazu17 On-Borrowed-Time Acres18 The Lame, the Halt, the Sick19 Europe’s War Ends, Ours Goes On20 Return to Battle21 The Wall Crumbles22 Climax to War23 Our War Ends Read more