Thursday, October 20, 2016

Battle Bibliography...

I've been asked a few times where I get my info for military articles...Besides the internet where I can verify data from multiple sources, I own a small bookshelf of sources I've collected over the years...Many of them I've read more than once, and a few are very well thumbed as a constant resource...

As I re-read the older ones I write reviews on them as well as the new ones I buy...If the Lord blesses me with enough time, I'll eventually get around to my opinion on all of them; if not, one of you goobers will have to take up the slack...

I thought it might be helpful to alphabetically list what's on the shelf now concerning war and militaria...I'll star (**) and link the ones I've reviewed, and I'll add to the list as it grows...Suggestions are always welcomed...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A Serial Killer in Nazi Berlin - Scott Andrew Selby

Adolf Hitler (Two volumes) - John Toland **

Air Combat At 20 Feet - Garrett Middlebrook **

An Illustrated History of the United States Marine Corps - Chester G. Hearn

A Time For War - Robert D. Schulzinger **

Blood and Honor - Reinhold Kerstan

Bury Us Upside Down - Rick Newman/Don Shepperd  **

Colonel Roosevelt - Edmund Morris

Crusade in Europe - Dwight D. Eisenhower **

Deadly Sky - John C. McManus

Eva Braun: Life With Hitler - Heike B. Gortemaker

Fighter Pilot - Robin Olds/Christina Olds/Ed Rasimus **

Final Entries 1945 - Joseph Goebbels/Hugh Trevor-Roper  **

Forgotten Fifteenth - Barrett Tillman

Grey Wolf: The Escape of Adolf Hitler - Simon Dunstan/Gerrard Williams ** **

Hatcher's Notebook - Julian S. Hatcher  **

Hitler (Pictorial Documentary) - John Toland **

Hitlerland - Andrew Nagorski

Hitler's Hangman - Robert Gerwarth

Hitler's Last Days - Bill O'Reilly

Inferno: The World at War, 1939-1945 - Max Hastings

Inside the Third Reich - Albert Speer

Into The Mouth Of The Cat - Malcolm McConnell **

Killing Patton - Bill O'Teilly/Martin Dugard

Last To Die - Stephen Harding  **

Life: World War 2 - Edit by Richard B. Stolley

Mein Kampf - Adolf Hitler (MIchael Ford translation) ** (Pt. 1) ** (Pt. 2) ** Conclusions

No Ordinary Time - Doris Kearns Goodwin **

Ostkrieg - Stephen G. Fritz **

PT 109 - William Doyle **

Rescue at Los Baños - Bruce Henderson **

Rising Sun, Falling Skies - Jeffrey R. Cox

Rough Riders - Mark Lee Gardner

Samurai! - Saburo Sakai/Martin Caidin/Fred Saito **

Spandau: The Secret Diaries - Albert Speer

SR-71 Blackbird - Richard H. Graham

The Arms of Krupp - William Manchester **

The Army of the Potomac (Three volumes) - Bruce Catton

The B-58 Blunder - George Holt, Jr

The Bunker - James P. O'Donnell **

The Dead and Those About To Die - John C. McManus

The End - Ian Kershaw **

The Forgotten War - Stan Cohen

The Great Book of Fighters - William Green/Gordon Swanborough

The Guns at Last Light - Rick Atkinson

The Heart of Hell - Mitch Weiss **

The History of the SS - G.S. Graber

The Hunter Killers - Dan Hampton **

The Last Battle - Stephen Harding **

The Last Lion: Defender of the Realm 1940-1965 - William Manchester/Paul Reid

The Nightmare Years - William L. Shirer ** (Pt. 1) **(Pt. II) **(Pt. III) **(Pt. IV)

The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich - William L. Shirer **

Wanted! The Search For Nazis in America - Howard Blum

Winston's War: Churchill 1940-1945 - Max Hastings

World at War - Nigel Cawthorne

Yeager - Chuck Yeager/Leo Janos

Tuesday, October 18, 2016

Japanese counterpart to Ulithi Atoll...


The reason for Japan's defeat in WWII was never an unwillingness to fight, nor a reluctance to die for their Emperor-god...Their efforts were doomed the moment they set out to attack without first securing their own supply lines...Japan's main military strength was in its sea force, but not even a superior striking body such as the Japanese Imperial Navy (JIN) can expect to attack with impunity forever...

Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, CIC of the Combined Fleet, knew this from his travels and study in the United States, and said as much after receiving the news that the destruction of Pearl Harbor Naval Base was incomplete, and that the attack had occurred before Japan's formal declaration of war...In an interview on January 9,1942, Japanese journalist Taketora Ogata quoted Yamamoto as saying:
"A military man can scarcely pride himself on having 'smitten a sleeping enemy'; it is more a matter of shame, simply, for the one smitten. I would rather you made your appraisal after seeing what the enemy does, since it is certain that, angered and outraged, he will soon launch a determined counterattack."
Yamamoto's words were prophetic on a personal level as well, as his inspection flight of Japanese forces was intercepted and ambushed over Bougainville by a squadron of Lockheed P-38's less than 18 months later...The aircraft involved in the attack were all manufactured in the USA after America's entry into the war...Yamamoto was killed during this action on the direct order of President Franklin Roosevelt...

