Jack H. McCall Sr. was a born storyteller, an inveterate practical joker, and a proud Tennessean whose flaws included a considerable taste for candy, or “pogiebait” in Marine parlance. Like so many other able-bodied young people in on the eve of World War II, he decided to enlist in the wake of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Much more than a family memoir or nostalgic wartime reminiscence, this painstakingly researched biography presents a rich, engaging study of the U.S. Marine Corps, particularly McCall’s understudied unit, the Ninth Defense Battalion—the “Fighting Ninth.” The author provides a window into the day-to-day service of a Marine during World War II, with important coverage of fighting in the Pacific Theater. McCall also depicts life in wartime Franklin, Tennessee, and offers a poignant and personal tribute to his father.
McCall dramatizes some of the classic themes of the war memoir genre (war is hell, but memories fade!), but he sets riveting descriptions of decisive action against rarely seen views of mundane work and daily life, supported with maps, photographs, and fresh interpretations. Another distinction of this work is its attention to the action on Guam, a very unpleasant late-war “mopping up” that has received relatively little scholarly attention. In his portrait of the bitter island-hopping war in the Pacific, the author shows how both U.S. and Japanese soldiers were often eager innocents drawn to the cauldron of conflict and indoctrinated and trained by their respective governments. Reflecting on the action late in life, Jack (as well as several other Ninth veterans) came to a begrudging respect for the enemy.
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About Nick McCall
Jack H. (“Nick”) McCall, Jr. is an attorney, writer and teacher in Knoxville, Tennessee. A former Regular Army officer, he retired in 2021 as a Senior Attorney and Deputy Designated Agency Ethics Official from Tennessee Valley Authority. He received his B.A. cum laude from Vanderbilt University and his J.D. with honors from the University of Tennessee.
He is the author of various articles on legal, foreign policy and historical topics and several books, including (with John Romeiser) The East Tennessee Veterans Memorial (University of Tennessee Press, 2020) and most recently, Pogiebait’s War: A Son’s Quest for His Father’s Wartime Life (University of Tennessee Press 2022).
McCall served on the Boards of Governors of the Tennessee and Knoxville Bar Associations and Legal Aid of East Tennessee, among other honors, activities and community service roles. Before joining TVA in 2006, he was of counsel with Hunton & Williams (1994-2003), and was General Counsel and Secretary of CTI Molecular Imaging, Inc. (2003-2005).
