5 comments about Thunderbird Lounge: An Aviator's Story About One Early Transportation Helicopter Company, Along With Its Sister Companies As They Paved the Way in What Was to Become "A Helicopter War".

1. Pi'-o-neer' a noun meaning: "One who goes before, preparing the way, for others to follow." There is no other way to define the original members of the 33rd Transportation Company (Light Helicopter)(CH21), except as pioneers in U.S. Army Aviation history! All original members of the 33rd left their families in the U.S. and quietly departed Ft. Ord, CA with their destination as-"unknown"! The move was classified as Top Secret and no one was able to tell anyone, including families, where they were going under penalty of court-martial. Vietnam was not classified as a combat zone in 1962, but as an advisory zone...but no one told the VC. Thunderbird Lounge is a very good historical book written by a man who experienced it all. 1LT Robert J. Brandt, a National Guard officer newly assigned, became the Commander of the 573rd Maintenance Detachment and, would be the only Commander of the 573rd Maintenance Detachment for the entire year.

   The 33rd was originally to deploy to "unknown" locations in March of 1962. The orders were delayed and many of their helicopters were transferred to two other Transportation Companies (8th and 57th), which did deploy. Then the U.S. was scoured for low time CH-21's to replace the ones given up by the 33rd. The unit was again alerted to move in August of 1962. All aircraft and all other equipment finally departed for Hawaii by ship scheduled to stop in Hawaii to pick up the aircraft and equipment of a sister unit, the 81st, before continuing on. Then, the day before the main body of personnel was to depart Travis AFB, 1LT Brandt was diagnosed with pneumonia! After spending a night in the Ft. Ord hospital and receiving a massive dose of penicillin that led to a rapid improvement, Brandt convinced the Army doctor that he HAD to go with his unit the next day. Convinced by his improvement, the doctor loaded Brandt up with more penicillin and off he went. He recovered enroute with no ill effects.

   The arrival at Tan So Nhut and Saigon was exactly as anyone who has been there remembers...a sensory shock and memorable! The year was 1962 and, Saigon was "unspoiled" by western influences; full of interesting foreign sights, sounds and smells. The USNS Croatan, carrying 40 cocooned helicopters and equipment, arrived within 48 hours, on schedule. Following unpacking, unwrapping and assembly, the 33rd's 20 CH-21s were flown to Tan So Nhut and ultimately to their new home on Bien Hoa airbase about 30 miles north of Saigon. The time was the monsoon season and no member of the unit had experienced the tropics or the problems the heat and moisture would ultimately bring to their aging CH-21 helicopters. The 33rd had arrived and "Wow", were the conditions primitive!

   Throughout the remaining pages of Thunderbird Lounge, MG Brandt tells a complete story of the first year of the 33rd in Vietnam. People, places and incidents are described in very vivid detail. Almost every pilot is mentioned as well as many of the key enlisted men and NCO's. Using letters sent home to his wife along with the help of several comrades he is still in contact with, MG Brandt reconstructs many events that tell the story of their first year. Combat assaults, re-supply and medical evacuations are carried out in two aircraft flights because of engine and maintenance concerns. The red soil and extreme moisture conditions made maintenance of the CH-21 radial engines and wooden rotor blades very, very difficult. Brandt estimates that his engine shop rebuilt a CH-21 radial engine every 8 days! Thunderbird Lounge is a story of missions, maintenance and mayhem.

   Never has a book been written after 40 years that is more complete with dates, names and locations. Every page is brimming with tales relating the many humorous incidents and events that made life in combat and the poor living conditions of Bien Hoa airbase bearable. Great photos are placed at the end of each chapter that compliment and highlight the people and incidents within the chapter. MG Brandt carefully remembers some of the sad events of the year, concluding with the loss of the first two 33rd pilots just after his returning home.

   Thunderbird Lounge is truly a wonderful book. It tells a positive story about men as pioneers overcoming adversity, boredom and the enemy. Some of the participants may have seen things differently than MG Brandt, as he looks back after 40 years. However, no one can say he didn't tell it candidly, and fairly, as he saw it. After all, 40 years is a long time. 1962 was truly a time when real men pioneered the use of helicopters in combat and developed the textbooks for US Army Aviation airmobile operations. Those textbooks, as well as the lessons learned, were effectively used by thousands of pilots over the next 9 years in that "unknown" location so very far away.

   Tom Payne
   Sec/Treas
   VHPA




2. I swapped my book, OUTLAWS IN VIETNAM, for Bob's book at the VHPA reunion in Las Vegas, 2002. This is a great book by Gen. Brandt typifying the events and life-style experienced at this early moment in Vietnam. The H-21's are graphically described in all their quirks and needs, as well as the skillful men who had to fly them. I find the earliest years of VN helicopter warfare fascinating to read, as these men not only laid down the tracks for we later aviators to utilize in mid-sixties on, but they quickly found out the political reality of Vietnam--which never changed. As Halberstam has stated, "the war was lost in 1964, not at the end of its duration." Our aviator job was tremendously enjoyed by all of us, but the Washington administrations never totally got it what a fluky scenario Vietnam was. We helicopter pilots surely got it, though.



3. Bob Brandt did a masterful job of saving, sorting and presenting data as well as remembering so many facts that most of us have long since forgotten.

   The book is a keeper, and supports the efforts and brave acts of the many unsung participants at the outset of this strange venture of our country into a truly foreign land.




4. As one of the men that is very proud and honored to have been mentioned in Thunderbird Lounge, I am absolutely amazed at General Brandt's accuracy and detail. His sentimental chronicle of our personal experiences with the 33rd transportation Company is inspiring and emotional. Moreover, I am sure that this work will be intrinsic to future scholars who realize the historical significance of this unit with respect to both the Vietnam War and Army Aviation, and recognize the value of General Brandt's personal accounts. The scope of General Brandt's work is such that I am completely satisfied that the mission that we accomplished and the sacrifices we made are fully appreciated and realistically portrayed. He has told the story of real men at the beginning of a savage war with the compassion and thoughtfulness of one who was there.




5. It is quite evident that Gen Brandt did considerable research into the events that took place during that time period. Some people might question the facts as presented about some of the operations or events, however, I think the book speaks for itself. The author did an outstanding job depicting how the Company functioned in that environment and how the officers and enlisted men endured the stress and strain of life away from home and family. The humorous side depicted in the book is probly as accurate as can be remembered and certainly contributed to the over all high moral of the organization. The book is well written and a pleasure to read.

3 comments about Combat Medic: World War II.

1. Combat Medic: World War II is a fascinating memoir by John A. Kerner, M.D. His medical school training as an OB/GYN only in one instance stood him in good stead as a doctor whose ultimate assignment took him from D-Day plus 1 at Omaha Beach, through the Battle of the Bulge, finally ending with the Army of Occupation in Germany. When he signed up for the Army, he thought he'd be assigned to a stateside hospital delivering babies for Army dependents. He never even got as far back from the front as a field hospital. He was up with the troops for the whole time, and he has two Bronze Stars to show for it.
   