Japan had few natural resources for production of war materials, and relied instead on imports of all iron, coal, petroleum, rubber and secondary metals needed for land vehicles, ships, aircraft, ammunition plus any replacement parts...This fueled their lust for conquest in the oil and rubber rich Indonesian islands,and from the SEA mainland north into Korea where they hoped to establish permanent colonies...

This necessitated their taking by force the islands forming the southwest Pacific Ring in order to establish a defensive perimeter...They enslaved the native islanders there, forcing them to work for subsistence...Defending this ring against opponents meant maintaining forward naval bases prepared to repel invaders...They used the many natural harbors and anchorages for their larger warships, and established a number of airfields on remote islands...

One immediate disadvantage was in their enemies' knowledge of their exact locations, and another was in the logistical problem of maintaining repair facilities for the inevitable battle damage...The aforementioned lack of raw materials for manufacture meant not only fewer supply ships, but fewer replacement parts and a lack of dockside repair depots...Damaged warships and transports that could return to mainland naval arsenals such as Kure or Sasebo stood a better chance of adequate repair before returning to sea...

But ships unable to return to Japan had to find shelter in a harbor at one of the forward bases where basic repairs could be carried out making it seaworthy enough to return to a mainland arsenal for overhaul...The other alternative was waiting until the only Japanese repair ship in the Combined Fleet, the Akashi, could tie up alongside and make more extensive repairs...

Again lacking the necessary raw materials, the IJN could only launch one dedicated repair ship during the war...It lacked many of the facilities made available to the US fleet by their superior manufacturing power such as portable dry docks and endless chains of ships for resupplying...One ship as opposed to a 10,000 vessel massing such as Service Squadron Ten automatically guaranteed the outcome of the battle for control of the Pacific...

Most of the Akashi's port time was spent anchored at Truk Lagoon, a major IJN forward base until it was finally destroyed by the US Fleet in Operation Hailstone...By this time Truk had lost its strategic importance to the Allies, and was simply bypassed as Japanese forces withdrew...Later in the year the Navy's logistics command saw more value in establishing a new forward repair base at Ulithi Atoll rather than salvage what was left at Truk...

Following the attack in Operation Hailstone, the Akashi was sunk by US air power near the Palau Islands, depriving the Combined Fleet of any major forward repair facilities...At the time of the attack on Truk, US Marine Major Gregory Boynton was being held prisoner there by the Japanese, having been shot down over Rabaul...He was taken from there to a prison on mainland Japan where he was released shortly after Japan's surrender...


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Monday, October 17, 2016

Ulithi Atoll...


For a number of years I've tried to find more information concerning the WWII service of one of my maternal uncles...The facts I have indicate he served honorably in the Pacific Theater as a Motor Machinist Mate 2nd Class, possibly on a destroyer tender or small coastal transport...Neither his ex-wife (my aunt) nor their only child (my cousin) are alive to supply any information on the subject...

A family history in my possession published in 1965 has no mention of his military service...Another cousin uncovered solid evidence he served on APc-48 (Coastal Transport [small]) attached to APc Flotilla Five, and assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater...This was a wooden-hulled boat approximately 100 feet in length, powered by a 400 HP diesel engine...Knowing my uncle's mechanical abilities, I'm sure it produced every pony in that herd...

I've found no reference so far to indicate in which specific area APc-48 operated, although many mentions are made of the small coastal transports involved in actions over a widespread area, some with distinction in battle...His could have been assigned to almost any support duty in any of the more narrowly defined theaters...Being rated as a MoMM2c, it is safe to say that he had little idle time as the hard pressed fleet of destroyers and smaller ships that would have been in his care likely needed constant overhaul as they were pushed beyond their design limits in every action...

One of the largest fleets ever assembled in wartime was Service Squadron Ten gathered at Ulithi Atoll...At its height of operation, some 10,000 vessels of all kinds were massed here to service and resupply Allied ships damaged or needing other repairs or replenishment from battle in the Western Pacific...My uncle mentioned being part of a large operation near Guam, and my guesswork leads me to think he may have been assigned here...

An atoll is a ring of coral outcroppings rising above the surface to give a usable breakwater against waves and storms allowing its use as a natural harbor in the middle of an otherwise uninhabited stretch of ocean...By 1944 the might of America's industrial power was at its peak in war production, with innovative equipment such as portable, floating dry docks capable of taking the largest warships out of the water for extensive repair...

Such an operation also meant bringing in enough floating facilities to feed, house and even entertain all the service personnel needed for such a large operation including hospital facilities, laundry and clothing issue, administration offices, sanitation facilities and food service to mention just a few...All this was kept afloat and operating 24 hours every day...

