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BOOK REVIEW – Big Guns, Brave Men: Mobile Artillery Observers and the Battle for Okinawa

By Rodney Earl Walton, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD (2013) Reviewed by Diana L. Ahmad, Ph.D. This well-researched and well-written book analyzed the role of forward artillery observers on Okinawa during the largest artillery battle in World War II’s Pacific Theater. Likely inspired by his father’s role as a forward observer for the 361st Field

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BOOK REVIEW – The History of Canada: War In The St. Lawrence – The Forgotten U-Boat Battles on Canada’s Shores

By Rodger Sarty; Allen Lane-Penguin Group, Toronto, Ontario, Canada (2012) Reviewed by Michael F. Solecki This book is the eighth installment to “The History of Canada” series. The War in the St. Lawrence is for the most part either forgotten or a printed glitch in the grander “Battle of the Atlantic.” The “Battle in the

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BOOK REVIEW – The Battle of Midway: The Naval Institute Guide to the U.S. Navy’s Greatest Victory

Edited by Thomas C. Hone  (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2013). Reviewed by John T. Kuehn, Ph.D. No other naval battle in recent American history has garnered more attention than the aircraft carrier clash at the western extremity of the Hawaiian Island Chain in June 1942 than Midway. Ever since Samuel Eliot Morison’s seminal volume

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Vietnam POWs: “Battle Behind Bars” Video

U.S. military personnel taken prisoner during the Vietnam War endured years of brutal captivity. Take a look at this video which describes the experience of captured U.S. naval aviators and their “Battle Behind Bars,” currently featured in the U.S. Navy Museum’s Cold War Gallery, at the Washington Navy Yard. The video was developed by the

NHF Sponsors Reception at Navy Museum to Commemorate Battle of Lake Erie

  On Tuesday evening, the Naval Historical Foundation sponsored a reception at the National Museum of the United States Navy, celebrating the Bicentennial of the Navy’s great victory at the Battle of Lake Erie. That War of 1812 naval battle ended in a stunning defeat of a British squadron, and gave the United States uncontested

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Amateur Builder Completes Detailed Model of U.S. Brig Niagara

We’re always interested to hear about the ship model projects our members and friends are busy working on. We recently heard from NHF member Robert Allen, who has completed a detailed model of U.S. Brig Niagara, from the War of 1812. As we come up on the 200th anniversary of the great American victory in

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BOOK REVIEW – Lost Colony: The Untold Story of China’s First Great Victory Over the West

By Tonio Andrade, Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, (2011). Reviewed by STCM James C. Bussert, U.S. Navy (Retired) The Chinese naval and land military defeats versus all foreign powers, including Japan, Russia, Britain and France from 1886 to 1947, are well known. What is not well known is the Chinese defeat of Dutch forces over

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BOOK REVIEW – Blackett’s War: The Men Who Defeated the Nazi U-Boats and Brought Science to the Art of Warfare

By Stephen Budiansky.  Alfred A. Knopf, New York, NY, (2013) Reviewed by John R. Satterfield, DBA. September 1, 2013 will mark the 74th anniversary of Hitler’s invasion of Poland and the start of World War II. Just two percent of the U.S. population is old enough to remember the war’s early years, so most Americans know

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NHF Co-Sponsors Successful Battle of Midway Dinner

  Last night, the 71st Annual Battle of Midway Commemorative Dinner was held at the Army-Navy Country Club in Arlington, VA. Looking back from a vantage point of 71 years, Midway is viewed as one of the more significant actions in world history – more significant than simply a strategic victory as part of a

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Norman’s Corner: My Friend, the Hunter-Killer

By Norman Polmar (Editor’s note: This is the ninth in a series of blogs by Norman Polmar, author, analyst, and consultant specializing in the naval, aviation, and intelligence fields. Follow the full series here.) One of the most interesting, intelligent, and professional persons whom I have had the privilege of knowing was Captain Donald Macintyre,

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USS Samuel B. Roberts (DE 413) Battle Ensign Donated to Navy

Last month, a truly unique piece of history found a new home in the collection of the Naval History and Heritage Command (NHHC). The 48 star battle ensign of the destroyer escort USS Samuel B. Roberts (DE 413) was transferred from a private collection to the Material Section at NHHC. For those who aren’t familiar

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NHF Working to Commemorate 40th Anniversary of POW Return

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the return of American Prisoners of War held by the North Vietnamese. Many of the POWs were naval aviators, and the Naval Historical Foundation, in conjunction with the National Museum of the United States Navy, is working on a number of initiatives to remember the long ordeal endured

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BOOK REVIEW – CSS Alabama vs USS Kearsarge: Cherbourg 1864

By Mark Lardas, Osprey Publishing, (2011) Reviewed by Thomas P. Ostrom The author, Mark Lardas, brings a degree in naval architecture and marine engineering to his analysis of this epic American Civil War naval battle; as well as experience in writing as a military historian, and ship modeler. The book is enhanced with magnificent illustrations

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BOOK REVIEW – The Battle of Midway

By Craig L. Symonds, Oxford University Press, Oxford & New York (2011). Reviewed by Rear Admiral William J. Holland Jr. U.S. Navy (Retired) Though titled after the single battle, the book’s narrative begins at the planning of the attack on Pearl Harbor, covers the activities and planning of both sides leading to the decisions to

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BOOK REVIEW – Among Heroes: A Marine Corps Rifle Company on Peleliu

By First Sergeant Jack R. Ainsworth, USMC, Edited by Ambassador Laurence Pope (Retired), U.S. Marine Corps History Division, Quantico, VA (2011) Reviewed by Colonel Curt Marsh, USMCR Retired This small book Among Heroes, published by the U.S. Marine Corps History Division,  is a fairly quick read and well worth the effort. The book is actually