   I met John and his wife, Gwen, on a tour through Northern Spain in 2000. He's a fascinating man, although older than I. At the time he was thinking of writing his memoir. For posterity's sake I'm glad he did. While he's not a Stephan Ambrose, he tells it like it was, down and dirty, being there, a true hero of the greatest generation. I really enjoyed reading his book, having known the man. I wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone interested in first person accounts of what it was really like trying to save lives while cold, wet, and in the mud with a lot of unfriendly German infantrymen trying keep you from doing your job by making you keep your head (and other parts) down.



2. An interesting look at WW2 from the inside by a man who unexpectedly was there. From the invasion on thru the battles, Kerner keeps your interest by relating his experiences as well as his observations. The section where he delivers the baby of a young French woman near the battle field will keep your interest right to the end. Should be on everyone's gift list.



3. I am not a WWII buff and I normally do not read medical memoirs, perhaps because I was an ER nurse for many years. I read this book more or less for background information for a novel I am writing. But it immediately became more than research material for me. Dr. John Kerner's story is both poignant and unpretentious. As I read the book I found myself wanting to know this man and now, at the end I feel perhaps I do. As a writer I was impressed by his honesty and his natural voice. As a retired RN I was impressed by the doctor's humility. And as a woman I have to say I loved all the references to the women who were a part of his life (especially his brief affair with the Red Cross volunteer!)I recommend this book to any one of any age who enjoys candid accounts of real people who have done remarkable things.

5 comments about BUT NOT FOR THE FUEHRER.

1. I agree with some of the other reviewers that this is most likely a work of fiction. There is no real information given about the supposed author, Helmut Jung, other than his "incredible" wartime exploits. There are too many mistakes in the book about Jung's training and service to believe this is anything more than a piece of fiction put together by the American writer...it doesn't read or feel right. Save your money and buy "Black Edelweiss" for a real biography of a German soldier.



2. This story was probably constructed from a number of real memoirs, other sources like films, and Jung's and the author's imagination. Helmut Jung may have been a soldier on the Eastern Front but what he claims to have seen there owes more to imagination - perhaps the author's - than reality. Units composed of seven foot Mongols? (p. 297). Really. In the fifty or so books I have read about the German-Russian war nobody else noticed such units. In the same chapter, a description of the capture of a group of female Russian soldiers appears to have been lifted from the film version of 'Cross of Iron'. There are numerous other elements traceable to other sources throughout ths ridiculous book. Avoid wasting money on this 'memoir'. You will learn nothing about the real experience of combatants on the Eastern Front that you haven't already read elsewhere.



3. It's definitely an unusual book. With some severe editing it could be given a 3 or 4-star rating for fiction. But non-fiction it isn't. Even allowing for memory lapses that might have caused factual errors, no infantry soldier in the German army could possibly have had all the experiences, all the luck, and all the fortuitous circumstances that Jung claims. It would be interesting to know what Jung and Nesbitt were thinking when they collaborated to write this book, but not so interesting that one would take any time to find out.



4. I bought this book because it was recommended by someone writing in another publication. I wish I had spent some time reading the other Amazon customer reviews before plunking down my cash.
   
   The book is simply unbelievable. No ancient veteran could remember such details, and no one except Zelig could have been witness to such a series of events. The writing is uneven, and it doesn't look like any editor ever reviewed the text.



5. This was an intense and enjoyable read from start to finish. It made me wonder what I would have done in the same circumstances, and it made me (as always) feel very lucky to have been born in the U.S. While it must always be difficult to know how much of any personal memoir is totally factual, I find the previous reviewers who claim it is a fake simply because "it seemed to be right out of Cross of Iron" or "I don't recall any other books mentioning this" or "I can't believe all of that could have happened to one man", to be wholly unpersuasive. I can even forgive mistaking the 6th and 10th armies at Stalingrad since the author never said he was at Stalingrad, and I can't say I can remember what other units were where, except for the one I was in, and I am not trying to remember nearly that far back.
   
   That being said, I AM a bit troubled by the idea of building a huge fire so near the front, even if you are freezing to death. The Marine Corps refers to this as an "admin bivouac", as opposed to a "tactical bivouac" when nothing that might give away your position is allowed...especially fires. But then again, if it was so cold that you were in danger of freezing to death within minutes, I have to allow for the possibility that I might have been willing to risk it.
   
   All told, it is an incredibly good book and I found it easy reading. The frequent typos and grammar errors did not remotely make it difficult to follow. I simply caution the reader to use his/her own judgement concerning whether or not to believe every detail of this account. I think the reader would be best served by reading several of these personal accounts and assuming that the truth will come to light in terms of the commonalities found in all of them, regardless of how "believable" they might appear to be.

5 comments about Lonely Soldier: The Memoir of an American in the Israeli Army.

1. This is a nice peak in to the Israeli army, but doesn't really cover any new ground. The writing style is decent, but doesn't keep you interested throughout. Its mostly about the training process and doesn't go very deep in to his thoughts politically or even his changing thoughts about Zionism. I kept feeling like I wanted to know more about his inner thoughts, not just which wadi they were hiking through for a particular mission. While worth reading, it is not inspiring.
   
   If you want an inspiring book about the Israeli military, I recommend either Portrait of a Hero -- about Yoni Netanhayu who led the raid and fell in Entebbe or Alex -- about Alex Singer who fell in battle in Lebanon. Both of which are excerpts from diaries.



2. Marechal De Saxe wrote, "The reputation of an organization becomes personal just as soon as it is an honor to belong to it." He was referring to that illusive entity we refer to as esprit de corps. In this memoir we gain an insight into such a noted organization and how men and women are molded to be honored members. It is not an uncommon story type but seeing inside the Israeli defense forces gives it a new exotic twist.
   
   It is not an objective study of middle eastern politics. Soldiers do not have the luxury of political objectivity. The corps is their primary loyalty, acceptance as a fellow soldier by the man or woman at their side their main concern.
   
   This is pure enjoyment treading for those of us who enjoy the comradere and esprit de corps band of brothers story. To enjoy it best, try to ignore the political slant and just enjoy the story for its face value.



3. Lonely Soldier: The Memoir of an American in the Israeli Army
   I have served in the United States Marine Corp and traveled to Israel. It was with interest that I read this book hoping to gain some insight into the IDF and life in Israel. I found the book to be well written and very interesting. I am not a speed reader but I read Lonely Soldier in less than a week. My wife kept trying to pry it out of my hands but it was difficult to put down.
   
   The author's details regarding training and his personal feelings are fascinating. The discipline of the author and his desire to serve well are an inspiration to anyone traveling through life and seeking a personal mission.
   
   Best of fortune to all and I hope you enjoy the book as much as I did.



