Book Description
Evan Thomas takes us inside the naval war of 1941-1945 in the South Pacific in a way that blends the best of military and cultural history and riveting narrative drama. He follows four men throughout: Admiral William ("Bull") Halsey, the macho, gallant, racist American fleet commander; Admiral Takeo Kurita, the Japanese battleship commander charged with making what was, in essence, a suicidal fleet attack against the American invasion of the Philippines; Admiral Matome Ugaki, a self-styled samurai who was the commander of all kamikazes and himself the last kamikaze of the war; and Commander Ernest Evans, a Cherokee Indian and Annapolis graduate who led his destroyer on the last great charge in the last great naval battle in history.
Sea of Thunder climaxes with the Battle of Leyte Gulf, the biggest naval battle ever fought, over four bloody and harrowing days in October 1944. We see Halsey make an epic blunder just as he reaches for true glory; we see the Japanese navy literally sailing in circles, torn between the desire to die heroically and the exhausted, unacceptable realization that death is futile; we sail with Commander Evans and the men of the USS Johnston into the jaws of the Japanese fleet and exult and suffer with them as they torpedo a cruiser, bluff and confuse the enemy -- and then, their ship sunk, endure fifty horrific hours in shark-infested water.
Thomas, a journalist and historian, traveled to Japan, where he interviewed veterans of the Imperial Japanese Navy who survived the Battle of Leyte Gulf and friends and family of the two Japanese admirals. From new documents and interviews, he was able to piece together and answer mysteries about the Battle of Leyte Gulf that have puzzled historians for decades. He writes with a knowing feel for the clash of cultures.
Sea of Thunder is a taut, fast-paced, suspenseful narrative of the last great naval war, an important contribution to the history of the Second World War.
Customer Reviews:
No Bull..........2007-09-29
It's no wonder were in the mess we are, when myoptic vision clouds reason.
This was not a hit on Halsey..Duoh! This was a very good read. Maybe Ken burns took some info here?
I see a lot of whinners(on other forums) saying the Japanese never had a plan to sue for peace if they took Hawaii..(?)
Any way Good book.
Thanks, Mr Evans
Non-Fiction Thriller.......2007-09-12
A non-fiction historical work of serious scholarship that can compete with any thriller. An absolute page turner that's hard to put down. When Thomas finds the time to do this kind of research with his TV panelist and news magazine gigs is a mystery. He is an absolutely first rate writer and story teller, and Sea of Thunder is not to be missed.
Good Read, but............2007-08-06
I got this book on Friday and finished it Saturday night. A decent book over all but as other reviewers have stated I find the revisionist aspect a bit much. I think the 'slam' on Halsey tended to be over-kill. The author even goes as far as mentioning the two occasions where Halsey sailed into typhoons to further his knocks on Halsey. Interesting, but not in the scope of the book. The author does point out the reasons behind Halsey's choice to go after Ozawa but only in passing. I found the study of Japanese vs. American admirals a bit slanted in the Japanese admiral's favor. As far as the 'racist' aspect of Halsey's statements "Kill Japs, Kill Japs. Kill more Japs" & etc. We only need to look at quotes by other Admirals and Generals to understand the purpose behind these statements. I gave it three stars only because it was a page-turner, I think what kept me reading was to see if the author was going to go into a more in-depth study of the choices made by the admirals and why they made them. I was left with the impression that the Japanese admirals made the choices they made mostly because of the training received at Eta Jima and the choices made by American admirals were due to some personal flaw as in Halsey's 'need' to get the Japanese carriers at all costs. What I wasn't left with was the stunning victory by the Americans and how important it was in shortening the war. I am just starting to read 'The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors' by James D. Hornfischer so I can compare two different author's views on the Leyte Gulf naval battles.
CORRECTION to Thomas' text.......2007-07-27
Evan Thomas incorrectly states that Admrial Spruance's son married Admiral Halsey's daughter. In fact, Margaret Halsey married Preston Lea Spruance who was only distantly related to Admiral Spruance.
- Halsey Spruance, a decendant of Margaret Halsey and Preston Lea Spruance
A good story.......2007-07-11
I did not know as much about the battle before this book. Thomas gives an excellent perspective of all sides of the battle. I felt I was a bit oversold on the book and it did not live completely up to expectations which is why I only give it 4 out of 5.
Book Description
Looking up from his newspaper from where he sat on the deck of the destroyer USS Dale, Harold Reichert could see the pilot plain as day—the leather helmet with chin strap, the goggles, and then the red rising sun painted on the plane’s fuselage. “I saw the torpedo drop and watched as it ran up on the old Utah.”
It was daybreak at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the beginning of the war, and the Dale was there; she would serve until the end, when the atomic bombs were dropped and Japan surrendered. In the words of those who manned her, the Dale’s war comes vividly to life in this first oral history of a combat ship from Pearl Harbor to Tokyo Bay. From carrier raids on Midway, Guadalcanal, and the Solomons to the bombarding of Saipan and Guam in the capture of the Marianas, from the Aleutians in the far north to strikes on Tokyo and Kobe, Tales of a Tin Can recreates the action aboard the Dale, and conveys as never before the true grit of wartime on a destroyer.
