No comments about The Colored Cadet at West Point: Autobiography of Lieutenant Henry Ossian Flipper, U. S. A., First Graduate of Color from the U. S. Military Academy (Blacks in the American West).

5 comments about U122: The Diary of a U-boat Commander.

1. As others have noted, this is blatantly a work of fiction.
   No military officer would have kept a diary in which he openly admits to treason (deliberately avoiding the enemy and faking attacks to fool his crew) as it would have resulted in his facing a firing squad.
   
   Otherwise, if read as a tragic love story in the heat of war, it's not too bad.



2. Very interesting insight into German Naval Service before and during World War I along with Civilian philosophy during the war. Some intrigue alo
   woven in which leads to interest of ongoing intelligence operations among
   civilians working for the British. Would have appreciated more technical
   detail on the U-Boats commanded and missions. A little heavy on Romance
   of writer and hormonal longings.



3. It is irritating to me that this book is represented as being a personal account of a German U-Boat officer. Someone wanted to make a fast English pound when they wrote this nonsense. By the way, another reviewer stated this book contained technical details on the functions and operations of a U-Boat. This book is devoid of any technical details.



4. I've read many war diaries and this one immediately gives the impression of being a work of fiction. Checking around online seemed to only confirm this impression. It is interesting and enjoyable nonetheless, and has intrinsic historical value as well given that it was first published in 1920.



5. This diary provides a splendsid view of the mindset of a WW I naval officer born of soon to fade social nobility. The book reveals a brave submarine officer dealing with undersea warfare while working with men of perceived lower social status. Years of war begin to change the man's thinking. Entwined thoughout is a love story fated to lose. Unusual book and definitely recommended

3 comments about Black and White Airmen: Their True History.

1. I bought this book for a paper I was writing in college about the Tuskegee Airmen. This book was great, I read it cover to cover in one sitting. While its not packed with the information other books are, it does include stories from white and African American air and service men. Its also facinating to compare the treatment of men of different races during the war. There is a story behind it that is quite interesting as well considering what a large war it was. I highly recomend this book. If your reading this I ask somthing of you, thank a veteran or service person for what they have done or are doning to protect your rights and freedoms.



2. Fun Fact: If you want to get the attention of a class of sixth graders, tell `em about a book where a guy blew a metal rod through the top of his skull and lived. That'll wake the little buggers up! Yes, when it comes
   to booktalking a work of non-fiction to kids, I've relied on John Fleischman and his book, Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story About Brain Science for years. Insofar as I could ever tell, this was Fleischman's one and only contribution to the world of children's literature, and it was a doozy. Science is rarely so simultaneously gory and well-written. I suppose I had the feeling that maybe Fleischman was some kind of one hit wonder. I mean, he spends most of his time writing scientific articles for journals like Muse and Harvard Health Letter. He also writes for Air & Space Smithsonian, which, had I but known, would have made his latest book a little less left-fieldish for me. "Black and White Airmen: Their True History" is exactly what you want out of your historical non-fiction for kids. It strikes just the right balance of personal stories, historical clarifications, and exciting air battles.
   
   They grew up in the same town, were in the same third grade class, and fought practically side-by-side in the same air battles, but John Leahr and Herb Heilbrun didn't know one another until the year 1997. At that time, Herb read in the paper that the mayor of Cincinnati would be presenting a public award to some Tuskegee pilots not too far away. So Herb crashed the reception. He wanted to thank the guys who'd covered his tail during multiple escort missions and in doing so he met John. Herb and John became fast friends, finding that they had more in common than they had ever expected. Through their eyes, Fleischman tells the story of Fifteenth Air Force and the Tuskegee airmen. He draws attention to racial lines and divides at that time then brings you face-to-face with what it meant to fly an airplane during the Great War. The author is adept at making this a very personal story at one moment and a look at history the next without ever straining his narrative or cutting too quickly. It makes for a startlingly good story.
   
   For kids, the notion that your grandparents and great-grandparents were ever children can be baffling. Baffling and more than a little inconceivable. You might concede that they were capable of fighting in a massive war more than 60 years ago, but that they were ever kids running about reading comic books? Go pull the other one. So some of the best parts of this book come when you see contemporary John and Herb going to classrooms and showing classes a picture of the two of them in third grade. That was part of what I really liked about this title. You see enough of our two heroes as kids to give them some depth and history, but not so much that you get bored waiting for the action to start.
   