4. A beautiful story. Adam is a true hero. A must read for those of us who love Israel.



5. Neither well written nor engaging. A Purity of Arms: An American in the Israeli Army by Aaron Wolf is a much better book. Haim Watzman, Company C: An American's Life as a Citizen-Soldier in Israel is also worthwhile, though with its share of longueurs--and much in need of a glossary of Hebrew military terms.
   

5 comments about George B. McClellan: The Young Napoleon.

1. I'd like to knock some sense into this little brat General.
   
   Lee rules Dixie! Long Live the South.



2. History and historians have, on the whole, not been very kind to Major General George B. McClellan. Lately a trend, or better, the beginning of a trend, can be discerned in Civil War historiography towards a kinder view of McClellan. I'm referring to books like: "McClellan's War" by professor Ethan S. Rafuse, the book on McClellan by professor Thomas Rowland and to the 3 books on the Army of the Potomac by Russell Beatie.
   All these books are very good and offer many valuable insights.
   
   Yet I remain convinced that the reputation of George B. McClellan is quite beyond saving and that that there is only one man who comes in for the lion's share of blame for this: George B. McClellan.
   
   On the plus side, and this has to be acknowledgded, McClellan never got near enough credit for his greatest achievement: he MADE the Army of the Potomac. He really did, and it was a magnificent job, considering the time he had to do it in.
   So often we read about McClellan: "oh well he was a great organizer, but a very bad general" but that -unfairly- belittles his tremendous skills in that respect. So more kudos to McClellan for that. It is very, very hard to organize, to build, to equip arm, feed and clothe an army, and then to train and drill it in preparation for it's deadly work. Then of course there was another task: he had to select it's leaders, from the senior command level on down. Don't think to lightly about this. McClellan did so superbly. He gave men like John Gibbon, George Meade, Henry Hunt, Rufus Ingalls, John Buford, Winfield Scott Hancock, John Sedgewick, Charles Griffin and Andrew Humphreys their first commands on brigade level.
   
   He should never have led it out to fight himself, though, his beloved Army of the Potomac. He was distinctly unqualified for that. I think that deep down inside of him, he was aware of this, read his correspondance (also compiled in a magnificent book by Stephen Sears, buy it!!!): his letters offer a case-study of a man plagued by insecurities, complexes and paranoia.
   
   mr. Sears comes down hard on McClellan, very hard. But the points he argues are correct: McClellan was singularly unfit to lead an army.
   Yet he was so boastful and arrogant that he put himself first and the Union war effort second, as is witnessed by his behaviour during the interlude in august 1862, when Major General John Pope commanded half of MacClellan's army aginst Lee. McClellan preferred to let Pope (who possessed as annoying a personality and as large an ego as McClellan) be beaten by Lee than come to his aid.
   
   By then Lincoln was don with him: he let McClellan lead the army for the Antietam campaign, in order to drive Lee from Mary land, but when McClellan again started whining and dragging his feet he fired him.
   "Alas, my poor country"McClellan wrote his wife after his removal from command. Alas indeed: the war was to last another two and a half years, while he could have ended it in one day, had he not so utterly mismanaged the battle of Antietam.
   That is McClellan's enduring bequest to his country: two and a half more years of war.
   
   What baffles me is this: why wasn't he brought to account for this in his own time??? Instead he was honoured, admired and even nominated for the Presidency in 1864!!!
   McClellan lost the 1864 election to Lincoln, thank God. Had he won the world would not have been the same: maybe America would still be split in two countries: the USA and the CSA, or the Civil War would have restarted and be contested with even more bitterness and more ruinous consequences for the nations after his presidential term, or even terms.
   Why he was not impeached, tried or court-martialled after his inept campaign in september and october 1862 is a question I ask myself. Surely others must have too?
   
   Lincoln should have made McClellan Quartermaster-General in Chief of the Union army and put him in charge of supply, armament, recruitment, equipment and training. That was what he was good at. He would have been the Union's Lazare Carnot: "the Organizer of Victory" of the French Revolution. There is litle doubt in my mind he would have done a very good job.
   
   A solid biography on this remarkable man. Well done Stephen W. Sears!!! Keep 'em coming.



3. Billed as neither an indictment nor an apologia, Sears makes it pretty plain that George B. McClellan was a failure as a military leader. Overly cautious, slow to act, seeing the worst in every situation, McC was probably his own worst enemy. It's easy to see why so many of the soldiers liked him, though: fighting with McC meant there was a good chance you wouldn't see much action and if you did it was with the utmost planning for the soldiers' safety and well-being. He always thought he was outnumbered by the enemy and let opportunities for victory slip quickly through his fingers. Sears makes the point that McC always planned his campaigns and battles as if facing an overwhelming enemy force, and in that regard they were superb plans. Unfortunately, that wasn't the way it was on the field. Antietam probably should have been McC's best chance to destroy Lee's army and perhaps end the war then and there, but he squandered every opportunity and left a third of his army in reserve. Even worse, and what surely makes the man detestable, was his tremendous ego and feelings of self-importance. Sears' biography covers McC's entire life, though 90% of it deals with the Civil War years. Well written and interesting.



4. Stephen W. Sears proves once again that he is a master of Civil War histories. A must ead for students of America's greatest conflect.



5. Has anyone of so much purported skill and promise failed so spectacularly at such a critical moment in American history as General George B. McClellan? If there is, I can't imagine who it would be. Douglas MacArthur comes to mind as a possible analogue (indeed, Harry Truman turned to Lincoln's dealing with McClellan for inspiration in dealing with MacArthur), but at least MacArthur ultimately prevailed in the Pacific in WWII and can at least point to Inchon as a moment of triumph.
   
   This biography is heralded as scrupulously balanced and fair. If so, few actors on such a large stage have had so few redeeming qualities, the fascist and communist dictators of the twentieth century included. The man that Stephen Sears describes is incorrigible - there is no other word for it. Sears paints a portrait of a fool. Several Union generals matched wits and nerve with Robert E. Lee and suffered humiliating defeat, but such men as Ambrose Burnside were, at least, self-aware. They recognized the enormity of their task, felt inadequate, but pressed ahead to the greatest of their ability to fulfill their duty. McClellan, as Sears portrays him, was delusional. His arrogance and conceit were colossal. As he stumbled from one miscue to the next - and the Lincoln administration fretted over how to prod their field general into action - McClellan was convinced that history would confirm his genius and place him in the pantheon of military greats. Not American military greats, mind you, but alongside the likes of Napoleon, Caesar, and Hannibal.
   
   The only positive things that Sears has to say about McClellan is that he was not disloyal to the Union (he was committed to seeing re-union as a precondition to peace with the South, but disagreed vehemently with the Emancipation Proclamation), he never intentionally contributed to the defeat of another Union general, such as Pope at Second Manassas, and he had a loving and tender relationship with his wife. Beyond that, this biography is essentially an indictment of McClellan's military conduct at the head of the Army of the Potomac and his character as a military officer and human being.
   