Customer Reviews:
Not a bad Navy story.......2007-09-09
As a Navy Vet and one who served for a short time on a tin can I found this book interesting. I enjoyed reading it not only from a veterans perspective but also from a historical viewpoint.
Destroyermen The Few The Proud.......2007-08-28
This is a terrific read and well reflects the lives we endured on the "greyhounds of the sea". The memories of these terrific sailors is exciting and certainly reflects the challenges that they faced again and again. Having rode many of these ships over a 30 year Navy career I would certainLY recommend this to any and all. BRAVO ZULU!!!!!!!!!!!
Great Book.......2007-06-27
If you are a serious student of history, you cannot help but enjoy this book.
All too often when telling the story of WW II, the intimate and personal day to day experiences of the individual soldier or sailor get over looked.
This book tells that story, specifically how individual sailors dealt with the day to day stress of combat operations and the death of friends and shipmates; a great read.
They were both (Anchors Aweight) good!!!.......2007-05-26
Two different books and two different stories. If you liked the fun of the ship and the good times that were there, then you'll want to read them both, Anchors Aweight and Tin Can Tales!!!
kudos for a great book.......2007-05-15
We have totally enjoyed the book. It's written as if the men were talking to you right in the room.
Book Description
In America's island-hopping war against Japan, the U.S. Marines were our cutting edge. Yet, until now, little has been written about the desperate combats fought by the Marines' own spearheads - their tanks. It is a story of trial and error, incredible courage, and finally, triumph.
In the early island campaigns, Marine tankers went into battle inexperienced and inadequately trained. In a series of costly battles and jungle campaigns - Guadalcanal, New Georgia, Bouganville, Cape Gloucester, Tarawa, Marianas, Peleliu, Saipan and Okinawa - Marine tankers proved beyond doubt that they were essential in achieving victory. Despite suffering sometimes staggering losses, the Marines and their tanks eventually crushed fierce Japanese resistance.
Marine Tank Battles in the Pacific is a gripping narrative that combines exhaustive detail on Marine armor and combat with moving eyewitness accounts, never before published, of what it was actually like to be a Marine tanker in action in the Pacific - awe inspiring bravery in the face of a skilled and fanatic foe.
Customer Reviews:
Marine Tank Battles in the pacific; A REVIEW.......2007-01-09
As a former U.S. Army Tanker in the late 1960s I could empathize with the tankers daily routine of movement and maintenance. The long underpaid overworked hours one puts in as a track-head. Being couped up, nearly blind in a turret wondering what was going on outside of one' pony. I was truly amazed at the bravery and dedication of the WWII Marine Corp. Tankers, the appalling carnage they witnessed and the pathos of combat. The author brought all this and more to life in his writing. At times I got sick from the bloody battles they and the infantry fought in the Pacific Theater. Having served in the far east I can imagine easily the mental and physical toll the heat, humidity and insects took on one's mind and body. I feel that the political leaders of this county should read this before committing us to war.
Worth It, But It's a Cheaply-Done Reprint.......2006-08-20
The book's information is priceless, and I AM glad I bought it, BUT Amazon dropped the ball by not revealing the actual publisher. This is a reprint done by DaCapo Press, and they cut corners. The pictures are terrible and nearly indistinct. The slip-cover is fine, but you look at the spine, and there's one word printed : Gilbert. The quality of the binding is good, but these guys didn't give this wonderful book the treatment it deserved.
If this all that we have, and if you are a collector of US Marine histories, then you'd better grab up that last copy. Be forewarned, though, that this is a subpar reissue of the original Combined Press edition.
Confirm the publisher before buying.......2006-02-07
As a retired Marine officer, amateur historian and former newsman, I can say Gilbert is a knowledgeable and facile writer. I thoroughly enjoyed "Marine Tank Battles in Korea." Gilbert knows how to write popular history, and he gets it right. This volume reads beautifully, however the half-tones are the pits. The original version of this volume was published by Combined Publishing on quality paper with excellent photo reproduction. The volume I received from Amazon was not the Combined Publishing edition, but one by DaCapo Press. It looks like a photocopy of the original done overseas. Most of the pictures are muddy and indecipherable. Useless as a modeling reference, but great reading.
BF Halloran
Outstanding Book on WW2 Tank Warfare in the Pacific.......2005-10-23
This superb book gives exciting descriptions of tank battles fought by Marines during WW2. Since both the American and Japanese used tanks in an infantry support role, most battles were fought with small groups of tanks. The book describes the battles in which tanks were used in support of infantry. This includes use of Japanese tanks in support of their infantry against the US troops. The book also details the few, brief tank vs. tank battles between the US Marines and the Japanese. The author does an excellent job describing the overall battle of each island, the roll of the American and Japanese tanks in them., and first hand accounts of small actions. The book also includes about 100 photographs which provide a good idea what much of the terrain and combat were like. This is a must have for anyone interested in armored warfare or the WW2 war in the Pacific. I only wish I could find a comparable book on the US army tank battles in the Pacific.