It was ringed by enough warships to ward off attack by the enemy as constant convoys of cargo transport ships brought in new personnel, commissary supplies, food, medical supplies and the raw materials necessary to keep the machine shops, mechanics, welders and riggers busy as ships came in for repair of battle damage, then were sent out to fight again...

An enormous amount of fuel had to be brought in using an endless chain of tanker convoys together with their protective destroyers, cruisers and escort aircraft carriers...If any repairs were needed on these ships before their return for more supplies, it was handled on the spot...Floating docks were assembled and anchored inside the atoll along with floating storage equipment...

The interior area of Ulithi Atoll was an oval approximately ten miles by twenty miles inside of which all equipment was anchored, and all Navy personnel lived and worked...The largest piece of equipment was likely the floating dry dock which by itself weighed about 1900 tons...To this was attached its pumping machinery and lifting cranes...

They also had food storage and preparation areas onboard ships for fresh as well as frozen foods...They operated  their own bakeries and even produced 500 gallons of ice cream every day, in addition to providing dining facilities around the clock for all officers and men, and kitchen cleaning operations, all under wartime conditions...

If my uncle was stationed in this area, his craft would likely have been loaded with supplies, ammunition and materials to make emergency repairs and replenishment on battle-weary and damaged smaller vessels no larger than a destroyer, enabling them to return to Ulithi for assessment and repair...His APc would also be equipped with 20mm cannon and .50 caliber machine guns for use if attacked by enemy forces...

I hope some day through my efforts and those of my cousins to be able to learn more about his specific duties and assignments to add to our family's military legacy...As his nephews and niece, we are not considered close enough relations to be granted access to his service records, but we continue in our attempts...

No other nation on the planet could have done a job like this in such a short time, then absorbed its losses and returned to peacetime pursuits afterward...The Japanese knew not what they started...


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Sunday, October 16, 2016

Favorite Firearms...

Even before I became a licensed firearms dealer, I had a great interest in them, and collected the ones that appealed to me...I was introduced to them by my Dad who was certainly no gun enthusiast, but was a father wanting to broaden the knowledge and experiences of his two sons...Not wanting us to grow up thinking all guns had endless supplies of ammo, never needed cleaning and only wounded people like we saw in TV westerns of the day, he went to a store and bought a new Remington Model 512 Sportmaster...

This was a walnut stocked full sized rifle, blued steel finish, with iron sights (rear adjustable), marked for .22 Long Rifle, Long or Short ammunition...He also brought home a Remington branded cleaning kit in a metal case with that wonderful aroma of solvent and oil plus a soft carrying case to protect the finish...

I recall the day he brought it home and showed it to us...Not really being a gun guy, he did remember what he was taught about firearms and shooting in the Army, and shared that information with my brother and I, emphasizing safety...I remember him taking us out of town to an empty field and showing us how to use the sights, the safety and how to shoot against a suitable backstop...

Both my brother and I were still aged in single digit years, but thirty or so years later we returned the favor by buying Dad his second gun...He wanted a handgun for home protection, and I went to a gun store where I knew someone, and bought him a Ruger .357 Magnum GP100...I could tell right away he didn't like the feel or the weight of it...

He wanted something similar to the revolvers he saw the detectives carry in TV shows such as Dragnet...Not ever having been the type to ask a retailer for an exchange or refund, I went back to the store and bought a new S&W Model 37 Airweight chambered in .38 Special, then made the necessary money adjustment with my brother, and kept the Ruger...When we gave it to him, I told him this one was named the Chief's Special, which pleased him to no end...

I also bought him a pair pf Pachmayr grips for it, and gave him a box of hollow point ammo, and to my knowledge he only ever fired one round, and that was at something he thought he saw moving in the garage one night...Thankfully whatever Dad thought he saw that night never returned, and the gun went back in his dresser drawer...

I realized much later that the Smith, being not only an Airweight, but having a three inch barrel instead of the more popular 1 7/8 inch, and having square butt grips in place of the more common round butt, is a bit of a rarity, and thus may be a little more valuable on the collector market...But it doesn't matter since neither of these guns will be sold during my lifetime...

Both my Dad and brother died many years ago, but I still have both guns together with Dad's cleaning kit and soft case, and the original box and papers for the Smith...I take them out and handle them sometimes like I did today...Somehow it seems for a while they're both still here...


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Saturday, October 15, 2016

Camouflage...

Camouflage can be defined as a means of concealment or misdirection used to avoid detection or contact with an opponent...Although records don't extend that far back, it can be guessed that as soon as man began to stand upright and started to look around for something tasty to broil over his newly invented fire, he may have noticed it difficult to walk up on his dinner because the dinner could see him coming in time to get out of the neighborhood before becoming a menu item...

In time he may have further noticed that some of his tastier and smarter victims were able to conceal their presence by blending in with the environment, thereby escaping his notice as well as his stewpot...Putting his small brain to early use, he probably started to devise his own ways of merging with his surroundings in order to add a little protein to his overly vegetarian diet...

