Between 1941 and 1945, hundreds of young men and women departed the idyllic rolling hills of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, unsure of what awaited them across the oceans, yet certain of their task: to fight for those who could not. In this masterful narrative, author Dennis G. Pregent, a Berkshire native and Marine  Corps veteran himself, chronicles the harrowing stories of twenty-eight Berkshire sons and daughters who endured some of World War II’s most dire conditions.

They served from Africa to Sicily, over the Himalayas and across the vast expanse of the Pacific, and some found themselves in the center of the chaos that became the consequential battles of Normandy, the Bulge, Okinawa, and Peleliu. These twenty-eight heroes, many highly decorated, represent a breadth of military expertise: meet the PT boat radioman who trained the future President Kennedy; meet a paratrooper, a combat nurse, bombardiers, artillerymen, a tail gunner, a resupply specialist, and an airborne photographer.

Pregent draws upon never-before-seen documents, personal family correspondence, and rare photos, to weave dramatic accounts, while also highlighting the importance of small quiet acts that, little by little, vanquished the enemy. Of special note is an Iwo Jima survivor, a centenarian residing in Cheshire, who sat for interviews to document his personal story. With exceptional depth and reverence, Berkshire Heroes in WWII is a tribute to silent heroes, now mostly gone, who once lived among us throughout the Berkshires. From beginning to end, it is a testimony to the uncommon valor of ordinary men and women responding to their country’s call—with courage and honor.