Great book on a little noted subject..........2001-04-13
Marines and tanks? Who would ever write about this? This book is long overdue. Every book on the Pacific was mentions breifly the role Marine Tanks. This book covers that gap in grand style. I shows the development of Marine Armor, and its employemnt in some of the bloodiest battles of the war. This book on the Corps unsung heros, is faced paced and very easy to read. If you read other books about the USMC in the Pacific, read this very worthy book.
Customer Reviews:
What it was like for kids to live during World War II.......2004-01-29
"World War II for Kids: A History with 21 Activities" really has three key components. First, there is a history of World War II from Hitler's rise to power in 1933 to the surrender of the Japanese in 1945. Second, Richard Panchyk provides excerpts from actual wartime letters written to and by troops on both sides along with personal anecdotes from people who lived through the war. Finally, there are 21 activities that can show young readers how it felt to live through World War II, both on the battlefield and on the Home Front.
Actually, the first function is the least impressive part of "World War II for Kids," although Panchyk provides a solid history of the war. It is just that the personal writings and recollections, along with the activities, are where Panchyk goes beyond what you would find in your standard American history textbook, which is why this is an excellent supplemental volume. Teachers can certainly use the activities and quote from the letters found in this volume to give students more of a sense of what it was like to live during that time.
The 21 activities are fairly interesting and cover a variety of subjects. Some are fairly complex, such as substituting a potato for an incendiary bomb and following the instructions on how to extinguish it, or staging a radio adventure program, while others are relatively simply, such as drawing a recruiting poster. There is an exercise in code breaking, learning how to camouflage, making a ration kit, going on a reconnaissance mission, figuring oat a coastal defense, the physics of dropping bombs, and a game that helps demonstrate the difference between mortar and howitzer fire versus anti-tank and anti-aircraft fire. There are also "Home Front" activities like making a bandage, putting together a care package, growing a Victory Garden, sending V-Mail, and extending butter, as well as a couple of activities having to do with the Holocaust by making a Jewish star and trying to find good hiding places in your home for the student and an adult helper.
Obviously some of these activities are going to be more practical and more beneficial than others, but Panchyk has made an attempt to come up with different ways of giving his young readers an idea of what it was like for kids and adults during World War II. Again, while young readers can certainly read this book and try the activities on their own, "World War II for Kids" is even better suited as a resource for teachers to use when teaching the pivotal events of World War II. Comparing what life was like for their grandparents during that war as opposed to the rather limited impact on their lives today during the war on terrorism could be quite an eye opener for young readers.
7 year old loves this book.......2003-06-03
My 7 year old son is a WWII fanatic and loves this book. It discusses not only events in the war itself, but also the impact of the war on life in the U.S. The activities encourage kids to think about far-reaching effects of war, not just the exciting battles.
Book Description
Tracing the history of Japanese aggression from 1853 onward, Hoyt masterfully examines the issues behind the war in the Pacific and sheds new light on the China Question, the rape of Hong Kong, the Bataan Death March, and the murder camps of the East Indies.
Customer Reviews:
Inaccuracies and misconceptions.......2007-02-08
I probably shouldn't post a review, since I didn't read this book to the end. I couldn't bear to. The first three chapters on Japanese ancient and feudal history were riddled with misconceptions and plain inaccuracies.
One example of many: The author states that Japan's first emperor, Emperor Jimmu, reigned around 600 A.D. and had to contend with the influx of Buddhism from China. Jimmu was around at least 1200 years before 600 A.D., and he predated Buddhism in Japan by many centuries.
Further, the author repeatedly insists that the samurai class during the Edo (Tokugawa) Period were swaggering warriors who beheaded peasants at the slightese whim. Although the samurai enjoyed many privileges, beheading peasants at will during peacetime was not one of them. The authoritarian Tokugawa government strictly punished any breach of the peace, whether committed by a commoner or a samurai. People of all ranks (including peasants) had at least some level access to the protection of the law and redress in the court system. It's a myth that samurai could kill any commoner at will and with impunity.
I hate to be harsh, but a book about history needs, as a minimum, to be well-researched and have its facts straight. It's difficult to have any faith in the author's analysis and conclusions otherwise. This book purports to be able to trace the rise of Japanese militarism to the psychology and sociology of the feudal samurai, yet it description of the samurai feudal era is spotty. (The book was written in the 1980s, when the U.S. was being economically "invaded" by Japanese business. The book also hints at being able to explain Japanese business psychology through explaining Japan's Pacific War). If the author wants to find the roots of Japanese militarism in samurai culture, he needs to have had a more in-depth understanding of samurai culture itself.
"Win first, fight later"*.......2006-09-24
Quite apart from the history of the war from Japan's viewpoint, this book gives one of the most lucid thumbnail histories of Japan you will find anywhere. It also clearly shows that although we in the West frequently confuse the ethos of bushido with those of chivalry, they were very different.
One of the reviews here mentions the "unsophisticated" style of writing. I don't like that description but I'm not sure I can think of a better one. It struck me as the exuberant writing of a really good high school report--which sounds derogatory but in fact works very, very well here and makes it a pleasant read that draws you on easily. Some of the other criticisms in the reviews I think may be due more to typesetting and proofing than to mistakes by the author. (The aircraft mislabeled is in fact not a Betty at all but due to the twin tail surfaces I believe to be a Nell.) My only criticism of the book would be the illustrations which frequently add nothing to the text. I get the impression they were assembled by someone who hadn't really read the book. The space given to illustrations of Americans is totally wasted. Does anyone who would be reading this book need a picture of Bull Halsey? The fact that there are no substantive criticisms of the book's content in these reviews indicates its excellence.
