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New book looks at mass suicides in NMI during WWII
The new book, Mass Suicides on Saipan and Tinian, 1944: An Examination of the Civilian Deaths in Historical Context, is written by Alexander Astroth. (CONTRIBUTED PHOTO)
A new book that looks at the mass suicides that occurred on Saipan and Tinian during World War II has been released
The book, Mass Suicides on Saipan and Tinian, 1944: An Examination of the Civilian Deaths in Historical Context, is written by Alexander Astroth and is about the Japanese, Okinawan, Korean, Chamorro, and Carolinian people of Saipan and Tinian and the mass suicides and atrocities that occurred in 1944.
Astroth, who did his research at the National Archives in College Park, Maryland and obtained period photographs from the Northern Marianas Humanities Council and other institutions, has set out to provide the reader with a better understanding of the civilian experience on the two islands.
According to author Bruce M. Petty, “Anybody who has done research in the field of military history knows that official histories and after-action reports are vetted. Put another way, they are sanitized and don’t always give a true picture of events. Unique to Astroth’s research, he desensitized official reports from the field to show what really happened.”
Astroth lives in Chicago, Illinois.
He is a researcher for the Northern Marianas Humanities Council’s 75th Anniversaries Multimedia Exhibit “Marianas Peoples: The Battles of Saipan & Tinian.” (PR)