   What this biography fails to do is explain why so many people - from the front ranks of business, politics and the military - thought so highly of McClellan, so consistently and for so long. McClellan was one of the highest paid railroad executives in the country while in his early 30s. He received the vigorous patronage, as Sears describes it, of Jefferson Davis when he was secretary of war in the Pierce administration and Salmon Chase when he was secretary of the treasury in the Lincoln administration, but Sears never describes how or why those relationships developed or why those men had such confidence in McClellan. When the Civil War broke out, the governors of the three largest states in the Union - New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio - all turned to McClellan as their first pick to lead their state militias. McClellan clearly had the ability to impress intelligent and experienced men - the type of men one would expect to be good judges of talent and character - yet the reader gets no sense of this from the Sears biography. Moreover, for all of the failure and hardship endured by the Army of the Potomac while under McClellan's command, the rank-and-file largely remained loyal to the general, often enthusiastically so.
   
   Sears emphasizes several themes throughout the biography. First, McClellan had utter disdain for civilian control of the military and the performance of non-regulars in the army, an opinion that emerged during his early days of service in Mexico and that he carried, unaltered, through the Civil War and to his grave. Second, McClellan harbored a personal animus against his superior, Abraham Lincoln. He felt that Lincoln was his social and intellectual inferior (McClellan regularly referred to Lincoln as "the gorilla" in his correspondence with his wife), and resented the commander-in-chief's meddling in military matters. Third, Sears argues that McClellan was paralyzed by the unknown and unexpected. If a maneuver met with unanticipated resistance or a plan seemed to go awry, McClellan's impulse was to freeze and react to enemy movements. Sears frequently contrasts McClellan's timidity with Lee's flexibility in the face of regular surprises and setbacks. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, Sears stresses how badly the Army of the Potomac intelligence apparatus, run by Allan Pinkerton, failed to understand the order of battle of the Confederate Army of Virginia. Throughout McClellan's tenure as commander, the general belief was that the Union troops were outnumbered by as much as two-to-one, when the reverse was usually the case. The catastrophic intelligence failure of the Union (and McClellan's eagerness to believe the inflated numbers) raises the question: if McClellan had accurate intelligence on Confederate numbers, would it have changed his behavior and battle plans? Sears never addresses that question directly, but one can anticipate his response: no, it wouldn't have changed anything.
   
   Political scientists Eliot Cohen and John Gooch argue in "Military Misfortunes" that readers should be suspicious of the "man-in-the-dock" explanation to failure on the battlefield. In short, large scale military failure is rarely the result of one man's actions (or inactions). Yet, it seems to me that McClellan has been squarely put in the dock by history for the failures of the Union forces on the Peninsula and for not destroying the Army of Virginia at Antietam after receiving Special Order 191. Is that fair? This biography suggests that the answer is "yes," but I'm not convinced. I'm no fan of McClellan, but there had to be more to this man than Sears conveys here.

4 comments about A MiG-15 to Freedom: Memoir of the Wartime North Korean Defector Who First Delivered the Secret Fighter Jet to the Americans in 1953.

1. All right all right! In cyberspace I stand corrected ...its No, not Ro Kum-Sok. I never could get those Korean names straight when I lived there either. Rudyard Kipling would have loved Seoul....

   This is a good book, interesting reading. As a non-flyer, non-pilot all the tech talk about MiGs vs. Sabres is a bit daunting, but if you are a fan of the Public Television show Wings, this book is for you.
   The book starts with the author landing at Kimpo before some dumbfounded US personnel. Then he flashes back to his childhood under Japanese occupation. Mixed in with discussion of childhood pranks is a rapid fire, zipped version of Korean history from the Shilla dynasty to the present. While no admirer of the Japanese (like many Koreans, he stauchly refers to the Sea of Japan as the 'east sea.') he points out that the Red Army also had a record of rape and pillage. This will not sit well with selective outrage enthusiasts who use the 'comfort women' issue for Japan bashing in the region.

   Kum-Sok states that the Korean Navy and Air Force collapsed early in the war...it was the Inmingun, or North Korean Army, that held together. Kum-Soks' summary of the war is essentially the western rendition of the battles. When the stalemate developed after mid 1951, the war shifted to the skies over North Korea and Manchuria. It remains a common myth that the US did not pursue MiGs into the skies of northeast China, but after April 1952, says the author, they did exactly that with deadly effectiveness, knocking MiGs down as they slowed to land. Again, stories about air wars and battles are hard for me to follow and understand, and Kum-Sok often gets lost in endless renditions of sorties, statistics, or engineering specifications. Still, he does discuss a number of weaknesses that MiGs had:
   ...they were not supersonic, even when diving;
   ...the T-shaped tail obscured your view and often was fatal when exiting the cockpit;
   ...the double-wall canopy would often fog up;
   ...there was no rear view mirror;
   Authors comment. Rear view mirror?? Fighter pilots use rear view mirrors? Do they use turn signals too?
   ...poor fuel economy;
   ...long and visible contrails from Soviet jet fuel;
   ...lousy tires;
   and a few other sundry items.

   After he defected to the south came the inevitable interrogation, tests of his credibility, and finally, fame. OF COURSE, one issue of tremendous relevance that our security services made sure to ask about was whether No Kum-Sok 'ever had sex with another man.' [I can just hear these losers on the runway at Kimpo ..."what? You are gay? Take that MiG back to North Korea NOW, homeboy!!!"]

   By the way Kum-Sok was unaware of the operation Moolah offer for a MiG, and defected to the west almost two months after the KoreanWar was over. He did receive the 100 grand, however