*Chapter Four
Japan's Tragedy.......2005-11-12
Tragedy has been described as a drama in which the main character is brought to ruin as a consequence of a tragic flaw, moral weakness or inability to cope with unfavorable circumstances. The story of Japan from the moment it was opened up to the West by Commodore Perry until its surrender is, as Hoyt tells it, such a tragedy. The book does an excellent job of describing the context of Western imperialism and Western racism that shaped Japan's perceptions of what it needed to do for national survival, and the chaotic state of affairs where the civilian government could not control and was wholly intimidated by the military ran amok and bent on war with China, the tar baby that eventually consumed Japan and started the sequence of events that led it to war with the United States. Surprisingly, Hoyt makes it clear that up until the time the United States made its oil embargo against Japan, it was the Soviet Union that was enemy number one in the militarist's (including Tojo) strategic thinking, as Japan sought to create a buffer zone around it as well as lands to exploit for natural resources and as markets for its manufactures (in line with the Western colonial system). Most importantly, Hoyt traces the evolution of the mind set of the Japanese government and how, starting with the "China Incident" and followed on with rationalization upon rationalization, it dug an inescapable hole for itself that led to the downfall of the nation. The only complaint is that the writing at times is a bit unsophisticated, but it does not detract from the powerful storytelling.
admirable work but with some minor pitfalls.......2002-08-22
This is one of the few books that really shines in documenting the Japanese strategy/politics from Meiji period to the end of WWII. The huge scope in this single volume limits the depth of details it can reach. However, it is detail enough for a general reference of all the events involved from Japanese's side point of view. Mr. Hoyt also takes an indifference approach to the subject matter. He not only lambast the rape of Nanking, rape of Hongkong but also General LeLand's bombing of Tokyo, which kills 200,000.
There are also some minor mistakes on this book that leaves a scar in my mind. A few examples:
1. The illustrations have a pictures of the "Betty" bomber. The legend say it is a Type 0 bomber. However, a "Betty" should be a Type 1 bomber.
2. In the middle of book, when he describes the Janpanese army's joke at the foreign minister by claiming him as the harm minister (because of the similar pronounication in Japanese), Mr. Hoyt misplaces the Kanji characters with his explanation. This makes the context and Japanese meaning of the character in opposite.
3. When he refers to the hanging of General Itagaki by the conviction of murdering of the old marshal, he uses Zhang Hsueh-Liang at the end of the book. However, Zhang Tso-Lin was the old marshal while Zhang Hsueh-Liang was the young marshal (Zhang Tso-Lin's eldest son). Surprisingly, he refers them correctly in the middle of the book when he is discussing the murder around in 1936.
Book Description
An abundance of new evidence demanded this reevaluation of Frank Jack Fletcher, the "black shoe" admiral who won his battles at sea but lost the war of public opinion. A surface warrior -- in contrast to a "brown shoe" naval aviator -- Fletcher led the carrier forces that won against all odds at Coral Sea, Midway, and the Eastern Solomons. These and other early carrier victories decided the Pacific War not only because they inflicted crippling losses but also because they denied Japan key strategic positions in the region.
Despite these successes, by 1950 Fletcher had become one of the most controversial figures in U.S. naval history and was portrayed as a timid bungler who failed to relieve Wake Island in December 1941 and who deliberately abandoned the Marines at Guadalcanal.
In this book, author John Lundstrom recalls that Fletcher once remarked, "after an action is over, people talk a lot about how the decisions were deliberately reached, but actually there's always a hell of a lot of groping around," and notes that the goal of his study is to probe and explain the "groping around." Drawing on new material, Lundstrom offers a fresh look at Fletcher's decisions and actions. The first major reassessment in more than fifty years of the once-maligned naval officer, it provides a careful analysis of the effect of radio intelligence on decision-making in the carrier battles during the first nine months of the war in the Pacific. This new assessment is based on thousands of documents and massive dispatch files and personal papers that no historian has previously used.
Customer Reviews:
Indispensable history.......2007-10-14
I've belatedly gotten around to reading the FJF bio, and it's absolutely indispensable to understanding the first year of the Pacific War. With due respect for The Big E, Fletcher and Yorktown (CV-5) lugged most of the flattop mail in the six months after Pearl Harbor, and with his Guadalcanal experience, he became the leading practitioner of carrier warfare in the US Navy--and in the world.
If you don't read anything else, go to the Conclusion for an education in how history gets written, especially by Recognized Historians with agendas. As an example of expositive historiography it will stand alone for a long-long time.
long time Pacific War buff.......2006-10-25
This is a long overdue look at Adm Fletcher and his role in the critical first year of the war. I always found it odd that the victor of the three most important battles fought by our fleet in WWII was quickly shunted aside and treated with disdain by postwar historians. John Lundstrom does a fine job of exposing the biasis and backbiting within the navy at the time that resulted in Fletcher's downfall.
