title: Saluting American Valor: Selfless Courage at the Moment of Truth
author: Stephan R. Tetreault
description: Steve Tetreault is Washington bureau chief for Stephens Media, where he writes about politics, Congress and federal policies as they affect individual states. A native of New England, he is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and also has served as an editor and reporter for newspapers in Massachusetts and Nevada.
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  [![image](../images/Titlepage.jpg)](9780062853875_Contents.xhtml#r_title)
  
  
  
  
  
  ## [Map](9780062853875_Contents.xhtml#r_idParaDest-1)
  
  
  ![image](../images/Map.jpg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## [Dedication](9780062853875_Contents.xhtml#r_idParaDest-2)
  
  
  For Dan, Elizabeth, Reed, and Harry
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## [Epigraph](9780062853875_Contents.xhtml#r_idParaDest-3)
  
  
  Among the Americans who served on Iwo Island, uncommon valor was a common
  virtue.
  
  
  —Admiral Chester W. Nimitz
  
  
  “Greater love than this no man hath,” said Our Savior, “that a man lay down
  his life for his friends.” And the soldier who dies to save his brothers, and
  to defend the hearths and altars of his country, reaches this highest of all
  degrees of charity.
  
  
  —Cardinal Mercier’s Pastoral Letter, as quoted by G. B. Erskine, Major General
  Commanding, 3rd Marine Division
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## Contents
  
  
  [_Cover_](9780062853875_Cover.xhtml#cover)
  
  
  [_Title Page_](9780062853875_Titlepage.xhtml#title)
  
  
  [_Map_](9780062853875_Map.xhtml#_idParaDest-1