Invitation to a War is a young shipyard worker's eye-witness experience of the Pacific War, (the Pacific Theater of WW2), at Pearl Harbor and Guadalcanal. Larry was invited by the Navy Labor Board to work in Hawaii while he took time off from Ohio State University to earn the finances needed for his junior year. On his first Sunday morning in Oahu, he planned to meet with his brother who was stationed at Pearl Harbor. Waiting there at the Navy Yard Dry Dock No. 1, taking in the sights of the harbor and the USS Pennsylvania, the scene changed astonishingly as Pearl Harbor was brutally attacked before his own eyes. His story details the horror of the attack, its aftermath, and the courage and dedication of the survivors working to rebuild. After months of round-the-clock work and with deep concern that the Japanese would attack again soon, Larry used the occasion of his first day off to join the US Army. This time, should the enemy invade, he wanted to be carrying a rifle. Serving in the 25th Division as a forward artillery spotter, he was part of the effort to aid and relieve elements of the 1st and 2nd Marine Corps Divisions at Guadalcanal. His memoirs describe the violent combat, the tense missions behind enemy lines, camp activities, and life of an American serviceman in World War II. This history celebrates the character, courage, and even the indomitable humor of those who fought.
About the Author: Larry A. Drew was born in 1921 in Tappen, North Dakota, and spent his early years on the family ranch. The Great Depression forced a move to Bismarck, North Dakota, before resettling to his grandmother's farm in Westboro, Ohio. Larry attended Jefferson High School in Westboro, where he proved a very able student, and "got the notion" to go to college. This was a first for the family, and his ambition was not met with parental enthusiasm! He spent two years at Ohio State University, where his subjects included ROTC. In 1941 he took a job with Allis-Chalmers in Cincinnati, to earn and save money to finish his degree. Larry eventually achieved his dream, earning his Bachelors degree at the University of California, Berkeley, but not until 1948. In between were several years when "all hell broke loose!" This book tells the story of the first half of those incredibly difficult and perilous war years, at Pearl Harbor and Guadalcanal. Larry returned from the Pacific to the U.S. to attend Officer Candidate School. There he was recruited for "hazardous duty" and found himself serving with the OSS in Burma and China until the end of the war, the subject of another book. After the war Larry married, began a family, and was invited to help build a new organization, the CIA, based on his OSS experiences. A few years later, the Pacific Coast beckoned, and he found himself again working at a US Naval Shipyard, this one at Long Beach, California, as Financial Manager. After retiring from government service in the 1980s, he worked as construction manager for Disneyland's remodel of Fantasyland. He passed away peacefully in his sleep on September 2, 2000, exactly 55 years after the signing of the Surrender of Japan. He now rests with his brothers in arms at the Black Hills National Cemetery in South Dakota.