Having surprised a pre-historic buffalo at the water hole, and providing a week's rations for his family with it, he may have wondered what to do with the hide since it proved too chewy for a late night snack...He could possibly have covered himself with it and found it disguised his own appearance and smell allowing him to sneak closer to birds and small game, thereby inventing camouflage and clothing at the same time...

Moving forward a few million years, his descendants had noticed their homespun and buckskin garments allowed them to merge with the American forest to the point where the Redcoats had approached in their straightline formations to can't-miss range before opening fire...Taking note of this, military outfitters began designing uniforms for soldiers which blended in rather than standing out from their surroundings...

In today's wars, combatants have the advantage of not only traditional woodland camo patterns, but winter, desert, urban, night, even digital or infrared avoidance designs to prevent detection and identification...Specialty fighters such as snipers and their spotters employ ghillie suits of their own making allowing them to move into their desired locations unnoticed by their targets...These specialists can add or remove features from their disguises as needed while they move through their territories using items found in the local environment...

One of the best known examples was USMC Gunnery Sergeant Carlos Hathcock as he assassinated an NVA general in the general's own camp...Hathcock slithered 1,500 yards under the very noses of his enemy using his skills to not only blend in with, but to become the jungle environment, taking four days and three nights to do so...During this time he carried and concealed not only himself, but his weapons and equipment needed for the job and for his withdrawal...

To the unknowing critic, his legendary exploits may seem like something from the overactive imagination of a Hollywood screenwriter...Disbelievers are as welcome to their opinions as they are to mine, but mine were confirmed in two one-on-one conversations I was privileged to have with Gunny before his death from MS and the burn wounds which exacerbated the affliction...He and I talked of nothing militarily related when we met, but I know in my heart that this was a man incapable of claiming an unearned victory...

Gunny was adept at camouflaging anything except the truth; when he said it happened, it happened exactly as he told it...I've found the same to be true with another sniper of long acquaintance...I won't name him as he is still active, but over the years the information I've harvested from him has been invaluable...He is also an active game hunter whose skills ensure his meat locker stays full...

Some hunters of deer in the deep woods have found too much camouflage to be a deadly hindrance, as other less experienced hunters have mistaken movement for game, and have wounded or killed other hunters simply by failing to identify their target before shooting...Many hunters have taken to wearing blaze orange in a woodland camo pattern to give themselves a better chance of returning to civilization in the vertical position...A deer's eyesight can keenly detect movement and patterns, but blaze orange does not stand out in their vision...

Even navies of the world have used camouflage patterns on warships at sea...A ship at sea may be too large to escape visual sighting, but dazzle camouflage, with its odd geometric shapes and patterns can disguise a ship's size, speed, direction and purpose long enough to confuse an enemy and gain a firing advantage...It was used extensively in World Wars One and Two...

The fighter aircraft in my squadrons during my USAF enlistment in Germany were painted in woodland camo on top to blend in with surroundings when seen from above...The bottoms were painted to match the skies when viewed from the ground...Similar color schemes were used on the same aircraft in Vietnam...But our RF-4C's were painted dull black since their recon missions were undertaken at night...

Camo patterns are also used as a fashion statement in today's world, but as we have seen, it has legitimate uses beyond commanding press attention at political meetings...


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Friday, October 14, 2016

Crusade in Europe...



One of the things I've been able to accomplish since volunteering to opt out of the workforce, is catching up on my reading...Since I was in my twenties, I've bought books with the intention of reading them and usually didn't get further than a few pages or chapters before something else demanded attention...Now I finally have time to indulge myself although 90% of my books disappeared thanks to an overly zealous housecleaning session initiated by the ex-wife...

However, most of my serious studies of the second World War are still with me and I've been able to delve into one of the great mysteries of the Twentieth Century: namely, how an entire nation could be misled and brought to the brink of destruction by one maniac...The question even has implications in today's world...

One book I put off because I thought it would be a dry discourse of military campaigns as seen by a rear echelon, desk-bound commander is "Crusade in Europe" by Dwight D. Eisenhower...It's surprised me because it's held my interest since the first page...It's written like a military report, but includes many slices of human experience not otherwise seen as spread over a military campaign that engulfed the world...


Eisenhower went into some amount of detail in how Operations Torch, Dragoon and Overlord were planned, manned, provisioned and executed giving this reader new appreciation for the seemingly top-heavy military staffs...

A fair amount of controversy has emerged from Eisenhower's memoirs since publication including his alleged affair with Kay Summersby, whom he mentions once in the book while crediting the several women who became valuable and reliable staff members...Controversy exists whether the affair ever took place and to what extent if any...

Eisenhower has also gained some undue criticism by taking advantage of a Treasury Department ruling allowing him to pay reduced income taxes on his earnings from sales of his book as a capital gain instead of voluntarily paying the much higher personal income tax rate...More serious litigation took place long after his death over the copyright ownership...Justice Antonin Scalia not only wrote the Supreme Court opinion on the decision, but authored his own book on the subject bound with a new edition of "Crusade in Europe"...

