Dad Was An Elite Marine

What His Son Did Next With This Surprising Discovery

Joseph (Joe) Tachovsky knew his Dad was a Marine. But it wasn’t until his funeral that he discovered that Lieutenant Frank Tachovsky (‘Ski”) was the commanding officer of a group of elite scout-sniper squad known as the “Forty Thieves”, men chosen for their willingness to defy rules and beat all comers.

40 Thieves on Saipan: The Elite Marine Scout Snipers In One of WWII’s Bloodiest Battles is the untold story of an especially valor-filled and daredevil gang of Marines. Written by Joseph and his co-writer Cynthia Kraack, the duo highlighted the amazing journey of this group of men fighting for America.

This well-told narrative was captured through extensive interviews and deep research among surging troop members as well as momentous from Joe’s father. It highlights how our nation won the war in the Pacific, “where uncommon valor was a common virtue.”

Joe says his inspiration to write a book came after hearing a eulogy delivered at his father’s 2011 funeral where he had passed away at the age of 96 after nearly 4 decades as a Marine. Says Joe:

“The eulogy prompted me to open his footlocker. It was there where I discovered a treasure trove of photographs, awards of valor, newspaper clippings, and the platoon roster for his Scout-Sniper Platoon on Saipan.”

He notes that as scores of documents and oral histories began to accumulate, he tried to transpose it all into separate documents. This resulted in a voluminous 600 page plus first version of “Thieves On Saipan.”

Enter Cynthia Kraack who after a series of discussions became his co-writer.

“Joe and I became connected through a mutual friend where he told me about this project. He then proceeded to hand over to me around forty individual file folders,” Cynthia recalls with a wry chuckle.

“Each had a chapter to it, so I knew it was a legitimate project. I found it so fascinating.”

Because she actually never knew these men, what she was tasked with documenting was based on stories of their exploits along with troves of pictures.