R.V. Burgin

About the Author

R.V. Burgin, a decorated World War II veteran and survivor of the brutal Pacific Theater, brings the raw intensity of combat to life through his poignant memoir Islands of the Damned: A Marine at War in the Pacific. As a rifleman in the 1st Marine Division, Burgin endured the harrowing battles of Cape Gloucester, Peleliu, and Okinawa, where he witnessed unimaginable horrors and forged unbreakable bonds with his comrades. After the war, he pursued a quiet life in Alabama, raising a family and working in various trades, but his experiences lingered, compelling him decades later to document the unvarnished truth of war's toll on the human spirit. Burgin's narrative, co-authored with historian Bill Sloan, offers a firsthand account that honors the sacrifices of the 'Greatest Generation' while exposing the psychological scars that endure long after the guns fall silent.