The book is a journey of a son for his father. A father that avoided a traumatic event as a young man during WWII. A USMC Marine faced with the greatest of trials and tribulations. In the son's search to find a lost Marine (a photo of Mulligan and the father, which was kept by him), the son learns more about the cost of war and the impact it had on young men. What is surprising -- though perhaps not, given all that war entails -- is that thousands and thousands of unknown or never found service personnel from that war remain. ( )

Dale Maharidge investigated his father's war experience in Okinawa and the Marine shown in an old photograph with him. With extensive research, including time in Okinawa and countless interviews with veterans of the Battle of Okinawa, Maharidge used his search for what happened to Mulligan as a vehicle for tracing the slice of World War II that took place on Okinawa and its aftermath. ( )

Dale Maharidge felt the aftershock of the war in the Pacific for almost all of his whole life; his father Steve exploding with rage when the smallest infraction of non-conformance occur in the house, or when a dream triggered World War II to life again. In his father Steve's basement workshop, was the picture of Herman Mulligan and Steve Maharidge, in a relaxing moment during the war, and quite a mystery to son Dale. While his father was living and dealing with his demons, Dale had only limited information about Mulligan and his father's war. Once his father had passed, Dale Maharidge began an earnest search for who Mulligan was, and who were the men that Dale knew as dad—the calm man, and the enraged veteran.

Dale Maharidge has split his book into two parts, beginning with his Midwestern life and the start of the research into the unknown Mulligan. Then, his father dies, and the research stops cold. This is when the book comes into its own. Relentlessly searching phone books and sending requests to the Veterans Administration, Dale contacts surviving members of his father's fighting group, asking who was Herman Mulligan. Along the way, he gathered snippets about the death of Mulligan, and how his father's buddies and leaders fought and survived the war. This insight is compelling, a great companion to "Band of Brothers" and 'Letters from Iwo Jima'.

The true prize to the book is Dale's research and visit to Okinawa. He chronicles his time tracing the footsteps of the men that fought on the beach and in the valleys and on the hills. In doing so, he ventured deeper into the lives of Okinawa's resident survivors of the war—their war, the Battle of Okinawa. Civilian casualties were equal or greater to the Japanese losses, either through their pressed services, or from Allied bombings, or from the Japanese themselves, whose dislike of Okinawans becomes apparent to Dale after his talks with the locals and university acquaintances.

It was truly a hard fought battle on both sides, and the stories convey such. Dale Maharidge brings to us more of the first-hand experiences that are not always heard. And delves deeper into the causes of the battle—the who and the why. For that, half of this book is a must read. ( )

Growing up American in the shadow of World War II, I like many others saw the war in terms of black and white, good and evil. “Bringing Mulligan Home: The Other Side of the Good War”, by Dale Maharidge, shows that viewpoint is too simplistic. The reality of war is so much more complicated. What began as a journey to understand his father led Maharidge to learn more of the Marines with whom his father served. Maharidge, in seeking to understand his father, helps us to see the war through the eyes of the survivors – the Marines, their families, and Okinawans. Nations wage war, but for the combatants and civilians caught in the middle, it is always personal and comes at a price. Maharidge’s book honors the sacrifice of the Marines who served and civilians caught in the middle.

“Bringing Mulligan Home” is an interesting book I recommend to anyone interested in personal accounts of the war and its aftermath. ( )

Dale Maharidge's book, "Bringing Mulligan Home," is a true personal journey. It is well written, yet slightly disjointed in places perhaps mirroring the author's journey of discovery amidst other traumatic family events. After all, he did suspend writing for a time following his mother’s death. The author’s introduction of his family and descriptions of his childhood were well written and provided important glimpses into the heart of the story. There is a point where the book feels like two books once Maharidge begins adding the narratives of the veterans from his father’s old Marine unit. Kudos goes to the author for tracking down these veterans and getting their stories since many of them had already passed away before the book was published. It is definitely not the story that one usually gets to hear about the Pacific Theater during World War II, which makes it important, yet painful, to read. ( )