Here are stunning long-buried stories that give proof to the words Admiral Chester Nimitz used to describe the hero Marines on Iwo Jima: “Uncommon valor was a common virtue.”

Painstakingly selected from the most moving battle accounts about American heroism and breathtaking courage during the largest war in world history, this anthology brings readers to the front lines in inspiring detail.

Courage, duty, and honor became watchwords for Americans in combat—most of whom were volunteer soldiers, sailors and Marines. Freedom and principle mattered more than their own lives.

Moving, emotional, and gripping, Great American WWII Stories offers hidden gems from major battles like Iwo Jima and Okinawa. It puts readers on Omaha Beach during D-Day. But here also is the story of USS Nautilus, which engaged the Japanese on fourteen different patrols, from the Battle of Midway to the liberation of the Philippines. Here too is the story of Operation Tidal Wave, the bloodiest air battle in the history of war; and a gripping account of American paratroopers, isolated behind enemy lines, fighting the elite German SS in Normandy after D-Day.

Great American WWII Stories is a magnificent collection of gripping accounts of battles great and small.

It is tribute to Americans who were willing to risk it all, and in many cases did.

Tom McCarthy is an award-winning editor and writer who lives in Guilford, Connecticut.