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Bouncing Back: How a Heroic Band of POWs Survived Vietnam
Geoffrey Norman. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1990. 248 pp. $19.95 ($17.95).
Chained Eagle: The True Heroic Story of Eight-and-One-Half Vears as a POW by the First American Shot Down over North Vietnam
Everett Alvarez, Jr., and Anthony S. Pitch. New York: Donald I. Fine, 1989. 308 pp. Photos, lllus. $18.95 ($17.05).
Beyond Survival
Capt. Gerald Coffee, USN (Ret.). New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1990. 287 pp. $19.95 ($17.95).
Reviewed by Edward R. Crews
Everett Alvarez, Jr., was shot down over North Vietnam in 1964 and became •he first U.S. flier captured during the Vietnam War. Gerald Coffee and A1 Stafford became prisoners under similar circumstances—Coffee in 1966 and Stafford in 1967. All three U.S. Navy pilots endured privation, torture, and callousness at the enemy’s hands until 1973 When they were released and returned to •he United States with other U.S. prisoners of war.
The stories of these veterans’ experiences as POWs are told in three fascinat- •ng books that are at once inspiring and terrifying. Nobody safe at home today can read these works and fail to be humbled by the courage, steadfastness, and resilience of these men and other prisoners who, unarmed, fought a relentless War of the spirit with their North Vietnamese captors.
Beyond Survival, Bouncing Back, and Chained Eagle are well written and dom- •nated by similar themes and anecdotes about survival, loyalty, courage, hope, and despair in extraordinary circumstances. While they have much in com- •hon, their tones are different. Alvarez’s book is a straightforward narrative that tells about his experiences as a POW. Coffee’s work contains similar material, but his viewpoint is more philosophical, more an analysis of the spiritual dimensions of being a survivor. Geoffrey Norman writes about Stafford’s experience in the third person and discusses not only Stafford but many of the men he met in captivity.
The books talk frankly about what Americans suffered as captives of the North Vietnamese. None of the books sensationalizes the suffering, and none offers any false bravado about resisting the enemy’s interrogation techniques. The authors’ matter-of-fact approaches to the subject of torture and repeated beatings make their ordeals all the more chilling and real. In particular, Alvarez’s unembellished description of how a Cuban interrogator directed for weeks the beatings of two U.S. Air Force officers will affect anybody who reads it deeply.
A major factor in surviving the worst times in the enemy’s camps was the solidarity shown among all but a handful of U.S. prisoners. Central to that solidarity was the communication system the men devised (a system that relied heavily on a
Morse-code-like tapping on cell walls) and the determination of senior officers to keep the chain of command alive and functioning.
Resistance to the enemy always was difficult, but the POWs tried at every turn never to give in without a struggle. That policy brought them small but moraleboosting victories. Sometimes their battles reflected not only courage and stubbornness, but a certain elan—even humor. Coffee tells how one officer,
Lieutenant Commander Nels Tanner, was tortured until he agreed to write a confession of his “war crimes.” Tanner did, referring to his commanding officer Commander Clark Kent and his operations officer Lieutenant Commander Ben Casey. The Vietnamese were so pleased with their success that they circulated Tanner’s “confession” around the world. Finally, somebody broke it to the communists that these men were characters straight from American comic books and television. While Tanner was punished harshly for two years for this action— either by being chained or placed in stocks—his example cheered the other men and satisfied him that even in the weakest of positions he had embarrassed the enemy.
The POWs soon found that to survive they would have to cope with the inactivity and boredom they faced in prison. Each man discovered a different way to escape mentally. Stafford, for example, loved to sail, especially on Chesapeake Bay. He would concentrate intensely on make-believe voyages, testing theories about yacht-handling in his mind and developing experiences so real he could almost taste saltwater on his face.
Another common theme is the way small things took on a major significance in prison. Alvarez and Coffee, for instance, talk with real affection about items of clothing, such as a Navy watch cap and a sweatshirt, and how these possessions provided comfort and an unmeasurable sense of pleasure in an unusual and deliberately irregular world.
During their years in captivity, the men thought often of their families. Coffee reflects on his relationship with his wife and their children, and speaks frankly of the difficult adjustments he and they had to make after his homecoming. Stafford and his wife tried to reestablish their marriage but failed. Later he found another woman and rebuilt his personal life.
Alvarez’s mother, father, and sisters kept the faith for him, too. But unfortunately, his wife did not. Married only seven months when he was captured, Alvarez clung tightly to hopes of returning home to his young bride. But on
Christmas Day 1971, he learned that his wife had left him for another man. The news was devastating, but Alvarez absorbed the blow and endured.
