Fuji Fire: Sifting Ashes of a Forgotten U.S. Marine Corps Tragedy

On October 19, 1979, the largest, most intense tropical cyclone ever recorded propelled 5,500 gallons of gasoline into corrugated steel huts filled with U.S. Marines. The gas ignited, injuring seventy-three people, thirteen of them fatally. The Marine Corps commandant, a veteran of combat in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam, was stunned as he met scores of horribly burned survivors. ＂Having witnessed a lot of bad things, ugly things,＂ the general declared, ＂none can compare to that experience.＂ And yet this 1979 catastrophe on the slopes of Japan’s iconic Mount Fuji remains all but forgotten except by those directly affected.

Now, the fruits of Chas Henry’s exhaustive four-year, two-continent investigation provide insight into what many have called the U.S. Marine Corps’ worst-ever peacetime disaster. Fuji Fire shares the compelling and intimate stories of heartbreak and inspiration forged by these events while bringing to light new, critical analyses of the incident’s causes and effects.

Chas Henry served as an active-duty U.S. Marine from 1976 to 1996, rising in rank from private to captain. He trained at Camp Fuji nineteen months before the Fuji fire and was decorated for his actions in combat during the 1991 Gulf War. After military service he embarked on an award-winning career in international journalism, reporting on matters of global security, intelligence, and military veterans.