2. ON SEPTEMBER 21, 1953, A YOUNG NORTH KOREAN MiG-15 PILOT, NO KUM-SOK, DEFECTED TO THE AMERICAN SOUTH KOREAN AIR BASE AT KIMPO, TURNING OVER RUSSIA`S TOP JET FIGHTER TO THE UNITED STATES, AND FULLFILLING SEVERAL YEARS OF PLANNING TO ESCAPE THE REPRESSION OF COMMUNISM. NO KUM-SOK WESTERNIZED HIS NAME TO KENNETH ROWE, AND IS NOW A PROFESSOR AT EMBRY-RIDDLE AERONAUTICAL UNIVERSITY IN DAYTON BEACH, FLORIDA. HIS LIFE STORY, "A MiG-15 TO FREEDOM," IS A FASCINATING AND RICHLY DETAILED ACCOUNT OF THE FIRST AIR WAR PITTING JET AGAINST JET. THE KOREAN WAR ALSO FEATURED THE LAST AERIAL BATTLES AT RELATIVELY CLOSE QUARTERS USING GUNS, RATHER THAN THE RADAR GUIDED AIR-TO-AIR MISSLES THAT SOON FOLLOWED. ON ONE SIDE WAS THE AMERICAN MADE F-86 SABRE, AND ON THE OTHER, THE RUSSIAN BUILT MiG-15, EACH REPRESENTING THE LATEST AND BEST TECHNOLOGY OF THE TWO SUPER POWERS OF THE COLD WAR. AS J. ROGER OSTERHOLM POINTS OUT, LITTLE HAS BEEN WRITTEN ABOUT, OR PORTRAYED ON FILM, THE NORTH KOREAN AND SOVIET SIDE OF THE KOREAN WAR. THIS BOOK GIVES IMPRESSIVE INSIGHT INTO LIFE IN NORTH KOREA, ESPECIALLY IN THE COMMUNIST AIR FORCES, WITH EXTENSIVE DETAIL OF RUSSIA`S INVOLVEMENT IN KOREA, A CLOSELY GUARDED SECRET AT THE TIME. STALIN SENT TWO DIVISIONS OF TOP SOVIET FIGHTER PILOTS TO MANCHURIA, FROM VARIOUS UNITS WITHIN THE SOVIET BLOC. IN LATE 1949, AND AGAIN IN EARLY 1950, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE, DEAN ACHESON, PUBLICLY ANNOUNCED THE DEFENSIVE PERIMETER IN ASIA THAT THE UNITED STATES WOULD VIGOROUSLY DEFEND, BUT EXCLUDED SOUTH KOREA. THE U.S.S.R., CHINA, AND NORTH KOREAN LEADERS THEN BELIEVED THAT THEY COULD , BY FORCE, REUNITE THE TWO KOREAS UNDER THE COMMUNIST BANNER WITHOUT INTERVENTION BY THE UNITED STATES. THEY WERE WRONG. THE EVENTS THAT LEAD TO THIS BOOK BEING WRITTEN, PROBABLY WOULD HAVE NEVER OCCURRED WITHOUT THE EARLY PARENTAL INFLUENCE FAVORING AMERICA AND CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. NO KUM-SOK`S FATHER WAS NON-COMMUNIST AND A MEMBER OF A DEMOCRATIC PARTY. HIS MOTHER WAS A ROMAN CATHOLIC, WHO REGULARLY ATTENDED CHURCH SERVICES, IN THE DAYS BEFORE COMMUNISM AND KIM IL-SUNG. NO KUM-SOK`S LIFE LONG ASPIRATION WAS TO LIVE IN AMERICA SOMEDAY. MOST KOREAN WAR HISTORIANS DISCOUNT THESE FACTS, AND, IN FACT, SUGGEST THAT NO KUM-SOK`S DEFECTION WAS ONLY FOR THE $100,000 REWARD OFFERED SEVERAL MONTHS EARLIER (OPERATION MOOLAH) TO THE FIRST RED PILOT DELIVERING AN AIRWORTHY MiG-15 INTO ALLIED HANDS. AMERICAN B-29`S HAD DROPPED LEAFLETS OVER AIR BASES IN NORTH KOREA WITH THIS OFFER IN APRIL, 1953. NO KUM-SOK IS CERTAIN THAT NO MiG PILOT EVER SAW ONE OF THE LEAFLETS, OR EVEN HEARD OF THE OFFER. NO CHINESE OR RUSSIAN PILOTS WERE STATIONED IN NORTH KOREA AT THE TIME, AND HAD A NORTH KOREAN PILOT READ ONE OF THE LEAFLETS, THE MONEY OFFER WOULD HAVE MEANT LITTLE, NOR WOULD THEY HAD TRUSTED THEIR AUTHENTICITY. "A MiG-15 TO FREEDOM" EXPRESSES WITH STUNNING CLARITY, THE FEELINGS EXPERIENCED BY A YOUNG NORTH KOREAN JET PILOT, LIVING A COMMUNIST LIE, HAVING TO FACE SUPERIOR TRAINED AND EXPERIENCED AMERICAN F-86 PILOTS IN "MiG ALLEY." THE BOOK OFFERS MANY TECHNICAL DETAILS OF THE AIRCRAFT INVOLVED IN THE BATTLE FOR AIR SUPERIORITY-THEIR STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES. HAVING A HOBBY OF GIVING PROGRAMS ON THE AIR WAR OVER KOREA TO CIVIC CLUBS AND SCHOOL HISTORY CLASSES, I TRAVELED TO FLORIDA IN DECEMBER OF 1997,WHERE I HAD LUNCH WITH, AND INTERVIEWED, MR. KENNETH ROWE (NO KUM-SOK), AND FOUND HIM TO BE A VERY JOVIAL, INTELLIGENT, AND ABSOLUTELY DELIGHTFUL GENTLEMAN. I HAVE READ HIS BOOK TWICE, AND HAVE GIVEN IT AS GIFTS TO AMERICAN F-86 ACES OF THE KOREAN WAR. NO KUM-SOK`S STORY WOULD MAKE A TREMENDOUS MOVIE. "A MiG-15 TO FREEDOM" IS AN AWESOME BOOK! I LOVED IT!