In one way, the Alvarez family’s experience did mirror the nation’s division over the war, when one of Alvarez’s sisters became disenchanted with the war and joined the peace movement.
Despite the grimness of their imprisonment, the authors describe with delight their homecoming and the welcome the country gave them upon return.
Alvarez went on to law school and later became a deputy director of the Peace Corps and deputy administrator of the Veterans Administration. Coffee attended graduate school to study political science. Today, he is a popular public speaker, addressing a variety of groups. Stafford too returned to school, got a sailboat, and found peace of mind on the water.
Given the suffering these men knew in North Vietnam, it would be difficult to call Beyond Survival; Bouncing Back, and Chained Eagle entertaining. The books are thought provoking and rich in anecdotes. They certainly are important records for historians interested in gaining a well-rounded understanding of the Vietnam War.
These works are instructive for any U.S. soldier, sailor, airman or Marine who may become a POW. Above all, they provide ample proof that survival— and even a measure of victory—are possible in the most dangerous and desperate of circumstances.
Mr. Crews is a senior business reporter for the Richmond (Va.) Times-Dispatch. A former U.S. Marine artillery officer who served with the 2d and 4th Marines divisions, he writes frequently on naval and military affairs.
Naval Engineering and American Sea Power
RAdm. R. W. King, USN (Ret.), editor. Baltimore, MD: Nautical and Aviation Publishing, 1989. 487 pp. Photos. Ulus. Maps. Figs. Append. Gloss. Notes. Bib.
Ind. $29.95 ($26.95)
Reviewed by Alex Roland
This book is not so much history as celebration—not so much of naval engineering as of naval technology. It was planned for publication on the 100th anniversary of the founding of the American Society of Naval Engineers in 1888. The primary focus of the book is the last 100 years of U.S. naval technology.
Of the 15 authors, nine are retired naval officers and two retired Coast
Guard officers. The result is an engineer’s book, a practitioner’s book, lovingly assembled and proudly presented. It concentrates on great events, great inventions, and to a certain extent great men, though there are fewer of these than one might expect.
The real focus is the artifacts themselves—the ships, the guns, the machinery, and the electronics. All are here, presented chronologically up through the 600-ship navy of the 1980s. Most of the chapters are arranged topically, like an encyclopedia. Two pages in the chapter on “World War I Expansion,” for example, move from headings for “torpedoes,” “mines,” and “depth charges,” to headings under “Naval Aviation,” “Promise Unfulfilled,” “Early State of the Art,” and “Administrative Apathy.” Each of these headings receives a paragraph or two; other chapters contain longer narrative sections, but this volume is nonetheless a reference book. It is likely to be read from cover to cover only by other naval engineers.
The lead article, “The Making of an American Style,” by Michael E. Vlahos, is an exception to the general style of the book. Covering the period from 1797 to 1887, Dr. Vlahos portrays U.S. shipbuilding style through the Civil War as running to big, fast ships mounting big guns. Ignoring Jeffersonian gunboat policy as an aberration, Vlahos shows how and why Americans came to their successful style and also how the Navy declined between 1865 and 1885 because of a reluctance to abandon the wooden sailing ship. He presents helpful information on what other countries were doing and relates his story well to domestic politics, technology, and economics. This level of analysis, unfortunately, is rare, though Edward M. MacCutcheon approaches it in his splendid chapter on “World War II Development and Expansion.”
The primary weakness of the volume, after its narrow focus on technical detail, is its lack of consistency. Virtually all the authors succeed in addressing the major technical developments in ships, gunnery, propulsion, etc., while ignoring related subjects such as politics, economics, strategy, the merchant marine, research and development, the Coast Guard, shipbuilding, and technological development in general. The result is a lack of coherence from one chapter to the next in providing the context in which the story unfolds. Virtually nothing is said, for example, about the old bureau system in the Navy, an institution that had an overwhelming impact on how naval engineering was conducted. Attempts to remedy this deficiency, and indeed to use the book as the encyclopedia it is, are rendered futile by a hopelessly inadequate index that does not even list people named in the text.
On the positive side, this is a comprehensive, informed, technically accurate, and enthusiastic account of a U.S. success story. A 50-page appendix on the “Chronology of Naval Engineering” alone is worth almost the price of the book. This is a solid complement to E. B- Potter’s Sea Power: A Naval History (Naval Institute Press, 1981), on which it seems to be modeled.
Dr. Roland, a 1966 graduate of the Naval Academy* teaches military history and the history of technology at Duke University.
A Country Made by War: From the Revolution to Vietnam—the Story of America’s Rise to Power
Geoffrey Perret. New York: Random House, 1989. 629 pp. Maps. Notes. Index. $22.50 ($20.25).
