Hosted in partnership with the Veterans Breakfast Club, Bissinger will share stories about his new book “The Mosquito Bowl: A Game of Life and Death in World War II” which famed author John Grisham raved is “destined to become a classic.”   

The author of highly acclaimed nonfiction books such as “Friday Night Lights,” “A Prayer for the City,” and “Three Nights in August,” Bissinger is one of the nation’s most honored and distinguished writers. 

His latest book details an untold story of World War II’s Pacific theater as seen through the eyes of football players who served in the United States Marine Corps and experienced the deadly invasion of Okinawa.  

The discussion will be followed by a book signing. Books will be available for purchase at the History Center Museum Shop.  

About “The Mosquito Bowl: A Game of Life and Death in World War II” 

When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, college football was at the height of its popularity. As the nation geared up for war, one branch of the service dominated the aspirations of college football stars: the United States Marine Corps. Which is why, on Christmas Eve 1944, when the 4th and 29th Marine regiments found themselves in the middle of the Pacific Ocean training for what would be the bloodiest battle of the war – the invasion of Okinawa—their ranks included one of the greatest pools of football talent ever assembled: former All-Americans; captains from Wisconsin, Brown, and Notre Dame; and nearly twenty men who were either drafted or would ultimately play in the NFL. 

When the arguments between the 4th and 29th over who had the better football team reached a fever pitch, it was decided – two regiments would play each other in a football game as close to the real thing as you could get in the dirt and coral of Guadalcanal on Christmas Eve 1944. The bruising and bloody game that followed became known as “The Mosquito Bowl.” 

Within a matter of months, 15 of the 64 the players in “The Mosquito Bowl” would be killed at Okinawa, by far the largest number of American athletes ever to die in a single battle. “The Mosquito Bowl” is the story of these brave young men, those who survived and those who did not. It is the story of the families and the landscape that shaped them. It is a story of a far more innocent time in both college athletics and the life of the country. And of the loss of that innocence. 

Writing with the style and rigor that won him a Pulitzer Prize and have made his books modern classics, Buzz Bissinger takes us from the playing fields of America’s campuses where boys played at being Marines, to the final time they were allowed to still be boys on that field of dirt and coral, to the darkest and deadliest days that followed at Okinawa. 

About the Author 

Read more about Buzz Bissinger, award-winning author and reporter. 

Registration 

Tickets are $10 for regular admission and $5 for History Center members and Veterans Breakfast Club members. Virtual attendance is free with registration.

This program will be held in the museum’s fifth floor Mueller Center. 

 
For more information, please contact programs@heinzhistorycenter.org.