3. ON SEPTEMBER 21, 1953, A YOUNG NORTH KOREAN MiG-15 PILOT, NO KUM-SOK, DEFECTED TO THE AMERICAN SOUTH KOREAN AIR BASE AT KIMPO, TURNING OVER RUSSIA`S TOP JET FIGHTER TO THE UNITED STATES, AND FULLFILLING SEVERAL YEARS OF PLANNING TO ESCAPE THE REPRESSION OF COMMUNISM. NO KUM-SOK WESTERNIZED HIS NAME TO KENNETH ROWE, AND IS NOW A PROFESSOR AT EMBRY-RIDDLE AERONAUTICAL UNIVERSITY IN DAYTON BEACH, FLORIDA. HIS LIFE STORY, "A MiG-15 TO FREEDOM," IS A FASCINATING AND RICHLY DETAILED ACCOUNT OF THE FIRST AIR WAR PITTING JET AGAINST JET. THE KOREAN WAR ALSO FEATURED THE LAST AERIAL BATTLES AT RELATIVELY CLOSE QUARTERS USING GUNS, RATHER THAN THE RADAR GUIDED AIR-TO-AIR MISSLES THAT SOON FOLLOWED. ON ONE SIDE WAS THE AMERICAN MADE F-86 SABRE, AND ON THE OTHER, THE RUSSIAN BUILT MiG-15, EACH REPRESENTING THE LATEST AND BEST TECHNOLOGY OF THE TWO SUPER POWERS OF THE COLD WAR. AS J. ROGER OSTERHOLM POINTS OUT, LITTLE HAS BEEN WRITTEN ABOUT, OR PORTRAYED ON FILM, THE NORTH KOREAN AND SOVIET SIDE OF THE KOREAN WAR. THIS BOOK GIVES IMPRESSIVE INSIGHT INTO LIFE IN NORTH KOREA, ESPECIALLY IN THE COMMUNIST AIR FORCES, WITH EXTENSIVE DETAIL OF RUSSIA`S INVOLVEMENT IN KOREA, A CLOSELY GUARDED SECRET AT THE TIME. STALIN SENT TWO DIVISIONS OF TOP SOVIET FIGHTER PILOTS TO MANCHURIA, FROM VARIOUS UNITS WITHIN THE SOVIET BLOC. IN LATE 1949, AND AGAIN IN EARLY 1950, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE, DEAN ACHESON, PUBLICLY ANNOUNCED THE DEFENSIVE PERIMETER IN ASIA THAT THE UNITED STATES WOULD VIGOROUSLY DEFEND, BUT EXCLUDED SOUTH KOREA. THE U.S.S.R., CHINA, AND NORTH KOREAN LEADERS THEN BELIEVED THAT THEY COULD , BY FORCE, REUNITE THE TWO KOREAS UNDER THE COMMUNIST BANNER WITHOUT INTERVENTION BY THE UNITED STATES. THEY WERE WRONG. THE EVENTS THAT LEAD TO THIS BOOK BEING WRITTEN, PROBABLY WOULD HAVE NEVER OCCURRED WITHOUT THE EARLY PARENTAL INFLUENCE FAVORING AMERICA AND CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. NO KUM-SOK`S FATHER WAS NON-COMMUNIST AND A MEMBER OF A DEMOCRATIC PARTY. HIS MOTHER WAS A ROMAN CATHOLIC, WHO REGULARLY ATTENDED CHURCH SERVICES, IN THE DAYS BEFORE COMMUNISM AND KIM IL-SUNG. NO KUM-SOK`S LIFE LONG ASPIRATION WAS TO LIVE IN AMERICA SOMEDAY. MOST KOREAN WAR HISTORIANS DISCOUNT THESE FACTS, AND, IN FACT, SUGGEST THAT NO KUM-SOK`S DEFECTION WAS ONLY FOR THE $100,000 REWARD OFFERED SEVERAL MONTHS EARLIER (OPERATION MOOLAH) TO THE FIRST RED PILOT DELIVERING AN AIRWORTHY MiG-15 INTO ALLIED HANDS. AMERICAN B-29`S HAD DROPPED LEAFLETS OVER AIR BASES IN NORTH KOREA WITH THIS OFFER IN APRIL, 1953. NO KUM-SOK IS CERTAIN THAT NO MiG PILOT EVER SAW ONE OF THE LEAFLETS, OR EVEN HEARD OF THE OFFER. NO CHINESE OR RUSSIAN PILOTS WERE STATIONED IN NORTH KOREA AT THE TIME, AND HAD A NORTH KOREAN PILOT READ ONE OF THE LEAFLETS, THE MONEY OFFER WOULD HAVE MEANT LITTLE, NOR WOULD THEY HAD TRUSTED THEIR AUTHENTICITY. "A MiG-15 TO FREEDOM" EXPRESSES WITH STUNNING CLARITY, THE FEELINGS EXPERIENCED BY A YOUNG NORTH KOREAN JET PILOT, LIVING A COMMUNIST LIE, HAVING TO FACE SUPERIOR TRAINED AND EXPERIENCED AMERICAN F-86 PILOTS IN "MiG ALLEY." THE BOOK OFFERS MANY TECHNICAL DETAILS OF THE AIRCRAFT INVOLVED IN THE BATTLE FOR AIR SUPERIORITY-THEIR STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES. HAVING A HOBBY OF GIVING PROGRAMS ON THE AIR WAR OVER KOREA TO CIVIC CLUBS AND SCHOOL HISTORY CLASSES, I TRAVELED TO FLORIDA IN DECEMBER OF 1997,WHERE I HAD LUNCH WITH, AND INTERVIEWED, MR. KENNETH ROWE (NO KUM-SOK), AND FOUND HIM TO BE A VERY JOVIAL, INTELLIGENT, AND ABSOLUTELY DELIGHTFUL GENTLEMAN. I HAVE READ HIS BOOK TWICE, AND HAVE GIVEN IT AS GIFTS TO AMERICAN F-86 ACES OF THE KOREAN WAR. NO KUM-SOK`S STORY WOULD MAKE A TREMENDOUS MOVIE. "A MiG-15 TO FREEDOM" IS AN AWESOME BOOK! I LOVED IT!



4. "Pour out and zero-in this vindictive ammunition to the damn Yankees!" So reads an inscription in red Korean characters just below No Kum-Sok's gunsight in his swept-wing MiG-15bis fighter jet . That inscription may still to this day be seen by visitors to the US Air Force Museum, where his North Korean MiG (aircraft number 2057) has been on display for the past several decades. [A small photo of `Glorious Leader' Kim Il-Sung was originally displayed next to it on the instrument panel, as it was in all North Korean MiGs, but it was removed, thrown down, and stepped upon by No Kum-Sok as his first act upon arriving safely upon South Korean soil in 1953.]
   
   No Kum-Sok changed his name when he became an American citizen to "Kenneth Rowe", the name by which I shall refer to him here. His story of a flight to freedom from North Korea to South Korea in a MiG jet is one of the most interesting in recent aviation history, in my opinion, and all the more so because so very little is actually known by the American public today about that formative 'UN police action' that helped launch the subsequent 'Cold War' era (a `police action' in which more than 53,000 American soldiers died, despite the fact that it lasted only a third as long as the subsequent Vietnamese conflict, in which 55,000+ died).
   
   Ken, now 76 years of age, visited us at the Aerospace Museum of California very recently (located at the former McClellan AFB site in Sacramento, CA) and spoke to a gathering of invited aviation people and the general public about his amazing life. Although many were drawn to his presentation owing to technical interests in the MiG aircraft he flew, by the time his presentation had ended, the MiG had almost been entirely overshadowed by the personal story of this fascinating refugee from Communism who knew from his earliest years that he wanted to live as a free citizen in the United States of America. By the time Ken had finished speaking, it was clear to all of us that the MiG played only a relatively minor role in Ken's story and that the desire to live in a truly free society was the primary theme of his interesting life.
   
   Of the many smaller highlights and anecdotes Ken shared with us about his flight to freedom were two that remain strongly with me. The first was that after it became known in North Korea that he had `defected' [a word Ken detests, since he repeatedly emphasises that he was never a Communist North Korean...just a native born Korean who wished for freedom (hence there was nothing to defect from, in his view) from his earliest childhood], five of his closest fellow squadron pilots were arrested and executed in symbolic retribution for his act.
   
   The second concerns his amazing fortune in reaching South Korea's Kimpo Air Field without first being intercepted and shot down by American Air Force Sabres. It seems that on the day Ken made his escape to Kimpo, US Air Force technicians had shut down the field's radar for 15 minutes, so as to allow for some much needed repairs to that system. Ken acquired the field five minutes after that radar was switched off and managed to land five minutes before it was switched back on, by pure coincidence. If the radar had been active at the time, he would certainly have been intercepted well before he even reached the field; as it was, he managed to actually land safely on the US runway before anyone was even aware of his presence (an absolutely astounding coincidence, seemingly).
   