I have mentioned in prior articles the initial disdain Eisenhower had for General James Doolittle, regarding him in the beginning as little more than a hot-shot civilian stunt pilot who got sucked into the war as a reservist...It was said that Ike was little impressed with Doolittle's award of the CMH until Doolittle's calm devotion to his job, subsequent acceptance of whatever assignment he was handed and exceptional performance of his duties changed his mind...

In his 1948 book Eisenhower refers to Doolittle's having been "given" command of the 8th Air Force in Europe, but nothing of the dressing down he received shortly in Washington as he was briefed by his boss, General George Marshall concerning Doolittle's real qualifications...It is known that Eisenhower eventually warmed to Doolittle's talents and efficiencies, calling on him later as President for a CIA study as well as membership in the President's Intelligence Advisory Board and as chairman of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics...

Needless to say, Ike believed in giving a fair chance when ordered to do so, and knew how to profit from the experience...The book is now on the "Truckman Highly Recommended List" for those wanting a different angle on their military history...Google books has a preview for free reading here...


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Thursday, October 13, 2016

You expect me to do WHAT? Part III...


Our ongoing title for this series could well have been Prime Minister Churchill's reaction to a hypothetical proposal if it had been presented by Lord Mountbatten during their impromptu wartime discussion which took place in the PM's bathroom as he washed himself...Upon barging in on one of Churchill's few private moments since 1940, and tossing a block of frozen sawdust slush into his warm bathwater, this conversation might have ensued...
LM: "Here Winnie, play with this"...
PMC: "Have you taken leave of your senses, Louis?...I'm trying to wash off the dust from an air-raid shelter inspection, and you want to play with tub toys?"...
LM: "Winnie, old boy, you'll notice that toy is frozen, yet it hasn't melted in your hot bath"...
PMC: "For once you're right, Mountbatten...Now what am I expected to do with it?"...
LM: "Mr. Prime Minister, we expect you to appropriate the needed funds to build an aircraft carrier from this...Hock the King's crown if necessary"...
PMC: "You expect me to do WHAT?"...
The block Mountbatten had introduced to the PM's tub was made of Pykrete, a mixture by weight of 14% sawdust and 86% water frozen into a solid mass, then sawn into blocks which could be assembled into structures capable of floating, and housing equipment and personnel...Pykrete was the brainchild of inventor and random thinker, Geoffrey Pyke, an individualist if there ever was one...

Given the already menacing fleet of U-boats launched by Nazi Germany against England's most dominant and fearsome weapon, the Royal Navy, with orders to sink British shipping at will, a counter-attack method was desperately needed by the embattled Britons...Some innovative thinkers had already conceived of flattening the tops of large icebergs found in the North Atlantic for use as launch and recovery vehicles for submarine-hunting aircraft...

This idea never gained traction due to the large portion of the bergs which remained underwater, making it difficult to quickly move them where needed, even though it provided a built-in defense against submarine attack...Mountbatten already knew of this plan and its drawbacks, but when presented with the idea of constructing a floating island from Pykrete, one that could be powered internally and easily repaired at sea, he decided to present it to the allies at the first Quebec Conference...

An often quoted story asserts that Mountbatten entered the conference room with a block of ice and a similar sized block of Pykrete which he had placed on the floor...Calling the other conferees' attention, he drew his sidearm and shot first into the iceblock, then into the Pykrete...Predictably, the iceblock shattered into small pieces offering no protection for anything behind it...

The Pykrete, however, suffered a small gouge as the bullet bounced off, and was sent through the pantleg of Adm. Ernest King's uniform...If King's injuries had been more than just sartorial, he might not have found much sympathy as he was one of the most universally disliked commanders of WWII...

Although at this point in the war Allied concerns had not reached the desperation level over the Axis gains in battles both on land and at sea, serious consideration was given to almost any innovative suggestion that might lead to the Allies gaining the upper hand...Since forward airbases were urgently needed in the North Atlantic with which to combat the U-boat fleet set loose by the Kriegsmarine, research assets were set aside to develop the idea of a frozen, mobile, floating haven for the launching, recovery and servicing of warplanes...

The idea of using Pykrete to build aircraft carriers was certainly not Pyke's strangest suggestion, but may have been looked at as his least impractical...Among other brainstorms, he conceived hiding equipment used in behind-the-lines covert operations inside buildings marked "Officer's Latrine" in German, thinking that no Wehrmacht enlisted man would dare look inside...

Not entirely surprisingly, Churchill warmed to the idea right away after Mountbatten fielded it to him, and with support from these two, it took on shape as Project Habakkuk under the umbrella of Combined Operations Headquarters...The urgency of need that was driving the project led to some tests on Pykrete being delayed up to a point where it was found that certain deficiencies affecting its longevity required design changes which more than tripled the original cost estimates...

Intended mission requirements also affected the design as added use by heavy bombers stretched the flight deck to 4,000 X 600 feet...Displacement would have exceeded 2 million tons, and the hull would have been at least 40 feet thick for protection against torpedo attack...No canal or dock on the planet would have been able to accommodate its size even if one existed in a climate cold enough to preserve the Pykrete's temperature...