   Now a book of this sort becomes a very delicate balancing act early in the game. On the one hand, Fleischman must have known how important it was to give history and context to racism in America during the Second World War. Tying this into John's story is easy enough, considering some of the challenges he faced. But when you write a book about a black pilot and white pilot, the temptation is going to be to sort of ignore the white pilot's tale in favor of the more exciting black pilot's narrative. Fleischman does a good job of evening out the storyline without padding it out or filling it with unnecessary information. Even as you find yourself on Herb's side, you can't help but notice how unfair John's life was in comparison. A kid's temptation would be to blame Herb for his race's stupidities, but Fleischman never allows that to happen. In a way, this book felt like a slightly more fleshed out version of Freedom Riders: John Lewis and Jim Zwerg on the Front Lines of the Civil Rights Movement, which paired the stories of a black and a white civil rights activist and their shared experiences in participating in the 1961 Freedom Rides. Yet I found this title superior in terms of showing the ties between the lead characters while really pulling you into their story. Both are great books, but this one felt a little slicker in the delivery.
   
   The portions dealing with racism in America are just great. There are sentences like, "the color line in Cincinnati was invisible in law but razor sharp in daily life." And darned if the author doesn't actually make me interested in airplane and air battles. Admittedly my own grandfather was a pilot in WWII, but I'd never thought to research what he would have gone through in the air. Fleischman includes all sorts of interesting mentions. Planes needed an overhaul if they had five hundred hours "on the clock" (i.e. in the air). You may not think much of that fact when you first hear about it, but when Herb is later given a plane with 521 hours on it, you know he's in for trouble. And exciting? You betcha. There's one moment where Herb tears every single muscle in his upper back just by wrestling his B-17 into formation and then he has to continue to fly it alone through a five-hour mission because his co-pilot was paralyzed by fear and almost killed the entire crew... whew!
   
   A co-worker of mine pointed out that for some kids, certain sections are going to grab their attention more than others. There are definitely child readers out there for whom air battles and combat via planes is going to be the primary focus of their interest with this book. Other kids will want to know about the Tuskegee airmen, and maybe only look at the book from that perspective. Still others might need to find WWII biographies, and this title certainly has two. I like to think that it's the personal stories that will allow some kids to read this book cover to cover, growing close to the real life characters. When Herb finds out that his best friend during the war that he thought was dead turns out, fifty years later, to be alive and living in Minnesota, THAT is amazing and makes for a great read.
   
   Abundant photographs pepper the pages of this book, keeping the eye moving without ever distracting. Fleischman has eschewed the use of pullout boxes or entire pages dedicated to a related topic that pull away from the narrative. This is a smart choice on his part. And while I rarely see authors of non-fiction children's titles justify their lack of source notes, Fleischman is careful to point out that, "I leave source notes to scholars who write about History." Aside from the first-person interviews Fleischman conducted to get much of his information, there is also a nice list of Resources for kids under topics like "For the Tuskegees", "For the air war in general", "For the air war at the movies", etc. An Index is included in the back.
   
   One of the very first things Fleischman says of this true story is, "We have all sorts of `true' stories today that aren't entirely true... True books like this one are usually called `nonfiction,' which is a funny word. All it guarantees is that this book is `not fiction,' that is, that I didn't make it up entirely. Imagine if food were labeled that way; imagine that the ingredients listed on an ice cream wrapper said only `Not stones.'". Be that as it may be, I'll take Fleischman's "not stones" over that of his contemporaries any day of the week. "Black and White Airmen" mixes different kinds of history topics alongside personal recollections with flair. The result is a book I'll be handing to any kid doing a WWII assignment or just wanting to know more about some of the great men who served so long ago.



3. Two boys from Miss Pitchell's third grade class in 1928 Cincinatti, Ohio grew up to be World War II pilots. John Leahr was one of the famed "Tuskegee Airmen", African-American pilots who flew for the United States even as they were being systematically oppressed. Herb Heilbrun flew bombers over Europe completing 35 successful missions. The parallel stories of these two men are told in BLACK AND WHITE AIRMEN: THEIR TRUE HISTORY.
   
   Full of photographs and primary sources, this book is a fascinating look at the different wartime experiences of military men in the segregated armed services. Leahr and Heilbrun became friends later in life and currently speak to students about their experiences. Fleischman details their childhoods, education, service records and their lives after the war. The narrative is exciting with many details that will keep any reader with the slightest interest in flying, history or wartime interested.

No comments about Waist Gunner.

No comments about John Washington's Civil War: A Slave Narrative.

5 comments about Battling for Saipan.

1. Like your Reader from Texas, I am not a marine but I have read many books about the war in the Pacific and the Smith vs. Smith incident.

   HM Smith was not one of the great captains of WWII. As Professor Harry Gailey points out in "Howlin' Mad Versus the Army", Saipan was the first and only time HM Smith ever had hands on responsibility for troops in battle. He did not conduct a very brilliant campaign. He constantly underestimated the strength of Japanese resistance on the island, made his plans based on his underestimates, and then blamed the Army Division and its Commander, MG Ralph Smith, when his plans did not work.

   The 27th Infantry Division was the most unfairly maligned unit of WWII, Its commander, MG Ralph Smith was the most unfairly vilified leader of WWII. This happened because the Marine Corps and its advocates needed to create and maintain the legend that HM Smith was a great captain, needed to explain away HM Smith's less than brilliant performance on Saipan.

   This book, while not a thoroughly researched as Edmund Smith's 27th ID's History or Professor Gailey's "Howlin' Mad Versus the Army", it is an honest attempt to tell the correct history, that the 27th ID fought hard and fought well on Saipan.




2. I've often wondered over the years how justifiable Howlin' Mad Smith's relief of Ralph Smith was during the battle for Saipan. I've suspected that there was more to the issue than meets the eye and that Holland Smith may have had more of a point to prove than cause for action. O'Brien's book points solidly in that direction although his perspective has to be skewed toward the 27th and I believe that he wrote the book starting from that viewpoint. However the most moving and impressive part of this account for me was the details of the heroism of Sgt. Thomas A. Baker. I first encountered his story in an obscure internet tribute one Veteran's Day a few years back. Reading his citation I wondered what kind of man could be capable of such feats. O'Brien's history contains more details of this remarkable soldier than I've found elsewhere, but still left me yearning to find out more about him. Who knows, maybe someday I'll write his definitive history!



3. I found Francis O'Brien's work on the 27th Division to be moving account of an army unit that served its country well at the expense of criticism. His account of the 1st battalion, 105th Infantry Regiment, was especially touching, and, I feel, deserves mention along with other memorable units of WWII.

   However, I do agree that O'Brien's work does lack much objectiveness at the expense of defending the reputation of the 27th Division. This was essentially the purpose of his book, and there are certainly more objective accounts of the 27th to be found elsewhere, some of whom O'Brien refers to in his book.

   Nonetheless, I found this book to be an enjoyable read and quite a service to those who fought and died with the "New York Division" in WWII.

   As O'Brien states at the end of his preface: "I trust I have shown that [the families'] fathers, sons, uncles, and brothers served their country honrably and well in WWII."




4. This book was interesting but it had several flaws. It was a basically a defense of the army's 27th Infantry Division during the Saipan invasion during the Pacific war. It was at Saipan where the 27th did not measure up to marine units.

   The author claims to be objective but I find that difficult to believe. He is writing about his own Uncle, William O'Brien. He was also writing about the 27th Infantry Division, a national guard unit which consisted of men from his own home town and area. I detected a bias in defense of the 27th and a bias against Marine General "Howlin Mad" Smith who relieved 27th Division commander General Ralph Smith.

   The author claims that this was the one and only battle where army troops fought under the command of the a marine general. This was untrue. Army units fought successfully under marine General Vandergrift at Guadalcanal in 1942, under marine General Geiger at Peleliu in 1944, and briefly under Geiger again at Okinawa in 1945. The author blames marine command for many of the 27th's problems but has a shaky arguement.

   The author also defend the 27th divison as "one of the best trained units in the Pacific". I have read many other books and many other authors do NOT share this opinion of the 27th. Many other authors have a much lower opinion of the 27th. In fact, at Okinawa in 1945, an army general withdrew the 27th from the main battle and sent it to the rear for "garrison duty". Let's be realistic and honest. Not all members of the armed forces in WW II were "the elite". Units differed in quality. Some units were excellent and some were of lesser quality.

   Note: I am NOT a marine but just someone who has read many books on this subject.




5. Mr. O'Brien gives a vivid detail of the 105ths movements from the landing on the beaches of Saipan to the final evacuation from the Gyokusai attach in Tanapag. He follows his uncle Lt. Col. William J. O'Brien from battle to battle all the time merging stories of the hundreds of other men who fought along side him. Giving an almost play by play of scirmishes from survivors stories. I couldn't put it down. I will never Hash through the jungles here the same way again! Infact, I went to the memorial and looked for his name of the thousands that are there and I found it. As you look at it you face to about the appoximate location of Tagapag village.

2 comments about Quiet Hero: The Ira Hayes Story.

1. In his latest book, the award winning children's author, S.D. Nelson, presents a story that is obviously close to his heart. QUIET HERO details the life of Ira Hayes, one of the six young soldiers who raised the American flag on Iwo Jima during WWII. The colorful illustrations carry readers of all ages through Ira's childhood experiences in a boarding school for Native American children to the island battles of the Pacific Theater where he fought bravely with his battalion. While Nelson does not hide Ira Hayes' shortcoming, the vibrant, almost tangible texture of his pictures lovingly capture the spirit of Ira's story and his attention to historic details convey a potent admiration of this American Hero.
   
   I have found this book to be both entertaining and educational for young readers.



2. S.D. Nelson, tells the story of one of the five Marines (and one Navy corpsman) who raised the flag on Mount Suibachi during the battle for Iwo Jima.
   
   Hayes was from Arizona and a Pima Indian. Sent to the government run Phoenix Indian School as a teen, Hayes was a shy and lonely young man. He joined the Marines following Pearl Harbor and was sent into the Pacific war theater. Nelson recreates the historic flag-raising and subsequent media frenzy when the three surviving Marines returned home. Felix de Weldon's statue of Rosenthal's photograph became the Marine Corps Memorial in Arlington, Va. Hayes faced great difficulty adjusting to life following the war and died within ten years of the flag-raising. He is buried at Arlington Cemetery.
   
   This is a book that will be of great interest to those kids with an interest in the military and WWII. The illustrations make the book accessible to kids of all reading levels. An author's note at the end includes photographs of Hayes, the island of Iwo Jima as well as Rosenthal's famous photograph. A bibliography is also included which is an excellent way to demonstrate how authors cite their sources.
   
   While watching the movie, "The Sands of Iwo Jima," recently, I was very interested in the scenes of the fighting on Iwo Jima.
   
   In the movie as John Wayne and his men arrive at the summit of Mount Suibachi, Wayne's character calls for a detail to find a standard and raise the flag. As Wayne hands them the flag the shot is perfectly framed to include three men receiving the folded flag.
   
   The real Rene Gagnon, Ira Hayes, and John Bradley, the three survivors among the five Marines who raised the flag on Mount Suribachi, were the ones receiving the flag in the scene.
   
   Rewinding and doing the freeze frame thing, I was struck by a small detail in the scene. The two men on the left are looking directly at John Wayne as he hands them the flag. Their faces are fully visible. Ira Hayes is on the right and looks up briefly but for the rest of the time they are on screen, he keeps his chin down, not looking toward the camera at all.
   
   Nelson's book makes a point of describing Hayes's very shy nature. Without knowing anything about their involvment in the film, I was interested at the body language of a man, ill at ease in the limelight.

No comments about Petain: Verdun to Vichy (Military Profiles).

4 comments about Waffen-Ss Commanders: The Army, Corps and Divisional Leaders of a Legend : Kruger to Zimmermann (Schiffer Military History).

1. Waffen-SS Commanders is a two-part series on the major commanders of the Waffen-SS, perhaps the most controversial fighting formation in history. Yerger's sympathies with his subjects shows, but he is willing to distinguish between SS officers who conducted themselves in a professional manner and proved themselves in combat and the political favorites of Himmler who rose from the ranks of the German Polizei and whose units were particularly brutal in anti-partisan operations but were no match against professional soldiers. Examples of the former include Otto Baum, Heinz Harmel (whose treatment of prisoners and civilians at Arnhem earned praise from the Allies-General Harmel is still alive and at nearly 100 years of age still conducts his daily life in the same way as he did as a soldier), Paul Hausser and others. The lesser lights among the commanders of the Waffen SS include Friderich Jeckeln, Curt von Gottberg, and Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski, who testified for the prosecution at Nuremberg out of survival and not remorse for any actions-his brutality during the 1944 Warsaw uprising and his granting of POW status to Polish insurgents to insure that he would not be branded a war criminal in the eventuality of a German defear are documented by Yerger. To his credit, von den Bach did not renege on his promise to the Poles, although had Germany somehow won the war or negotiated a separate peace with the West, the Poles probably would have suffered a different fate.

   As controversial a subject as the Waffen-SS was, not all of the commanders could be considered brutal criminals or incompetent as portrayed by revisionist history. To be sure, they served an ideology which was evil and most of the commanders were members of the NSDAP, but the majority of SS commanders were in fact professional soldiers equivalent to their army counterparts in the Wehrmacht. Most of these commanders did conduct themselves in a correct manner and fought with honor for their country, even if the regime they served had few redeeming qualities. It is a tribute to these commanders that the Waffen-SS still arouses much passion, even today, and most modern armies today use tactics and innovations which originated with the Waffen-SS over 50 years ago.