   It was interesting to learn in the course of Ken's talk that the CIA played a major role in his life after he landed, and that even the $100,000.00 reward that US propaganda leaflets had offered to any successful defector bringing a MiG to the South was ultimately paid to Ken out of a covert CIA black operations `slush-fund' (Ken makes it clear that he knew absolutely nothing of this offer prior to his escape, since any North Korean caught looking at or reading leaflets in North Korea was summarily shot on the spot). Of course, those who have any awareness of military history in the post WWII period already know how large a part the CIA played in just about all `Cold War' operations, and this information is therefore not startling (to me personally); to the politically naive American who persists to this day in thinking of America in the simplest, purest, and most ethically ideal terms, that particular revelation may be startling.
   
   Ken details much in his book about post-war Soviet style Communism that led to a predominance of that form of political philosophy in Southeast Asia and it may therein be seen that, just as in the case of a Middle East region whose later difficulties may be directly attributed to agreements reach at the conclusion of the First World War, so too can Southeast Asia's difficulties be placed squarely at the feet of Stalin, Churchill, and Roosevelt (Truman), subsequent to the defeat of the Axis Powers at the end of WWII.
   
   Years after Ken's having been granted US citizenship (through a special act of Congress), he continued his academic studies and ultimately acquired a doctorate in aeronautical engineering, after which he eventually became a professor of aerospace studies at Embry-Riddle University in Florida (where he resides). I am pleased to say that Ken is a wonderful, kind-hearted, patient, and very wise man whom I had the greatest pleasure meeting and listening to. After the lecture he presented at our air museum, we took him over to our museum's MiG-17PF and F-86F aircraft, where some memorable photos were taken. He was most gracious in signing numerous copies of his book, a great number of litho prints (of an original piece of art done of him by Col. Dick Stultz, former F-106 driver and chief of flight test at McClellan AFB), and even signed a Chinese flight helmet/mask set and a few MiG-15 models. To say he performed yeoman's duty thereby is considerably understating his good-nature, but he was able to maintain his cheerful demeanor throughout the lengthy ordeal. His students at Embry-Riddle University say he is a demanding, but supremely patient and understanding teacher. And so he is.
   
   I highly recommend Ken's fascinating book to anyone who professes an interest in the little-understood Korean War conflict, but most importantly I suggest it to anyone who wishes to gain some rare insights on what the genuine meaning of freedom is to those who STILL do not enjoy the many rights and privileges most Americans accept unquestioningly as their birthright. His message is both inspiring and encouraging and the book remains something every American should read to gain fresh insight on what a wonderful gift freedom actually is!
   
   [The original 300 page publication (by McFarland Publishers) was a limited edition library-bound version, brought out in 1996. The book was reissued in paperback form (222 pages) in the same year and is available today at most booksellers. Ken's aircraft was exhaustively flight-tested by the US Air Force, after his flight to the South, and provided the West with its first close-up operational analysis of this important first Russian swept-wing aircraft design; in that series of tests, no less luminaries than General Albert Boyd and General Chuck Yeager figured prominantly. The plane is today a very popular US Air Force Museum display memorial to the Korean War era, in Dayton, Ohio.]

2 comments about Minotaur: Sir Arthur Evans and the Archaeology of the Minoan Myth.

1. Sandy MacGillivray's in depth analysis of the life and times of pioneer Cretan archaeologist Sir Arthur Evans was a pure joy to read. The author's own experiences as a professional in the field on Crete add great weight to his arguments as he finds himself coping the Evans' legacy on a daily basis. I really got the sense that the author knew Evans, both the man and the scholar, through close attention to and extensive research on the amply available primary sources. This is a wonderfully scholarly, yet very readable and highly interesting book to both the professional archaeologist and interested armchair amateur.



2. Minotaur by Joseph MacGillivray
   
   This book presents itself as a readable biography of one the great Archaeologists, Sir Arthur Evans, instead of a thoughtful biography the book is really a prolonged attack on Evans (and 19th century archaeology) by an author of dubious credentials and makes for extremely painful reading.
   
   The book is tolerable journalism when its sticks to the factual events, but it is so filled with hostility towards Evans, that the reader is quickly bogged down in a long winded and poorly researched series of ad hominen attacks and innuendo of wrong doing that the thrill of Crete and Minos is completely buried.
   
   The central claim of this bad book is that Evans created Minoan archaeology and did not discover anything. The attacks are unrelenting. The author claims variously : Evans is unscientific and concerned only with objects, stole antquities, horded valuable linear B scripts, was a repressed homosexual, took too much credit for his finds and harmed nearly all of his colleagues, was shrewd and calculating to excess in his business dealings, was a racist because his disliked Turks and personally favored European and Greek religion and culture, was a spoiled wealthly aristocrat of no ability but gifted merely by birth and social standing- who also ate very well, etc etc etc
   
   That the author has issues with Evans is an understatement and parrying all of his attacks (most of which are the authors own unsubstantiated suspicions or irelevant details) is a waste of time.
   
   Evans- the gentlemen and scholar who devoted his 90 years of life to classics, beauty in art and history, who spent his fortune to dig Knossos and who developed new theories of myth and civilization: in short a person whose name will be recalled as long as history-minded Western man is revered- is not present in this book. This book is the product of a modern academic archaeology resentful of its romantic past, that prefers digging with toothbrushes, hates coin collectors, believes antiquities dealers are evil and wishes that British, Germans and French had left everything in the ground for them to sniff about with white gloves and a microscope.
   
   
   That the author is an academic feather-weight is evident in the opening pages, where he attempts to work out his own crude thesis: Evans was not an archaeologist but a myth maker motivated by sexual demons. His analysis is so bad, reading his turns of phrase are like chewing on sand: "Archaeologists are the progenitors as well as the midwives at the birthing process we call excavation." Ugly writing quickly leads to bad analysis such as this delphic prose: " ...we must start with Evans himself, the product of his genes and his life experiences." These experiences include the alleged homosexuality of Evans which the author tries to awkwardly weave into his book perhaps hoping to increase sales, but he cannot find much and we are left with a few sentences of inane writing worthy only of a freshman trying to impress a bored teaching assistant. He writes that he suspects Evans was driven to pursue his career because of the "repressed 'beastliness' of his homosexuality..." His efforts degenerate further a few hundred pages later with innuendo about a young man Evans adopted and his association with Baden Powell and the Boy Scout movement.
   
   The author has no wit and his style wears the reader down. He makes no effort in the biography to educate the reader about the civilization of Crete and takes the excitement of the past away completely. I know of no other book on archaeology that deadens its subject matter to such a degree. The author is all over the place with his own insipid thoughts and at times contradicts his own thin analysis.
   
