40 Thieves on Saipan is a historical account based on the oral histories, photographs, personal letters, and other documentation willingly shared by surviving members of the platoon and placed in the context of research to authenticate dates, technical information, and other facts. For purposes of readability, some letters included in the book have been condensed to eliminate extraneous material. The original letter from Bill Emerick, which Bill Knuppel read to his platoon mates (see Chapter Twenty-eight) has not survived, so we have included a recreation of it based on Knuppel’s memory of its contents. Two characters in 40 Thieves on Saipan are fictionalized. “Dottie” is a composite figure representing many young women who wrote to men serving overseas in World War II. “Paul Lewis” is a pseudonym for a member of the platoon whom fellow Thieves were reluctant to identify for reasons that will become clear over the course of this story.