Iron and Fire (The Pacific War Story of Destroyer Captain Bruce McCandless)

Iron and Fire is a newly recovered firsthand account of the U.S. Navy’s Pacific war, told by a Medal of Honor–winning officer who fought from Pearl Harbor through Okinawa. Offering an unfiltered view of combat at sea—its decisions, costs, and consequences—the memoir preserves the lived experience of naval warfare through one of the most punishing operational tempos in American history. 

In 1941, the fire of war met the iron of duty, and a generation of heroes was born. Iron and Fire is the newly discovered World War II memoir of Bruce McCandless—a Medal of Honor recipient, career naval officer, and firsthand witness to the U.S. Navy’s most punishing campaigns in the Pacific. Written by an officer who fought from the opening moments of the war through its final battles, this recently recovered account offers an unfiltered view of the naval war in the Pacific.

McCandless was at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, when the fleet burned and the United States was thrust into global war. From that day forward, he served aboard the heavy cruiser USS San Francisco (CA 38), which became one of the most decorated ships of the war, and later commanded the destroyer, USS Gregory (DD 802). The memoir follows a relentless operational tempo—from the uncertain weeks after Pearl Harbor through the grinding campaigns that carried American forces across the Pacific.

McCandless captures both the strategic scope and human cost of the war at sea. The narrative traces his path from a childhood shaped by naval service, through the U.S. Naval Academy, and into sustained combat. He fought in convoy operations, night surface engagements, and survived the violence of Cape Esperance and Guadalcanal. As the war progressed, he went on to help force Japanese withdrawals from Attu and Kiska in the Aleutians and faced kamikaze attacks during the bloody invasions of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. Following the war, McCandless continued his naval career until he retired in 1952 at the rank of Rear Admiral.

Dictated later in life to his daughter as wartime injuries took their toll and set aside for many years, this remarkable firsthand account offers a unique and authentic voice that, like those of E.B. Sledge or William Leckie, echoes across time.