Other problems included mounting the estimated 100 foot rudder, and isolating the heat-producing propulsion units away from the frozen Pykrete material...A 1,000 ton model was constructed in Canada to prove the project's viability, and 400,000 tons of material were procured for a larger version before the undertaking was cancelled...

Advancements in aircraft flight time, new strategically located airfields and the decryption of the German Enigma Code made further development of the frozen giant unnecessary in the North Atlantic war...The always unbalanced, but forever curious Geoffrey Pyke outlived the Axis leadership, but took his own life in 1948...


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Wednesday, October 12, 2016

Rescue at Los Baños...

"Rescue at Los Baños" written by Bruce Henderson details one of the most flawlessly planned and executed raids in American military history...It concerns a rescue in the waning days of WWII in the Pacific Theater of a group of prisoners nearly unknown by Allied forces...

It almost didn't happen because General MacArthur had more faith in traditional infantry than he did in the newfangled airborne units, mostly because paratroopers couldn't bring armor and artillery with them, but had to fight with whatever they could carry on them...Airborne infantry was a relatively new concept which had seen early success by Italy, the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany prior to WWII...US forces were among the last to embrace this new conveyance...


Before the rescue took place, the 511th Paratrooper Regiment proved MacArthur wrong by entering the Leyte jungle from the air and reducing the tough 8800-man Japanese 16th Infantry Division to a surviving group of 500, while losing 128 of their own men...They did this in 31 straight days of combat in the bush with almost no supplies or replacement ammunition...

In many cases the killing was done with knives and bare hands...The battle was so intense that one surviving soldier, Private Rodman Serling, had nightmares about it for years afterward, and found it to be therapeutic to write horror screenplays after the war...From this he eventually created and produced The Twilight Zone...

I finished reading Rescue at Los Baños in one night...Once the author got past the detailed background research and on to the actual raid, it was one of those I couldn't put down...Unfortunately by the time I put it away, it was past 2AM, and then my puppies wanted out at 3:30, and 5:00 and finally 6:30 when I gave up and put the coffee on...

But it was worth the lost sleep...The author's story telling style let me see what happened as if I was there...The raid is still used today as a textbook model for successful military operations, as it went off without the loss of a single prisoner's life, while Army casualties totaled four dead and a number of minor wounds...


2100 mostly American and other Allied civilian prisoners were rescued after more than three years of captivity at the hands of the Japanese...The Japanese forces were annihilated and their few survivors scattered in the jungle where many were later captured and prosecuted as war criminals...Those captured were the lucky ones as they were not found by Filipino guerrillas whose people had suffered horribly at the hands of the Japanese...

Some of the best reading is at the very end where the fates of those involved, both civilian and US and Japanese military participants is revealed...I won't spoil that part for anyone who hasn't read the book...It makes the entire time spent reading worth the effort...I will mention that one of the repatriated civilians was Frank Buckles who, when he died in 2011 at the age of 110, was the last surviving American veteran of WWI...


As daring and worthy of praise as the raid was, it was eclipsed in news reporting by another successful military incursion taking place on the island of Luzon at Cabanatuan where 513 survivors of the Bataan Death March were awaiting their fate at the hands of their Japanese captors...Their rescue was of paramount importance to Gen. Douglas MacArthur who wished to preserve his own place in history by reclaiming the Philippines...

The raids were a month apart...Cabanatuan prisoners were all military, while Los Banos housed strictly civilian captives...Hardly anyone in the military realized there were thousands of civilians being held until a Filipino trader mentioned it to a G-2 officer, who began assembling intel on his own...When the rescue order came down directly from MacArthur, he already had a jumpstart on planning...In the case of both raids, a tough, but small Army unit known as the Alamo Scouts took their place in history yet remain almost unheralded today...


The Los Baños rescue occurred during the Battle for Iwo Jima which took headline precedence over the civilian rescue, pushing it further out of the public's attention...It was a time of great peril to many, and tremendous daring and bravery by well-trained, dedicated units which performed their duties flawlessly...Bruce Henderson's retelling of the rescue, together with its backstories and aftermath is worth the read by anyone with an interest in the Pacific War...


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Tuesday, October 11, 2016

A few thoughts on kinship...

A recent outing with one of my granddaughters prompted me to consider the different kinds of kinships, and how they can be graded in closeness...Blood relations are generally regarded as the closest for valid and obvious reasons...In most families the long periods of proximity with father, mother and children under one roof lends itself to dependency on one another for fulfillment of needs of many descriptions...

The end result in healthy families was usually a lifelong attachment to immediate family members who could be drawn together for support in times of personal upheaval...For the same reasons, family members were a desired element in times of joy, such as weddings, births and holiday gatherings...

The proliferation of divorce and subsequent remarriage in recent generations is a phenomenon which has resulted in an increase of non-bloodline relations as step-children and step-siblings began to grow to adulthood with non-related people blended into larger units for better, or for worse...In my own life I have experienced both, and have made certain observations...

