Real-life Pacific Marine R.V. Burgin tells his story

Posted 05:26 PM | Apr 14, 2010

When WWII Marine R.V. Burgin met the young man who portrays him in 'The Pacific,' he picked up on one small detail: The Irish actor, Martin McCann, seemed a bit short. "I thought they'd need to stretch him out a little bit," Burgin jokes. "I thought the cameras might do that for him ..."

Inseams aside, the men had spoken throughout the production of the series, and Burgin was pleased with McCann's rendering of his character. And now, Burgin is releasing his story in his own words, 'Islands of the Damned,' a diary of his time at war.

"I wrote the book for the simple reason that I wanted to let people know there was a battle on Peleliu that had never been heard of by many people," says Burgin. "We had 6,500 casualties in 30 days ... I absolutely did not talk about it with my parents, my wife, my children or anyone at work. We might have talked about something funny, but never the gore of what happened."

McCann, who flew in from Dublin to appear with Burgin, calls the Marine a hero, and of the part he plays in the miniseries says simply, "What an honor..."

Learn more about RV Burgin's book Islands of the Damned: A Marine at War in the Pacific (http://us.penguingroup.com/nf/Book/BookDisplay/0,,9780451229908,00.html?Islands_of_the_Damned_R.V._Burgin)