40 Thieves on Saipan: The Elite Marine Scout-Snipers in One of WWII's Bloodiest Battles

The scenes and descriptions are vivid enough to make your heart race; the emotions and courage are palpable in the men and women at the center of 40 Thieves on Saipan. And this is especially true after you have lived among them, endured their selection and training regimens and sensed their apprehension, fatalism and bravery as their days as “thieves” on Saipan draw near. This is a book drawn from a stark, embattled history with the story arc and dramatic turns of a fictional tale of enormous import. This is the story of the origins, travails and adventures of Marines specially chosen to engage an enemy on its own ground and wreak havoc in any way they can so that US troops can gain and hold ground a few feet at a time on an island known to the Japanese as “the Emperor’s Treasure.”
Authors Joseph Tachovsky (son of Marine Lt. Frank Tachovsky, commander of the 40 Thieves unit) and Cynthia Kraack (Award-winning author of seven previous works of fiction) must have undertaken this literary effort faced with the daunting task knowing that not everyone critical to the story would want to talk about it. Knowing that some pieces were missing or compromised by time; realizing that piecing the stories into a readable text, both apocryphal and true, would be a formidable task. But penning the story of this group of young men whose efforts would provide the basis for United States’ victory over Japan in World War II, was so significant and powerful it demanded telling. So 40 Thieves on Saipan is history; it is also personal and vivid stories of young men who knew at the outset they might be doomed by their mission. And they went anyway.
40 Thieves begins on the enforested, humid and mosquito-swarmed island of Saipan, where a tired Marine realizes too late that his team is surrounded by an enemy whose uncanny ability to lie in wait patiently was almost impossible to imagine. After this tense and heart-pounding opening, you are taken back to the origins of the elite Marine Scout-Sniper unit; where a rigorous recruitment and training process offered rogues, rule-breakers and ruffian types an opportunity to flourish in the Marine ethos. Readers endure the arduous physical preparation the 40 Thieves used to ready themselves for a secret and dangerous mission. They are privy to the doubts, machismo and emotions of men whose lives were about to be changed forever or lost on a spit of rock in the Pacific Ocean. The story is accompanied by original source documents and photos of the 40 Thieves, along with letters and stories from the men and from their loved ones back home. One of the most intriguing things about this time was that while these Marines were engaged in intense battles as a team fully committed to each other and their mission, their wives, girlfriends and families back home formed a similar bond, supporting and caring for each other against the ache of loneliness and potential loss. Their letters back and forth are revealing while also being guarded against revealing too much.
40 Thieves on Saipan is indeed a story of the bloodiest of battles in the War in the Pacific. It is also a look at this time in history and at this unique idea of how to wage a war against an enemy often unseen and infinitely committed to holding ground by scorched earth destruction regardless of the cost in human life. The engagements, skirmishes and adventures of the 40 Thieves are detailed with careful detail, with the knowing sense that the men in this unique unit were both apprehensive, yet eager to engage, destroy and defeat the enemy far from home.
This story ends as war-hardened Marines witness in horror mass suicides and mass murder by the enemy of its’ allies and the indigenous peoples of Saipan rather than surrender, even as the Marines ultimately conquer the island from Japan. And you understand why most of the 40 Thieves that survived spent the rest of their lives trying to forget or drown these images, committed to never reliving their nightmares. The research, the grudging conversations and the difficulty of dredging through a history this personal is hard to imagine. Making it so interesting, so intensely accurate and unflinching in its revelations is even more remarkable. Histories this specific are where we learn the true impacts and harsh realities of war. Tachovsky and Kraack have earned the accolades they will receive from readers of 40 Thieves on Saipan.

I have read just about every book written on the Battle of Saipan and have to say this is a worthwhile addition to my library. I especially appreciate the way the authors took letters and oral history interviews and turned them into a narrative; nicely done.
One thing that struck me in comparison to other commando-type units is the fact that while operating behind enemy lines they took as many casualties as they did. Comparing the “40 Thieves” to say the Alamo Scouts in General MacArthur’s Southwest Pacific Theater over a much longer period, the “Thieves” lost quite a few men. The Alamo Scouts, on the other hand, lost only two men, and they were lost in training accidents. I also wondered why, while operating behind enemy lines, they would stop and smoke cigarettes. If the Thieves could smell the Japanese, surely the Japanese were alerted by those Lucy Strikes the “Thieves” took into the field with them. This is not a criticism of these brave men and what they accomplished but cannot help but wonder if they could have accomplished more with fewer casualties if they had left those cigarettes back in camp.
Another thing I agree with that was stated by the authors is, Books of oral histories do not sell well.
Bruce M. Petty author of, Saipan: Oral Histories of the Pacific War.

Disappointed. First half of the book was so much fluff. Expected more of a serious treatment of a very serious and costly campaign. If you’re going to write a novel, call it a novel.

The war in the Pacific ended nearly 76 years ago, and yet there are new written works coming out about a specific battle, a specific group or a specific event. As it should. While this reader felt that he had a good understanding of the American military battles in the Mariana Islands, after finishing the 2020 published “40 Thieves on Saipan”, he soon discovered there was much more to be learned. This is the story of the Elite Marine Scout-Snipers in One of WWII’s Bloodiest Battles. It was written by Joseph Tachovsky with Cynthia Kraack. Joseph is the son of Lieutenant Frank “Ski” Tachovsky who headed up this elite group of 40-men.

Ski was given the command to build a team of well-trained killers who would work behind enemy lines. He put this team together in Hawaii, following his time in Tarawa, which at that time was the bloodiest battle in the Pacific. They trained extensively, perhaps the forerunners to the Army’s Special Forces; the Marines Force Recon, and the Navy’s Seals.

Their first combat as a team would be in the invasion of Saipan, one of Japan’s treasured islands in the Mariana’s that were a gateway to Japan. It is still hard to visualize the courage of these men that would storm the beaches of the Pacific. It was a given that many would die and many would be wounded. This well written book allows one to feel the horror of that battle, and it is a welcomed addition to the history of that war.

Some years back, this reader flew into Saipan, for the purpose of taking a puddle jumper over to nearby Tinian, where his father had served. Arriving in Saipan, he realized that it would be foolish to leave too soon without visiting historical areas of the island, so he extended his trip. After returning from Tinian, he drove up to Laderan Banadero, also known as suicide cliff where thousands of Japanese soldiers and Japanese civilians jumped to their deaths in June-July, 1944. There was nobody there that day that this reader sat there, trying to visualize how mothers could throw their children off the cliff and then jump after them. It is a powerful place. Perhaps, even an evil place.

Now, after finishing “40 Thieves on Saipan”, the desire is there to return to Saipan and visit many of the sites listed in this excellent book.

Great book on a very short but important time period of WWII. The work these young men did helped shorten the war. God Bless the 40 Thieves. .

Good story if you like war history. Buy it in paper-back or borrow From the library. Not worth the $20.00

An interesting memoir by the son of the commander of the unit. However, I question just how true some of it was. What put it over the edge for me was a brief stop by a few of the men at Pololu on the Big Island, where they claimed the Japanese had been put there to isolate them, that they had secret radios and that the garbage they found was left by Japanese submarines putting in there. That the Hawaiians were secretly rooting for the Japanese had had Japanese flags flying. One too many old "war stories", methinks.

Couldn’t put the book down once I started reading it. Great historical piece of the battle of Saipan and the brave Marines who intensely trained and eventually took on that battle. The “40 Thieves” were an unbelievable group of men, some of which you get to know in this book, along with Lieutenant Frank Tahovsky, who was not only an unselfish, brave leader but fought along side his platoon of men and endured the same horrific conditions. What is even more intriguing is how he chose this elite group of men to be at his side in battle. The book also follows Lieutenant Tahovsky, and his wife, Roxie’s, love for each other as communicated through their letters to each other during this time.

“40 Thieves on Saipan” is an entertaining and educational WWII military history book that is a must read for all ages! You’ll be glued to the inspiring stories of 40 brave Marines who fought behind enemy lines on the island of Saipan, Japan, and contributed to the end of World War Two. Award-Winning and Midwest Authors Joseph Tachovksy (book is based on his father, Lt Frank Tachovsky, and his platoon in the Pacific) and Cynthia Kraack (who helped put the story together based on 600 pages of Oral Histories collected by Joseph) have written a creative nonfiction memoir that you won’t want to put down. It’s based on true stories (like “Band of Brothers”), goes behind enemy lines (like “Saving Private Ryan”) and has moments of humor (like “MASH”) to bring some levity into this mostly untold story (the men did not like talking about it while alive).

And on top of the “40 Thieves” stories from training in Hawaii to the battles on Saipan, you’ll find a treasure chest of their black and white photos from the frontlines, letters to and from loved ones, platoon rosters, and drawings by this elite group of Marines that Joseph Tachovsky collected during his 9 years of research. Buy this WWII history book for everyone in your family!

Very graphic in detail...if you can't stand the horror or blood...don't read this....if you can stand it, it's a good read.