I was born into, and grew to manhood in a family in which divorce was nearly unheard of on either side, the only instance being the divorce of a maternal uncle and aunt...My paternal grandmother died of an illness when my Dad was two years old, and he had no memory of her...His father, my Granddad, remarried at a later time to a lady I remember as being very nice...My Dad always thought of his two half-sisters as close relations...

My own relations with my parents and my brother were always strong...Even though we were sometimes at odds in our opinions, I always felt reciprocal love, respect and admiration for my Dad and my brother right up until their untimely deaths...Today I would give ten years off the end of my life for another ten minutes with either of them...

My brother's only children, my two nephews, know they have my support when and where needed, and I am proud to know our kinship is close...My Mom, who has been a rock of solid support my entire life, has my utmost love and can count on me in any situation in which I have a scrap of power...Those are relationships no hammer can chip...

In my own life, I married twice, twenty years apart, to women who would never have more children...In each case I accepted the children they already had as my own in the hopes they would regard me with the respect they gave their birth fathers...After the first divorce, it became clear over time that the step-children preferred to conduct their lives with minimum contact with me, although it was also clear they bore me no animosity...We have all respected that distancing since...

The second marriage began on good terms with the stepchildren as I attended the wedding of one, encouraged the wedding and suffered through the divorce of another, offered support through the divorce of yet another and was present at the birth of four grandchildren...I housed another child through college, and proudly attended the completion of graduate studies for another...

At one time or another, each of the step-children and their families were welcomed to live under my roof, occasionally in multiples...No remuneration was ever asked, offered or expected as it was family looking out for family...

After my second divorce certain changes and disclosures evinced...As always, in times of crisis true character comes to the forefront...Out of respect for relationships which must continue with or without me, I will only discuss the outcome of my relationship with one family branch...

At the time when my second marriage suddenly and surprisingly unraveled, my daughter-in-law together with my stepson, whom I saw joined in wedlock, made it known to me that I could count on their support through what they knew would be a harrowing ordeal for me...They also made it clear that although there was no bloodline to tie me to their three children, I would remain their Granddaddy because some kinships go beyond blood relations...

With the passage of years I note that I feel extra strength from those kinships that could just as easily have been tossed aside as I was...Although sometimes months will pass when there is no communication, I always feel welcome in that home, and I cherish the relationship I share with them...It is a true joy for me as I am privileged to witness the growth into adulthood of three fine grandchildren...

The resulting conclusion is that respect (or even lack of respect) can exist in any kinship regardless of distance or length of time, but loving care seems just a little sweeter and brighter when it is freely given between those from whom no obligation is expected...


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Monday, October 10, 2016

John Basilone...

Curiously unknown by name to many who owe their very existence to his devotion to duty and self-sacrifice, John Basilone remains an awe-inspiring legend and source of immense pride to members of the US Marine Corps who still draw motivation from what he looked at as simply his job...

John Basilone completed his first tour of duty as a teenager prior to WWII in the US Army...After discharge, and still prior to WWII, he re-enlisted, this time in the Marine Corps because he wanted to return to the Philippines...After landing on Guadalcanal, his 15 man platoon was attacked by a 3,000 man regiment from the Japanese' elite Sendai Division...During the ensuing attack, the Americans were reduced to three men, all wounded including Basilone...

For three days without sleep, food or rest they battled the enemy to a standstill...The Japanese regiment was decimated and forced to withdraw...During this time, Basilone ferried ammunition and water to his two comrades, repaired machine guns under fire, all the while manning his own machine gun emplacement...At times the enemy was too close for machine guns and he killed them with his .45, his knife and his bare hands...At the end only the three Americans were left alive among the thousands of dead Japanese...For this action, Sgt. Basilone was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor...

The stench from the lifeless, gutted bodies of the enemy, combined with the distinct odor of fumes from the many thousands of rounds fired in that narrow draw may not have even been noticed by the combatants until after firing ceased...The smell, which must have been overpowering, may have been removed as a distraction by a phenomenon known as sensory occlusion, in which only the senses important to survival are processed by the brain's intake sensors, and the olfactory input is ignored...

This would be similar to the more widely known auditory occlusion in which surviving combatants have testified they never heard the sounds of gunfire and explosions, although they were battling in the midst of them...Having read many accounts of this, and talked to those who lived to tell of battles both as military members and police officers, I believe one's own desire for life will enable one to concentrate only on the necessary sensory perceptions while forcing the lesser needed ones to the background...

Following a mandatory war bond tour in which he helped raise millions of dollars for the war effort, Basilone volunteered to return to the war and was refused...He turned down a commission as an officer and a chance to be an instructor in advanced combat techniques, all the while asking to be reassigned to combat...His request was eventually approved by reluctant commanders, and after further training was assigned to forces soon to be engaged in the invasion of Iwo Jima...