Mr Lundstrom is an eminent historian of this subject and has produced a first rate, readable and important work. It deserves a place with the best accounts of the wartime Pacific Fleet to appear in many years. It clearly shows Frank Jack Fletcher for the fine leader and fighter that he was.
Scholarly Work.......2006-10-24
Black Shoe Carrier Admiral is one of two excellent works to be published this year on WWII Pacific carriers, battles and the men who commanded them. John Lundstrom has obviously put a great deal of effort into setting the record straight on Admiral Fletcher and his contributions to our early victories in the Pacific. His work is well documented and thoroughly researched, and adds new sources that had not previously surfaced in World War II histories of that period.
The book demonstrates how Fletcher became the target of severe criticism for his actions, primarily by others who hoped to improve their own reputations or deflect criiticism as a result. Lundstrom pulls no punches, however, by describing both Fletcher's strengths and failings in the events of December 1941 to September 1942. He repeatedly demonstrates that misinterpretations of Fletcher's actions, particularly by Admiral King in Washington, resulted in Fletcher's eventual downfall. At the same time, he explains how some noted historians played down or ignored Fletcher's important contributions, that sealed the US victories at Coral Sea and, particularly Midway.
John Lundstrom's book is an excellent read for anyone wanting to know more of the early war in the Pacific. It is also an important source for any serious student of the period who wants to gain insight both to the actions of the war and the politics inside the Navy at that time.
A 5-star book by a 5-star author.......2006-10-21
"Black Shoe Carrier Admiral" is a 680-page, meticulously detailed accounting of Admiral Fletcher's leadership of U.S. carrier forces during the first year of World War II in the Pacific. Author John Lundstrom's fundamental thesis is that Fletcher has been unfairly maligned by many of his peers, by historians, and by a large segment of the U.S. Marine Corps for perceived errors of judgment or even failings of character during crucial battles in the Coral Sea, at Midway, and in the Solomons.
The author's painstaking research into primary sources largely ignored by other writers (i.e., memos, letters, and logs kept by those who were present with Fletcher during those battles, plus actual radio messages and dispatches sent by and to him aboard his various flagships) reveal a reasonable rationale for many of Fletcher's controversial decisions that mostly seem to have escaped his critics. It's not possible to adequately summarize them in a short review like this, but suffice to say that admirals sitting behind desks in Hawaii or Washington are poorly situated for grasping all of the important realities of a convoluted combat scenario occurring half a world away. Thus when Fletcher is condemned for failing to charge full speed ahead to engage the enemy when doing so would have totally exhausted the fuel in his escorting destroyers, making victory impossible and needless destroyer losses inevitable, he is chastised for failing to engage the enemy rather than praised for sensibly preserving America's meager fleet assets in the face of superior forces.
While there is much more to be said about this fine volume, it seems necessary in this forum to spend as much energy reviewing some of the other reviews as the book itself. It is patently unfair to the author for a reviewer to post a derogatory assessment of this or any book when he (a) apparently has not read it, or (b) does not seem to be in possession of factual information about it or the author, or (c) both. Such is clearly the case with some of the reviews found here, with the result that Black Shoe Carrier Admiral gets less than the five-star ranking that it clearly deserves. For example:
~One reviewer denigrates the book because it says relatively little about Fletcher after the 1942 carrier battles. He apparently didn't bother to read the book's subtitle: Frank Jack Fletcher at Coral Sea, Midway, and Guadalcanal.
~Another writer says Lundstrom has no documentation and there is no evidence to support the suggestion that USS Hornet captain Marc Mitscher sent his air group in the wrong direction at the Battle of Midway. That writer is apparently ignorant of an abundance of testimony from Hornet veterans, both aircrew and ship's company, that support exactly that (see Naval History magazine, Feb 2006, p. 48 for just one resource).
~Another devotes all of three lines in ALL CAPS to trumpet the claim that Fletcher was hated by the Marines. Such a brief review obviously provides no space for the writer to tell us his opinion of Marine Colonel Melvin J. Maas, who unlike legions of other fine Marines, actually knew and worked directly with Fletcher during the Solomons campaign. Col. Maas cited Fletcher for his exceptional ability as a naval tactician and superior quality as a task force admiral.
~Other one-star reviewers complain that Lundstrom is trying to write an academic history without being an academic himself (Lundstrom has a master's degree in military history), that his book makes claims unsupported by facts or documentation (the book has 82 pages of fine print citing documented sources, largely original, for every significant statement in the manuscript), and that Fletcher was responsible for the loss of three fleet carriers in 1942 (apparently the Imperial Japanese Navy, with superior aircraft, battle-experienced aircrews, and an awesomely deadly torpedo had nothing to do with it).
Such agenda-driven opinions do not serve Amazon's review process in the intended manner, and in this case present a grossly inaccurate portrayal of the book's content and its author's qualifications for writing it. "Black Shoe Carrier Admiral" is a magnificent achievement, representing years of dogged research and composition by an award-winning expert who is eminently qualified and experienced in this subject matter. To revile it as anything less without supporting facts and documentation (so important to Lundstrom's detractors) is simply irresponsible.
