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David Mancini lost his personal diary kept in the heat of war, but 60 years later, he unapologetically recreates his days as a wise-ass teenager island-hopping in the Pacific who soon found himself in the biggest battles of World War II. The Lost Diary is an unfiltered and unvarnished account of Mancini's 24th Division, 19th Infantry taking part in several decisive battles -- including the landing at Leyte leading to MacArthur's return. Mancini's personal odyssey is told through a series of expertly drawn vignettes, sometimes accompanied by a sketch or water color he'd send home in GI mail to his family. Through his words and his art, he brings us into the colorful, tropical world of the Pacific, this time sharing events and traumas that he kept from his family. Never one for heroics, Mancini instead draws us into a world where constant death brings laughter and brotherhood. The images still etched in Mancini's mind won't leave you -- from basic training in the Deep South, where Mancini first encounters racism, to stepping foot in the tropics only to learn his first enemy may be a fellow soldier. Between battles, Mancini meets an orphaned child covered in sores, a feral Japanese soldier eating the spoiled meat from a fly trap, and even headhunters who turn a trading expedition into mad escape. There are many tales of World War II, but The Lost Diary brings into focus a war that can't be presented in simple black and white. In this true story, you learn why these friends, heroes, and horrors can never leave a man's soul.
Dave Mancini used his artistic and creative talents to pursue a successful career in the printing and advertising business, from which he retired in 1989. Since then, he has spent his time traveling, painting, and writing and illustrating children's books. He lives with his wife Rose, in upstate New York. He is a graduate of Rochester Institute of Technology, where he earned an art degree after his WWII service.
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