By Barbara Perkins-Brown, Self Published Reviewed By Lori Bogle. Ph.D. Barbara Perkins-Brown’s Subic: A Sailor’s Memoir is a tribute to her father Bobby Earl Perkins. Perkins joined the Navy in the late 1960s to escape the segregated South only to become a victim of racial discrimination at Subic Bay Naval Base, Philippines. Written in the first person
Each year, the Naval Historical Foundation holds a meeting in Washington, DC to meet with our members, volunteers, and friends to discuss our current and future plans. Nearly one hundred supporters gathered in the Navy Museum last Saturday for a day of celebration, commemoration, and friendship. This is certainly a year of many commemorative celebrations:
By Aaron McDougal, 2014 NHF Summer Intern Today marks the annual Flag Day celebration commemorating the adoption of the Star Spangled Banner as the national flag in 1777. The importance of the flag as the symbol of our country cannot be stressed enough. In light of this, it seems appropriate to draw attention to a
“This has been an important and great day and on which the Second grand landing of the Americans in Japan took place. I was fortunate enough on the occasion of the First landing to be one of those who landed.” (8 March 1854) David Dixon Porter. David Glasgow Farragut. Ernest King. William Halsey. These names
By Dave McKay, Willsonscott Publishing International Inc, Christchurch, New Zealand (2013) Reviewed by Samuel Loring Morison Everyone remembers where he or she was on September 11, 2011. Enterprise was off the coast of Yemen heading south at Flank Speed. There, the crew learned of the terrorist attack on the twin towers. Enterprise’s Captain slowed the
By Jim Thesing, Merriam Press, Bennington, VT (2013) Reviewed by Charles Bogart The author has crafted a wonderful fictional account of the German U-boat arm during the period between July and August 1914. The climactic moment within the book is the sinking of the three old Royal Navy cruisers, HMS Aboukir, HMS Cressy, and HMS
By John Schork, Jupiter-Pixel Press, Jupiter, FL (2008) Reviewed by Paul W. Murphey, Ph.D., CDR, CHC, USN (Retired) I was utterly surprised by this novel of naval aviation in the Pacific during World War II. It was a radical departure from the way I knew the author to approach any task. His creativity astounded me.
By Youssef Aboul-Enein and Basil Aboul-Enein, Naval Institute Pree, Annapolis, MD (2013) Reviewed by Charles C. Kolb, Ph.D. The Secret War for the Middle East: The Influence of Axis and Allied Intelligence Operations during World War II should not be confused with Andrew Rathmell’s Secret War in the Middle East: The Covert Struggle for Syria,
By Captain Alexander “Sandy” G. Monroe, USN (Ret.), Pleasant Living Books, Richmond, VA (2014) Reviewed by John R. Satterfield, DBA This commemorative volume focuses on graduates of a small private school who served in the U.S. armed forces. Author Alexander Monroe argues that Christchurch School has imbued its students with an outlook that mirrors military
By Michael F. Dilley, Casemate, Philadelphia, PA and Oxford, England (2013) Reviewed by Stephen K. Stein, Ph.D. Since the 9/11 attacks, U.S. Special Forces have received a growing amount of media attention. Numerous books describe and analyze their recent operations. Michael F. Dilley, a writer and editor for Behind the Lines magazine, returns to the modern
By Thomas Wildenberg, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD (2013) Reviewed by Captain J. F. “Bookie” Boland, U.S. Navy (Retired) Colonel Billy Mitchell, an iconic and controversial figure in United States aviation history, is the subject of an important new book by independent historian Thomas Wildenberg. Although Mitchell’s life and military service is examined in innumerable
By Mark Huffman, RH Rositzke & Associates, LLC, Washington, DC (2013) Reviewed by John R. Satterfield, DBA This brief volume tells the story of a distinguished Marine Corps veteran, BGen. William B. Weise, whose career spanned 1952 to 1982 and included service in Korea and Vietnam. BGen. Weise served with more than six months of
By Rick Campbell, St. Martins Press, New York, NY (2014) Reviewed by Capt. Roger F. Jones, USN (Ret.) Retired Navy submarine officer and author Rick Campbell offers an exciting story of how a US Navy Trident nuclear sub, the USS Kentucky, is given falsified orders to launch all twenty-four of its nuclear missiles at Iran.
Each year the North American Society for Oceanic History presents the John Lyman Book Awards, named after the late Professor John Lyman of the University of North Carolina, to recognize excellence in the publication of books that make significant contributions to the study and understanding of maritime and naval history. Winners of the awards for
“We’ve come a long way since FIDO.” In the years since the first Submarine History Seminar was held at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History during the Submarine Force Centennial in 2010, enthusiasts of undersea warfare have learned a great deal about the history and memory of the submarine service. Everything from the legacy