After landing on the beach at Iwo Jima and fighting their way forward, his unit was pinned down by withering fire from a heavily fortified enemy blockhouse...Basilone, ignoring his own safety, worked around alone to the top of the blockhouse and, armed only with grenades and a satchel charge, neutralized the enemy position and personally killed every Japanese soldier inside the  defensive emplacement...

Afterward, while fighting his way to his company's assigned target, an airfield, he found a Marine tank trapped in a minefield under heavy fire...Working his way to the tank he led them safely out of the minefield at the risk of his own life...After reaching the airfield he was hit by shrapnel from a Japanese mortar and killed...For his actions that day he was awarded the nation's second highest military award, the Navy Cross, posthumously...


Sgt. Basilone was the only enlisted Marine in WWII to receive the nation's two highest military decorations...His wife of seven months, herself a Sergeant in the US Marines Women's Reserve, never remarried and was buried with her wedding ring and memories intact...


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Sunday, October 9, 2016

Allegiance...

Allegiance should be taken as more than a mere recitation of words memorized as a child meant to inspire a show of patriotic loyalty...Allegiance travels a two-way street as it always involves an intertwining of strengths designed to shelter and support the vulnerabilities inherent in all individuals, groups or even nations...The word itself suggests an alliance in which a common trust is undertaken by each ally to safeguard the interests, goals and expectations of each, while knowing one's own property, well-being and future will be sheltered...

Allegiances are taken or pledged everyday, and the merit of an individual or an organization becomes apparent by how the seriousness placed on such a pledge is valued...If allegiance is taken between two friends who agree to walk through a shady park together, then each should be willing to stay alert for danger, share pleasantries and have no ulterior motives which might be detrimental to the other...If one or both act only against danger to self, spot a rare sight without telling the other or have undertaken the walk with intentions other than what was declared, then the alliance between the two loses the strength of allegiance...

Allegiance is sometimes assumed when in fact it does not exist...Admiration by one for another may lead the admirer to assume it is mutual admiration, and that a certain level of loyalty exists between the two...It is important to remember that a person's first allegiance is always to one's self and one's own beliefs...Admiring a certain quality in a person might lead one to assume their beliefs might be shared, and that they might have common goals...

When people talk with an outlook toward a more lasting bond, it should not be taken for granted that both place the same value on integrity...An allegiance is a common loyalty toward each other and to the common goals of all concerned...Even if the interests of the individuals differ from one another, it should be assumed that each will support the other in those interests if no harm is seen...The process involved may take time, and the allegiance should be approached with patience in mind...

Allegiances can differ from others in their level of seriousness, but one level can always lead to another at a higher, or even lower level...As an example, an allegiance to a Higher Being may result in a further allegiance to a particular religious body, such as a church or temple...Allegiance to a church can sometimes dwindle with no reduction in a person's belief in that Higher Being...A person may decide at some point to transfer attendance to a different religious body while maintaining that person's core beliefs...

In such a case, no fault or animosity can be displayed either way because the integrity of all towards allegiance to a Higher Being is still maintained...A person can also choose to worship alone while keeping to the same beliefs...

Allegiances on a more formal level involve a more public declaration and may be seen by others as having a higher degree of value...The two most common are allegiances of loyalty by citizens to a nation, and the fidelity pledged to one another in marriage...Disloyalty in either of these instances can have serious repercussions...

When a person declares loyalty to a nation, whether as a newly minted citizen or in re-affirmation as one born to that country, the strength of each increases at the level of priority taken by both the governed and the government...If the government is led by those whose main interest is in the preservation and advancement of the nation, then all citizens will benefit from its common protection...

If a citizen fulfills a pledge of loyalty to that nation, the strength of that nation is increased another notch...If either nation or citizen fails to uphold that common bond, the integrity of both suffers, and both lose strength...It is therefore to the benefit of both to maintain the promised level of faith...

Similarly, in a marriage between people, whether blessed in a religious ceremony, or vowed in a civil union, a certain trust is undertaken to uphold the aims and needs of each other...If the long term goals and short term interests of each follow a common path, the chances of the marriage's success increases...

If each participant in the union has clearly stated any expectations, and has revealed any conditions which, if unfulfilled would damage the integrity of the marriage, or lessen the happiness of either, the union gains strength by the simple absence of any untold intentions...

If, however, those pledging love and loyalty have kept secret an agenda which may not agree with the other's chosen path, one or both of the participants may suffer when the eventual break occurs...If that occurrence is in the plan of one, and that plan is executed without regard to the other, it can be seen as betrayal...

Each allegiance or alliance deserves the most serious consideration affordable to prevent misunderstanding, or misguided directions from any participant...Whether an allegiance is undertaken at the simple level of an acquaintanceship, or the loftier status of marriage or even loyalty to country, the appropriate thought must be given to the value expected by each...

Allegiance of any kind is always assigned a certain level of importance not only by the allies, but by those observing the alliance...Care should be taken by all as each allegiance will always have an effect on other alliances, but it must be borne in mind that all individuals will and should have first allegiance to themselves as well...

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