No Average Day
The 24 Hours of October 24, 1944
Rona Simmons, University of Missouri Press, 2024, 340 pages
Book Review published on: August 07, 2025
Rona Simmons's No Average Day: The 24 hours of October 24, 1944 covers the day that marked the highest single U.S. death rate in World War II. This particular day was 24 October 1944 in which 2,600 U.S. soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, and military civilians perished. The location of the deaths covered the entire spectrum of the conflict from Attu in Alaska to Burma, Europe, and the Central Pacific. The book gives obligatory mention of other high-cost days such as the attack on Pearl Harbor and D-Day. This particular day somewhat stands out as an anomaly because the metrics were skewed by the sinking of the Japanese prisoner-of-war (POW) "hell ship" Arisan Maru. The sinking of the POW ship resulted in 1,800 U.S. soldiers being abandoned and drowned by their Japanese captors. Without this anomalous incident, the deathrate would have been more approximate to 800 personnel.
As mentioned previously, the numbers and peculiar circumstances surrounding the conflict's deaths on 24 October 1944 are eclectic and geographically disparate. How one captures and encapsulates each of these tragic (or glorious) circumstances is a true challenge. The author utilizes the technique of sequencing the deaths in relation to time. The first chronicle of death begins at 0001 with life aboard the Arisan Maru and closes at midnight with the U.S. POWs of the Arisan Maru drowning in the South China Sea. This is further divided into four parts (morning, noon, evening, and day's end). This framework holds twenty-five chapters that are not only individual deaths but groupings of fatalities (e.g., planes crashing or ships sinking). In between these time stamps are a representative sampling of the 2,600 U.S. deaths across the depth and breadth of the conflict. In the individual chapters, the author starts with a time stamp, location, and general circumstance. The author then interjects either an individual name and circumstance or a larger grouping of names.
This is the case where one can see the author's intent in structuring the book. The cadence seems a bit unharmonious with the final meshing of each story struggling to solidify. For instance, in the first chapter, the summary of events on the Arisan Maru leaves you hanging. It subsequently comes to conclusion in the final chapter of the book, yet one wouldn't know that from even reading the table of contents. The last chapter in the table of contents is opaquely titled "Under the Cover of Darkness."
The mention of fatalities that weren't a direct result of enemy fire is very useful. These mentions reenforce the importance of the U.S. joint and NATO function of "protection." For instance, one chapter mentioned a death by a heart attack; another by a vehicular accident, and yet another via an aerial training accident. This is an important balance and reinforces our military quest to protect the force and its combat power. This, of course, is accomplished by reducing or eliminating avoidable fatalities. These avoidable fatalities are not solely in the realm of non-combat related deaths though. Sound tactical and operational practices with an emphasis on protecting the force in direct combat can have a significant impact on reducing casualties and/or fatalities.
Chapter 9, "To the Rescue," is a fairly decent representation of one of the twenty-five chapters (stories) to "pull out of the deck" for further analysis. This chapter demonstrates the hard decisions commanders must make to balance the loss of life against military necessity. The light aircraft carrier CVL-23 Princeton was a converted Cleveland class light cruiser supporting operations in the Leyte Gulf-Philippines. On 24 October 1944, it received a single bomb by a Japanese dive bomber. The bomb penetrated below deck and set off a series of secondary explosions. Her sister ship in its original form, the Cleveland class light cruiser (USS Birmingham) pulled up alongside her to rescue crewman and assist with damage control. The Birmingham's deck was crowded with rescued Princeton crewmen as well as her own assisting the fire control of the Princeton. As Birmingham was dousing the Princeton with water hoses, a catastrophic explosion occurred on the Princeton. This sprayed the deck of the Birmingham with fire and shrapnel. This caused the Birmingham to actually incur more deaths than the Princeton. Out of a crew of 1,300, 241 were killed and 412 wounded. The Princeton, in turn, reported 108 killed and 552 wounded. The Princeton was beyond repair and the charred-out hulk was subsequently scuttled. This begs the question of whether the USS Princeton's Capt. Buracker should have abandoned ship much earlier. The judgment of the Birmingham's captain can be analyzed also. Was he tied to just the decision of Buracker? Should he have influenced him to abandon ship earlier or at least evacuate all nonessential personnel to the other side of the superstructure?
What could have elevated this book to the next level is the mention of parallel historical comparisons. For instance, the loss of life on the USS Princeton and Birmingham could have been contrasted with the sinking of the HMS Ark Royal on 14 November 1941. The Ark Royal was hit by one torpedo that killed all power. Remembering the catastrophic loss of life of the capsizing of the HMS Courageous on 17 September 1939, Capt. Loben Maund ordered everyone to abandon ship. Only one sailor lost his life as a result of the initial torpedo hit. Whether the Ark Royal could have been saved is heavily debated to this day. A subsequent board of inquiry gave Captain Maund a lenient court martial for not implementing aggressive damage control operations and ordering everyone to abandon ship prematurely.
The book adequately encapsulates a sample of the 2,600 lives lost on that fateful day. It acknowledges the compounding effect on the families, loved ones, and the Nation as a whole. The author provides insights into a plethora of unique circumstances surrounding each of the fatalities or deaths. The book inspires one to give thanks to the sacrifices of the "Greatest Generation." We truly are standing on the shoulders of giants.
Book Review written by: Andrew K. Murray, U.S. Army, Retired, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas