On the occasion of Vice Admiral John Mustin’s promotion and assumption of Command of the Navy Reserve, the Naval Historical Foundation is pleased to host another ‘Second Saturday’ Webinar at 11:00am (EDT) August 8: “The Mustin Family and the Navy Reserve: A Thirteen Decade Legacy” This webinar will feature dueling authors with NHF’s Dave Winkler
Review By Lynne Marie Marx A kidney specialist and author, Jon Diamond penned Images of War: MacArthur’s Papua New Guinea Offensive 1942-1943, and he has had several military history books published, such as Stilwell and the Chindits, War in the South Pacific, and The Rhine River Valley Crossing. His love of history and collection of
Reviewed by Chuck Steele, PhD. Lars Wedin, an accomplished author on strategic studies and retired surface warfare officer of the Royal Swedish Navy, has composed a noteworthy encyclopedia of military thought and strategy that, in some regards, might also be considered a series of personal meditations on those subjects. Citing heightening tensions between great powers
Reviewed by LTC Victor O. McGee, USA. In October 2014, NATO and the U.S ended combat operations in Afghanistan; however the insurgency reformed and malign forces again were mounting stronger insurrections. Marines redeployed to Afghanistan to continue training Afghan Soldiers and Police Forces to counter act the rebellion. This 6-part collection of 21 commentaries and
The Naval Historical Foundation’s new monthly Naval history program featuring presenters and topics you will want to make time for! Following in the wake of the Annual Meeting’s Leighton Lecture, “Hollywood and History in the Battle of the Atlantic,” (link to youtube site) we were heartened not only by Dr. Craig Symonds’ quality presentation, but
By CAPT Jim Noone, USNR (Ret.) Seven middle and high school teachers from five states were recognized as winners of the Naval Historical Foundation’s (NHF) “Teacher of Distinction” award at the National History Day (NHD) virtual awards recognition announcements on Saturday, June 20. It was the third consecutive year for NHF’s Teacher of Distinction awards,
Reviewed by Captain William H. Peerenboom, USN (Ret.) Many Americans, perhaps including the authors, look back on the Viet Nam war as a misguided and mis managed effort. Not only that, these Americans believe that the disdain for the war caused those who fought there – ordinary soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen to suffer loss
Reviewed by CAPT Charles “Herb” Gilliland, USN (Ret.) For any artist—perhaps for any human being–life and art are inseparable. That was certainly the case for Natale (“Nat”) Bellantoni. This strikingly attractive book filled with fine watercolors offers his story as a young artist serving in the 78th Naval Construction Battalion in World War II. Two
Reviewed by Captain Lee Duckworth, USN (Ret.) Captain Diane Diekman’s latest book, “Mommy! Watch Me” is the sequel to her 2001 memoir, “Navy Greenshirt: A Leader Made, Not Born.” I reviewed the latter two years ago and expected her latest book to be similar in content to the previous one. However, as the title implies,
By Kyle Nappi At first glance, “kamikaze veteran” will undoubtedly read as an oxymoron to most Americans. Best parodied in an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm, producer/actor Larry David muses how one can be a kamikaze pilot and yet still be alive. My own introduction to this concept is traceable to a handful of biographical
Reviewed by LTC Heiva H. Kelley, USA. In Chosin: Heroic Ordeal of the Korean War, Eric Hammel, a meticulous military historian and accomplished writer of over 50 books and 70 articles, revisits the Battle of Chosin based on extensive primary source material collected by the author through hundreds of personal interviews with survivors. This book,
Reviewed by Jeff Schultz. Marc Gallicchio’s Unconditional: The Japanese Surrender in World War II focuses on the late-war period leading up to the September 1945 Japanese surrender. This important monograph digs deeper than most into the complicated chain of events which resulted in the memorable Tokyo Bay ceremony, using American and Japanese archival sources to
By Rear Admiral John W. Bitoff, USN (Ret.) I was deployed aboard the USS Spiegel Grove (LSD 32) the flagship of Amphibious Group 4 during Operation SOLANT AMITY II, April 18 – September 19, 1961, a South Atlantic Amity cruise to Africa and the Indian Ocean. The cruise was initiated by the newly elected President John F.
Reviewed by Charles Bogart. The ten ships that formed the Town Class of light cruisers were the epitome of Royal Navy all gun cruiser development. Armed with twelve 6-inch guns mounted in four turrets, they participated in every European Theater naval campaign of World War II and two of the class also saw action during
