Paul E. Carrigan served as a U.S. Navy Aerographer's Mate in the Aleutian Islands during World War II. His job in the Navy was weather forecasting but also included serving as a waist gunner on PBY aircraft as they patrolled the Aleutian Islands and the waters of the Pacific and Bering Sea. Later he flew missions over the Japanese Kurile Islands.

Paul had access to the libraries of Navy commanders, one of whom interviewed Japanese officers at the war's end. This gave Paul access to the testimony of these Japanese officers as well as after-action reports from both sides. Although this book is a memoir, it also includes facts about the war that are not commonly known and, in some cases, contradicts existing lore.