Overdue detailed study of a key commander in the first year of the Pacific War.......2006-10-01
This is an important book for any student of the Pacific War, because it corrects the largely unrefuted negative accounts of Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher's service as commander of the U.S. carrier task forces in the first three of the four carrier battles of 1942 (Coral Sea, Midway, and Eastern Solomons). In fact, there were only two carrier battles in history where he did not command the winning side - Santa Cruz in October 1942, and Philippine Sea in 1944.
Despite this record, Fletcher has been savaged by critics for allegedly failing to stand by the Marine garrison at Guadalcanal, and, since he headed the relief expedition to besieged Wake in January 1942, he gets blamed for that expedition's turning back as well (despite the fact that he was ordered to do so). That he won three carriers battles against superior forces never gets him the credit he deserves. This was due in part to a confluence of several negative factors. First, he was a "black shoe" admiral, and not an aviator - and aviators were furious that carrier task forces were being commanded by non-aviators in the early stages of the war. In their mind every mission he didn't send them on would have been a great success - and that's what they told his superiors. Second, he was a convenient scapegoat for other admirals - most notably Richmond Kelly Turner at Guadalcanal, and CinC Ernest King - when they either made mistakes (Kelly at Guadalcanal) or were dissatisfied with his failure to act more "offensively" in spite of the circumstances that prevented it, or counseled against it. Third, when the attacks started rolling in during the war and after, Fletcher did not respond to correct the record, in part because of two unfortunate circumstances. First, he lost his records for the first half of the war when the Yorktown went down at Midway. Second, when he left the Saratoga at Pearl after her torpedoing, he unexpectedly was not permitted to return for the change of command ceremony, and thus lost his records from June through September as well. And after the war, without these records to refute what was being said about him he repeatedly demurred when asked to review what was being written about the battles in which he took part. So the people who were writing that he'd been incompetent and reluctant to risk battle to the point of cowardice, and used hindsight to justify their opinions were largely refuted for half a century. Someone else (I cannot recall who, but Lundstrom does not mention it) has said that Fletcher in postwar interviews seemed confused and unsure what had happened when. Whether this was due to lack of records or old age, the writer said that Fletcher's appearance may have reinforced the common belief that he was not very bright, and was in over his head during the war. I thought I saw a reference to Fletcher's becoming senile as he aged (he did not die until 1973) and that probably did not help things - it is hard to see someone who is visibly impaired by old age as a sharp-eyed fleet commander.
Enter John Lundstrom. Lundstrom's painstaking knowledge of what the carrier commanders knew, and when they knew it, and when various participants were flat-out lying about what happened, or making incorrect assumptions (uniformly to Fletcher's detriment) makes clear than at numerous crucial points Fletcher consistently made the right decisions, at least based on what he knew at the time, and preserved the U.S. Navy's irreplaceable (at the time) carriers. Most readers are aware of Nimitz' order to Fletcher at Midway to only risk the carriers when he had the opportunity to inflict serious damage on the Japanese carriers, but it appears that Fletcher was under the same instructions at Guadalcanal. And with a far more dangerous mission in sub-infested waters within range of Japanese land-based bombers he made the decision to leave the forces at Guadalcanal temporarily uncovered at times to reduce the risk to the carriers. What this book makes clear is that at the time he was not aware - in part due to bad communications and in part due to Turner's errors, that he was leaving at a bad time. Of course both Turner and the Marines didn't see it that way, and there was nothing his presence could have done to avert the Savo disaster, but then they didn't know what he knew.
At bottom, the unpleasant truth was that Fletcher's carriers were incomparably more important than the Marines at Guadalcanal, and if he had to choose between abandoning the Marines (which he did not believe he was doing at the time he retreated to refuel - which he had to do at some point so as to be ready when the Japanese carriers showed up) or putting the carriers in substantial risk with no prospect to inflict equal damage on Japanese forces, the carriers won. Losing Guadalcanal would have been a temporary setback. Losing the bulk of the carriers in the fall of 1942 would have been far worse. The Marines would disagree - and understandably still do - but had that been the decision (and Lundstrom makes clear that it was never that clear) that would have been the right decision. In the long run, the Marines depended on the carriers being there to stop the Japanese Navy when it showed up far more than they needed them to cover the unloading of supplies, and that was what Fletcher did. If he had lost the carriers covering Turner's delayed unloading of supplies, the Marines would have been dislodged when the Japanese Navy showed up, no matter how much supplies they had on hand.
Not everything Fletcher did was right, of course, but given that he was practicing a new form of naval warfare in which he had no experience (neither did anyone else, of course) and he won every battle he was engaged in, and preserved the Navy's carriers long enough to bridge the gap till the new carriers under construction reached the fleet, he deserves far greater credit for what he did.
The book also explain better his post-carrier command work. Once he was out of the South Pacific after the Saratoga was torpedoed, his days as a carrier commander were over - both King and to a lesser extent Nimitz were unhappy with what they perceived as a lack of offensive-mindedness, and he was relegated to a land-based commend on the mainland.