   For example the author continually harps on the fact that Evan's sister titled her biography of him, "Time and Chance". The author writes "Nothing could be further from what I believe about how Evans discovered Knossos..."(p.6) In his effort to bring Evans down from his perch the author continually paints Evans as simply a digger with money. At the end of his book, the author returns to this theme: "Arthur Evans did not stumble upon Knossos by some happy circumstance. He set his mind on acquiring the rights to a well-documented site.... he secured the expertise he lacked in the person of a site foreman, architects, and conservators..." (p.308) Ok this attack may work in hindsight, but on page 175 the author himself writes: "they all faced the risk that within a few hours they might have removed only a thin layer of eroded soil and exposed a solid rock outcropping scattered with worthless pot shards... Evans might learn that he had chased off the other suitors only to find the bride barren of promise and her dowry worthless. These are the risks excavators take." Which is it? Did Evans simply walk in and dig up what everyone knew was there or did chance play a role and did he finally locate the fabled city of Knossos after three and a half millenium? Clearly this writer is a moron.
   
   A good graduate student should set things right and demolish MacGillivray's shoddy research on Evans, a student of history with a sense of the classical- not one inspired while waiting to use public tennis courts in Manhattan as MacGillivray says he was. Surely some inspiration can still be found in the stones of ruined cities, a brilliant gemstone or winds of the Mediterranean.
   
   The author, in writing this extended effort to libel the dead, succeeds only in diminishing our native appreciation of history, and our myths. That is the end point of modernity.

No comments about B*U*F*F (Big Ugly Fat F*****).

2 comments about Our Mother's War: A Biography of a Child of the Dutch Resistance.

1. 'Our Mother's War' is a child's-eye view of the random horror that was World War II. It has historical value because the authors recorded the fragmented and often traumatized memories of a Dutch resistance participant, starting from age nine and extended to her early maturity. The narrative is aided by an historical perspective supplied by one of the authors, Mel Fiske, an avuncular figure who found value in the loving researches of two sisters who had observed the continuing sorrow of their mother, decades after she survived the war. He died a few days after the Radich sisters presented him with a finished copy of the memoir. The brief and touching book testfies to their mother's irreparably broken childhood and constitutes an act of filial love.



2. What is Anne Frank had lived? I cannot help but think her story might have mirrored that of the late Lakshmi Radich of Sonoma County, CA.
   Her war experience is recounted in this moving story which began in Rotterdam 68 years ago with the devastating German blitzkreig.
   Until that day, Lakshmi, a cheerful 9 year old Dutch girl,lived a peaceful and relatively unremarkable existence.
   That all ended abruptly. In the early morning, German planes flying so low you could see the faces of the pilots in the cockpit unloaded their parachuting human cargo to capture the sleeping city. Initially refusing to surrender, Rotterdam took the brunt of heavy German bombing. At her worried mother's insistence, she and Lakshmi traveled by foot, braving heavy intermittent gunfire, to check on the well-being of the girl's grandmother, who lived a two-hour walk away.
   If that journey had been the most harrowing part of her life during the war, Lakshmi would have been fortunate. With her father already a part of the Dutch mobilization, Lakshmi and her mother themselves joined the Dutch Resistance. They harbored their Jewish neighbors, friends and countless strangers. She declined to be labeled a hero. "I'm not a hero. I'm just a human being who did what had to be done when it needed to be done."
   What she did was remarkable. Not only did she and her non-Jewish friends wear a Star of David to confuse the Germans until they caught on, she and her mother, after being found out, left their home and continued their efforts apart from one another to avoid being captured at the same time.
   Radich left her childhood behind that day in May. She grew up quickly. She was forced to witness fellow citizens hanged from lampposts; their bodies left untouched as a reminder of the penalty for disobedience. She saw many deported to death camps. She was raped beginning at age 10 by men in every uniform, leaving her in an "emotional no-man's land" where "the scars of war run very deep."
   She was able to keep informed of the war by listening to banned radio broadcasts from the West.
   She never found her mother after the war, but she was reunited with her father. Her war ended on a train ride to Rotterdam with refugees returning from a death camp. She and a survivor with a shaved head shared a flea and lice infested sheepskin. They sat huddled together, legs dangling from a box car. It marked the physical but not psychological end to the war for her.
   Her war experiences in no way trained her for life in Sonoma. She also found out what it was like to be a survivor but not always accepted as one because she was not Jewish.
   In time, Lakshmi Radich, with the love, help and support of her two daughters, Christina and Laurina, along with counseling, spiritual growth through trips to India and the supportive Jewish community that recorded her story for the Holocaust Library, was able to come to terms, if not peace, with her past so much so that she regained her faith in a God, who could "allow such a horror to exist."

2 comments about BattleFire!: Combat Stories from World War II.

1. The reader will hardly believe the danger, deprivation and hardships endured by by these ordinary Kentucky boys plucked from their farms and schooling and thrust into the most extaordinary circumstances. Kelly is a great story teller, and these stories of bravery and heroism in the face of the terrors of war are powerfully moving. These are stories that capture the experience of war from all the services and all the major campaigns of WWII while focusing on the very human side of those who were caught up in it. After you read this book you will want to give it to your children and grandchildren so future generations will never forget the sacrafices of those who went before.



2. "Battlefire! Combat Stories From World War II" by Col. Arthur L. Kelly
   The University of Kentucky Press, 1997.
   
   This book is written by a veteran of three wars: World War II, Korea and Vietnam. Colonel Kelly has collected in one place eleven (11) different stories of World War II, ranging, chronologically, from the Japanese sneak attack on the Navy at Pearl Harbor to the Marines' attack on Iwo Jima. The author recounts experiences of individuals in the U.S. Navy, U.S. Army, U.S. Army Air Corps and the Marine Corps. Interestingly, all of the eleven individuals were from Kentucky. This is understandable for a book from "The University Press of Kentucky".
   
   I found it difficult to read the story of Corporal Field Reed Jr. who was on the Bataan Death March and was a POW at Camp Cabanatuan, where he was rescued by U. S. Army Rangers.
   
   Of personal interest to me was the story of Signalman First Class Lee Ebner, U. S. Navy. He was on the USS West Virginia, BB48, which was sunk at Pearl Harbor. Ebner recounts how he joined thousands of sailors who had lost their home due to the attack. There were seven (7) active battleships at Pearl Harbor on that December day. If each ship had a crew of 1500 men, then there were some 10,500 sailors who lost their belongings, their uniforms, and their place to sleep at night. On the USS Arizona, BB39, more than a thousand sailors also lost their lives. Signalman Ebner relates that he was assigned to a destroyer, the USS Mahan, DDG37, the day after the raid on Pearl Harbor. What a let down! From a big battleship to a tin can! Ebner's story goes all the way to the end of the war, where he was under attack by Kamikazes.
   
   Here is a story yet to be fully told. How did the Navy deal with thousands of displaced sailors on the days and weeks after the sneak attack? Where did they go to eat? To sleep? Where did they obtain new uniforms, and how did they get paid? The old Navy always wanted full and complete pay records before they would give you a dime.
   
   This slim volume covers the full gamut of World War II experiences, from the raid on Pearl Harbor, to POW stories, to B17 raids and depth charge attacks on American submarines. Nicely done!