Days Of Steel Rain

by Jean Eisenmann | photo of author courtesy of What’s That Guy’s Name? | Photography by Guy T & photo of book cover courtesy of Hachette Publishing Group STEEL Of Days Rain

World War II ended in victory. Yet for countless American veterans who survived its atrocities, their internal battles raged on as they are haunted by the ghosts of horrific wartime memories. The experience of war had a profoundly traumatic and lingering effect on their lives. The powerful brotherhood they formed as warriors in combat transitioned into brothers united in their grief.

Returning servicemen suffered in different ways, yet some attempted to conquer the hellish memories of the war that imprisoned them. Others never broke their silence, not even to their families, often internalizing their grief for the remainder of their lives. What are the stories that triggered such restraint?

Brent E. Jones’ great-uncle, Lawrence C. Jones, was one of those stoics who didn’t speak of wartime. This was especially true of his naval tour of duty in the final year of the war aboard the “vengeance ship” USS Astoria, named after her predecessor lost to the sea earlier in the war. For Brent, what began as genealogy research to learn more about this intriguing family member flourished into a life-long and career-changing journey.

In 2007, armed with only his great-uncle’s rating and ship assignment, Brent began his own tour of duty into the wartime experiences of this man. Learning what Lawrence Jones could never talk about was the impetus for the project.

“I started a website, Mighty90.com, as a memorial for the ship’s veterans,” Brent stated. “Thankfully, those who served on the ship, and even their families, visited the site, and some contacted me. Over the course of 12 years, I interviewed 30 to 40 of them. Sadly, only one remains.” Some former shipmates remembered Lawrence (“Jonesy” to them), and he now seemed to have a voice through them. As more information was collected, it seemed evident that Brent must write a book to document and honor the collective experiences of those men serving at sea in the Pacific Theater.

Days of Steel Rain, a gripping non-fictional narrative about 16 men aboard the newlybuilt USS Astoria during the final year of World War II, can be best described as “Band of Brothers for the navy.” These sailors and Marines faced death from both air and sea, and the reader is propelled into vivid battles across the Pacific, at Iwo Jima, and finally, Okinawa. The men retell courageous rescue missions in the Philippines, and battle typhoons as violent and deadly as the enemy. Because the war already had been raging for three years, much of the crew were made up of late

draftees, replacements, and older men – some of whom already were battle-weary and broken. Here, they confronted an enemy engaging in suicidal flying attacks, finding death a preferred alternative to losing face: The Kamikaze.

“This isn’t your typical WWII book,” Brent explained. “It’s a character study – more about the crew aboard ship than the events.” Brent allows the reader to gain insight into the lives and feelings of these men through their actual diaries, memoirs, letters, and audible recounts of their innermost thoughts.

“The men weren’t permitted to keep diaries to document their experiences, but they did anyway,” Brent said. “For example, Tetsu no Ame is Japanese for ‘rain of steel.’ Many men from the ship wrote English variations of this in their secret diaries. One specifically wrote, ‘It rained steel for three days.’”

Flower Mound resident Brent Jones relinquished a 20-year career in the corporate world to pursue a passionturned-career writing narrative nonfiction. Now author and historian, his 12-year mission took him to the National Archives, Library of Congress, and across the country to interview many of the veterans from the USS Astoria.

The book is an outstanding historical account of the human condition during wartime late in the Pacific war, written from the perspective of those who lived it. Americans at war and united to overcome despite their personal demons and feelings toward one another — under conditions they never dreamed they would face let alone survive. The book needed to be written — to break their silence.

Available MAY 11TH 2021

THE BOOK IS AN OUTSTANDING HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF THE HUMAN CONDITION DURING WARTIME LATE IN THE PACIFIC WAR, WRITTEN FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF THOSE WHO LIVED IT.