2. If you have Part 1 of Yerger's study, be sure to get this book. It follows up his previous book in the same fashion. Yerger obviously has great sympathy for his subjects, but is willing to criticize those Waffen SS commanders who in his view were less than professional soldiers, especially the Higher SS and Police leaders who were given commands because of their political loyalties rather than their skills in combat. This contrast is shown in the section on the Krueger brothers, the only two brothers to achieve general rank in the SS. Walter Krueger, who was renowned for his command of the Das Reich division is favorably mentioned, as befits his combat leadership and prowess in battle, while his brother Friederich-Wilhelm, who rose through the ranks of the Polizei, is described as "a career SS officer with an interest in power and was brutal in controlling his administration within the General Government (of German-occupied Poland)." Officers who conducted themselves as worthy soldiers in Volume 2 include Felix Steiner, Kurt "Panzer" Meyer, Sylvester Stadler who ordered an immediate inqiry into the events at Oradour, one of the war crimes which the SS was accused of-a controversial event even today. Stadler was temporary commander of Das Reich and ordered a court-martial of the officer accused of the massacre of civilians of that village) and many others. In Volume 1, commanders such as Paul Hausser, Otto Baum, Heinrich Harmel (whose professionalism and humane treatment of prisoners and civilians during the Battle of Arnhem was praised by the Allies) and Karl Kreutz, are praised for their military compentency and bravery in combat while commanders who never faced true combat formations, for example Friederich Jeckeln, Curt von Gottberg, Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski(who testified for the prosecution at Nuremberg not because of any remorse but instead out of self-preservation) are not looked upon with much sympathy.

   Such criticism is refreshing, especially with regards to a subject as controversial as the Waffen SS. Certainly there were some SS commanders who were either overrated or extremely brutal, but the vast majority conducted themselves in as professional a manner as any commander on the winning side. That they served an ideology which was evil does not diminish their service to their country and Yerger depicts this in a non-judgmental way.




3. If you have Part 1 of Yerger's study, be sure to get this book. It follows up his previous book in the same fashion. Yerger obviously has great sympathy for his subjects, but is willing to criticize those Waffen SS commanders who in his view were less than professional soldiers, especially the Higher SS and Police leaders who were given commands because of their political loyalties rather than their skills in combat. This contrast is shown in the section on the Krueger brothers, the only two brothers to achieve general rank in the SS. Walter Krueger, who was renowned for his command of the Das Reich division is favorably mentioned, as befits his combat leadership and prowess in battle, while his brother Friederich-Wilhelm, who rose through the ranks of the Polizei, is described as "a career SS officer with an interest in power and was brutal in controlling his administration within the General Government (of German-occupied Poland)." Officers who conducted themselves as worthy soldiers in Volume 2 include Felix Steiner, Kurt "Panzer" Meyer, Sylvester Stadler who ordered an immediate inqiry into the events at Oradour, one of the war crimes which the SS was accused of-a controversial event even today. Stadler was temporary commander of Das Reich and ordered a court-martial of the officer accused of the massacre of civilians of that village) and many others. In Volume 1, commanders such as Paul Hausser, Otto Baum, Heinrich Harmel (whose professionalism and humane treatment of prisoners and civilians during the Battle of Arnhem was praised by the Allies) and Karl Kreutz, are praised for their military compentency and bravery in combat while commanders who never faced true combat formations, for example Friederich Jeckeln, Curt von Gottberg, Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski(who testified for the prosecution at Nuremberg not because of any remorse but instead out of self-preservation) are not looked upon with much sympathy.

   Such criticism is refreshing, especially with regards to a subject as controversial as the Waffen SS. Certainly there were some SS commanders who were either overrated or extremely brutal, but the vast majority conducted themselves in as professional a manner as any commander on the winning side. That they served an ideology which was evil does not diminish their service to their country and Yerger depicts this in a non-judgmental way.




4. Like other works by Yerger, "Waffen SS Commanders" is primarily a picture history. It also has nice 2+ page biographies of the military careers of senior Waffen SS officers. There are occasional passing references to their lives after the war, but nothing beyond 1-liners. Some of the biographies are of well known figures such as Dietrich and Hausser whom you can read of elsewhere, but this is probably the only place you will find biographies of minor figures such as Jungkuntz and Hampel. This is the first volume of what is intended to become a 4-volume series, and alphabetically only goes up to Kreutz. Guess who wrote the preface to this book!

No comments about A Confederate Legend: Sargeant Berry Benson in War and Peace.