But Lundstrom also makes clear that that may have been where he was headed anyway. Having an admiral with no aviation experience command carrier task forces in early 1942 may have been unavoidable because there were no air admirals with sufficient seniority, but by the end of 1942 all the fliers who had started the war as captains (Mitscher as an example) were now rear admirals, and sufficiently senior to command carrier task forces. Fletcher, on the other hand, was now a vice admiral, too senior for a task force command, and with the wrong background to command the overall carrier fleet (despite his phenomenal failure at Midway, Mitscher did end up being the right man at the right time). Add to that that Fletcher did have a record of not seizing the initiative (although I don't think he can be faulted for doing so in the circumstances in which he operated) I really don't see that he would have remained with the carriers in any event. His record was precisely the opposite of the tactics that Mitscher would later employ to great success in early 1944. Again, it has to be said that Mitscher could afford to take risks with the forces available to him, and Fletcher could not. Had he played with fire the way the armchair admirals wanted him to, the benefits would have been minor, and the risks were incalculable.
In the end, if anyone deserves the credit for the way the U.S. carrier task forces successfully fought the first year of the Pacfic War, it has to be Fletcher, and I'm glad we finally have a book that explains this. Lundstrom is not neutral on the subject of Fletcher, but then neither has anyone else been, and this book helps to balance the account.
The only reason I give the book four stars instead of five is that Lundstrom's detail is sometimes overwhelming, and he not infrequently has sentences that are unintentionally cryptic, where it's hard to tell what exactly he is trying to say. It is also clear that he is an advocate for Fletcher, and while I applaud that because it helps balance the record, this is an analysis of what Fletcher did and why and why his detractors are or are not wrong. A five star rating would be appropriate if it were a balanced account of what happened. But that book is not yet possible, because no one had done the homework to see whether the attacks on Fletcher were justified. That has now been done, and we can now see what the next generation of naval scholarship makes of this stage of the war. For example, I am particularly interested in reassessments of what King and Nimitz thought about Fletcher - Lundstrom seems to be not entirely sure, and while that it perhaps not needed in this book, to get the whole picture, that needs to be analyzed further. There were a lot of politics going on in Washington, and perhaps Pearl as well, and those need to be taken into account.
Book Description
From the halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli, and more recently from the jungles of Vietnam to the killing fields of Iraq, Americas soldiers of the sea have fought their countrys battles with famed valor, skill, and perseverance in the face of long odds. But where did the U.S. Marines earn their reputation as being the first to fight? It was on the South Pacific Island of Guadalcanal. There, on August 7, 1942, the 1st Marine Division stormed ashore to begin one of the most difficult and brutal campaigns of military historyand an unbroken string of victories staged across the Pacific. Up the Solomons from Guadalcanal, westward into the islands of the central Pacific, and on to the climactic campaigns of Iwo Jima and Okinawa, these are the legendary battles celebrated in this volume, a lavishly illustrated tribute to the men who led the way against Japan. Nearly 300 combat photographs, many never before published, capture the fighting Leathernecks in training and in battle, landing and mopping up, making inexorable headway through the Pacific theater. Pacific Warriors also gives readers a look at the prewar Corps and its phenomenal growth from a modest two-regiment force to a full six divisions with its own modern air force.
Customer Reviews:
Outstanding Visual Presentation of Pacific War.......2006-02-14
Pacific Warriors is one of those rare books that absolutely captures the essence of an era. Eric Hammel's photo selection and text sets the stage and allows the images themselves to tell the story of a generation of Marines who fought the battles in the Central Pacific during World War II. These photos remind everyone that the cost of victory over Japan did not come cheap. The combat cameramen captured the close-range fighting brilliantly, and some of the best war photography ever taken can be seen within the pages of this book. If you have even a passing interest in this topic, you need to own this work. Get it on your bookshelf right away, you will not be disappointed.
Nice overview of the Pacific war........2005-09-19
This book covers the full scope of the island-hopping Marines, with vivid pictures portraying what they went through in World War II. However, if you want to follow one Marine who hit Tulagi, Guadalcanal, Tarawa, Saipan, Guam, and Iwo Jima, I recommend reading "Pacific War Marine."
Book Description
The history of one of the most dramatic and underreported stories of WWII.
Customer Reviews:
tombo01.......2007-09-06
A great story and a great story-teller! The most user friendly book I've read. There was no over blown technical term or military acronym that I couldn't understand. You didn't have to have 20 years service time in the Navy to know what was happining to the sailors and what the command leadership was doing right or wrong. You felt you right there with the sailors in their battle to survive! An amazing story of heroes and tragedy. The story of Commander Henry Lee Plage of the destroyer USS Tabber is awesome! He stands 3 times taller than John Wayne ever did! He was a 29 year old reservist with only one and a half years of sea time. He amazingly avoided direct orders and rescued over 50 sailors inside the fury of a killer typhoon (almost a thousand sailors died and many ships were sunk or nearly sunk). The other current book on this event "Halsey's Typhoon" doesn't even come close to the passion or power of "Sea Cobra".
stirring and insightful.......2007-06-10
My father served on an aircraft carrier that survived the typhoon Cobra, and I found this book to be a thorough and compelling account of one of the most disastrous events of WW2.
a good review of the storm.......2007-06-08
excellent account of the storm and dealt with the review of navy top brass. Let you draw your own idea at who was at fault for the lost of three ships and about eight hundred sailors. The navy felt that no one person was to blame. Just a series of unfortunate events. Yeah right!
