This remarkably immediate memoir tells of the U.S. Army's essential role in the Pacific campaigns alongside the Navy and Marine Corps. America's sons, born in the first quarter of the 20th century, were forged in the twin crucibles of the Great Depression and World War II. The values and attitudes of these mostly idealistic young males ultimately sustained them in horrific trials against incredibly courageous, and often suicidally committed, Japanese soldiers blindly loyal to their superior officers and the Emperor.MacGregor graphically describes the dire Depression years of 1930s' America, when he grew up in Spokane, Washington. He then takes readers through the war years and the savage, face-to-face small-unit actions in the Mariana Islands, The Philippines, and Okinawa from 1944 to 1945. MacGregor's heart-felt account is comparable to such classic Pacific war memoirs as William Manchester's Good-bye Darkness and E.B. Sledge's With the Old Breed.

Through These Portals also contains one of the most remarkable collections of combat photographs ever assembled, and the author's discussions of small-unit actions is exceptional. MacGregor's memoir is truly an infantryman's account of war at its worst, and individual soldiers at their best.