Sea Cobra.......2007-03-15
I haven't finished this one. It is very good as far as I have read.
Average customer rating:
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Pacific Campaign: World War II--The U.S.-Japanese Naval War 1941-1945
Dan Van der Vat
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
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ASIN: 0671738992 |
Average customer rating:
- A Great Book
- Well Done
- Great ending to a good series!
- Heroes Don't Run
- Heros Don't Run: A Novel of the Pacific War
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Heroes Don't Run: A Novel of the Pacific War
Harry Mazer
Manufacturer: Aladdin
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A Boy No More (Aladdin Historical Fiction)
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A Boy at War: A Novel of Pearl Harbor
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The Last Mission (Laurel-Leaf Historical Fiction)
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Soldier X
ASIN: 1416933948 |
Book Description
"I WANTED TO SERVE, TO BE PART OF THIS THING
MY FATHER HAD GIVEN HIS LIFE FOR. I DIDN'T WANT THE WAR TO END, AND ALL I'D BE ABLE TO SAY WAS, NO I DIDN'T SERVE, I WAS RIGHT HERE THE WHOLE WAR, SAFE IN BAKERSFIELD."
Adam Pelko witnessed the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor that killed his father, a lieutenant on the USS Arizona. Even though Adam is underage, he defies his mother's wishes and enlists in the Marines. Sent first to boot camp, then to Okinawa, he experiences the stark reality of war firsthand -- the camaraderie and the glory as well as the grueling regimen, the paralyzing fear, and death. And at every turn, Adam must confront memories of his father.
In the concluding volume of his World War II trilogy, Harry Mazer masterfully illustrates Adam's journey as he navigates brutal circumstances that no boy should know.
Customer Reviews:
A Great Book .......2006-11-04
If you like books about war or boot camp then Heroes Don't Runs by Harry Mazer is the book for you.
This book takes place in Bakers Field, California, 1944, Okinawa, Japan, 1945, and Pearl Harbor. Adam is going to Pearl Harbor to avenge his father's death, but his mom won't let him go because the family has made too many sacrifices in the war. Grandpa lost his arm, and his dad was killed. Will Adam go to war? Does he sacrifice his life? Will he be in trouble for not telling his mom he's going to war?
We recommend this book to all our friends because its lets you see the kids point of view. We give the book four stars.
By: Samuel and Miguel
Well Done.......2006-07-05
Adam Pelko is seventeen and unable to enlist in the Marines without his mother's consent. He persuades his grandfather to endorse the necessary papers without his mother's knowledge and quickly finds himslef in the reality of a gueling boot-camp and grisly combat when he is shipped to Okinawa.
Mazer writes in a smooth, flowing, aga-appropriate narrative without losing the grit and spirit of a young man in war but an entire country as well. The author allows Adam and his readers to experience the discipline and taunting of boot-camp, the loneliness and brotherhood of war-time and the almost automatic preservation instinct that jerks into gear in the intensity of ferocious battles.
My sons, (9&12) relished the intensity of Heroes Don't Run enough to head off to the library for the first two books in Mazer's trilogy.
Great ending to a good series!.......2006-06-14
The first two books of this series "A Boy at War" and "A Boy No More" were decent but didn't grab my intrest that well! "Heroes Don't Run" is a spectacular ending or "trilogy" to this series of books! This was one of those books were I had a very hard time putting it down!
The main character "Adam Pelko" goes behind his mother's back and joins the marines! While he is at boot camp he sometimes questions his decision of joining the military. The battle scenes are graphic but not too bloody so I think this book would be good for younger people once again!
The ending is also very good because you can feel the happiness and pride Adam has when he returns home!
The very back of the book also has a summary of the Pacific War with Japan.
I hope my review was helpful to you.
Heroes Don't Run .......2006-02-14
I think the author did a really good job describing the battle scene, by using details like blood and the pale faces of dead people. I could really imagine a war scene. I would recommend this book to people who like war and action books and would like to know more about World War 2
Heros Don't Run: A Novel of the Pacific War.......2006-02-08
This World War II experience is told through the eyes of a 17 year old boy who wishes to enlist in the Marines because both his grandfather and father fought in a war. Because his father died at Pearl Harbor, his mother will not sign for him join, so he goes to his grandfather and talks him into it. He then tells his story of a young boy going through bootcamp and war. Along the way he learns about friendship, fear, respect, and life, all while almost instantly chaning from a boy to man.
This story has the pace of a war, going from one incident to the next without dwelling on anything for too long. I usually do not like war stories, but I think this is a great war novel for older children to read and experience what war is like for children. It will open your eyes to the harsh reality of children fighting wars and what they have to go through. My copy of the book also has a brief historical note of the last major battle of WWII along with literature circle questions for teachers that follow Bloom's Taxonomy.
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- Step Wars: Overcoming the Perils and Making Peace in Adult Stepfamilies
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