Reviewed by Ensign Jack Satterfield, U.S. Naval Reserve
This military history distinguishes itself from other recent entries in the field in two respects: First, the author’s thesis is that the military and social development of the United States are, to a surprisingly large extent, interdependent. Second, it would be hard to find a more gracefully written and entertaining survey of the nation’s military involvements over the last two centuries.
Perret makes a good, if not altogether persuasive, case for a strong military influence in day-to-day U.S. affairs. Perret argues that the relation between American life and military action is a two-way street. Reliance on military solutions to international problems, he suggests, is an intrinsic part of the national character. He writes, for example: “Since 1775 no nation has had as much experience of war as the United States—nine major wars in nine generations. And in between the wars have come other conflicts. . . . America’s wars have been like the rungs on a ladder by which it rose to greatness. No other country has triumphed so long, so consistently or on such a vast scale through force of arms.”
Thus, Perret makes an attractive, almost seductive, case for the fundamental utility of military force in enforcing nationalistic goals—a major departure from the prevailing view—but a case that glosses over the immense problems and complexities with which the military has struggled to define its role and fulfill the
objectives that role establishes.
Claiming that no other nation has experienced as much war in the last two hundred years as the United States is ludicrous. The Civil War excepted, our domestic involvement in conflicts has been relatively short-term and limited. Our casualty lists are trifling compared to losses suffered by other major combatants in the modern wars we have fought. Further, fortuitous geography has protected us from invasion since 1812, to the extent that—if one overlooks coupon rationing, some commodity shortages, and overtime pay at munitions plants—the majority of the population has no heritage of firsthand wartime involvement as does nearly every other developed, and a good many developing, nations. Even the much-romanticized Indian Wars on the Western frontier involved only tiny groups of combatants.
The causal connection between national greatness and warfighting is tenuous at best. Yes, the Revolutionary War established our independence (although one could argue that our military prowess Was less the result of that victory than Britain’s divided view of empire and lack of will). But the real key to our predominance in the 20th century is not that we fought and won, but that our economic base was untouched by the century’s wars While everyone else’s productive capacity Was wrecked.
Furthermore, Perret presents little evidence that Americans are any more or less warlike than any other nationality. Incorporation of military argot into everyday conversation is no more reliable an indicator of our willingness to take the hill at any cost than our constant use of business slang is a signal that millions of citizens can pass the certified public accountant exam. On the contrary, national behavior throughout our history suggests that most of us are not interested in war, a few of us are actively opposed to military activities, and even fewer of us actively support militarism. Civil War-era draft riots protesting conscription and the purchase of surrogate service by wealthy and privileged citizens (the 19th century equivalent of the college deferment), loudly voiced isolationist sentiments before World Wars I and II, and the services’ more recent, perennial difficulty in recruiting enough qualified volunteers except in hard economic times all reflect the public’s continuing unwillingness to accept full responsibility for the national defense. “Let George do it,” seems to be the prevailing view throughout our history, with the exception, of course, of World War II after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, when outrage overwhelmed isolationism.
Finally, many historians simply do not agree that U.S. military performance has been consistently triumphant—regardless of our victories. It is hard to believe that Vietnam was a rung on the ladder of U.S. greatness and progress.
In sum, the facts seem to militate against Perret’s conclusions, even though military advocates would undoubtedly love to embrace them as justifications for continuing emphasis on the armed forces and defense policies in the face of inevitable budgetary pressures.
On the other hand, this book is an absolute delight to read. Perret is skilled at blending the large and small aspects of events to produce new insights about our military history for the reader. His chapters on the nation’s formative years are especially well done; his writing here is excellent. If later chapters are slightly less compelling, it is probably because the reader is more familiar with recent
Many—including these members of the American First Committee protesting U.S. entry into World War II—would disagree that the United States is “A Country Made by War.”
military events, particularly Vietnam.
Perret gives the military its due; his book is an exception among general military histories that focus heavily on the Army, despite the nation’s maritime character. He interweaves enlightening summaries of the Navy’s roles in the War of 1812, the Spanish American War, and World War II with anecdotes to produce a real flavor for the nature of naval warfare in these conflicts.
Perret is well worth reading by military professionals and general readers alike, and can serve admirably as an introduction—given its own point of view—to the continuing debate over the appropriate role of the U.S. military in national and international affairs.
Ensign Satterfield is a reserve officer assigned to Naval Air Station Willow Grove, Pennsylvania. He is a public relations counselor with Adams & Rinehart in New York. His reviews have appeared in several publications, including Naval History.
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Books of Interest
By Lieutenant Commander Thomas J. Cutler, U.S. Navy (Retired)
Cracking the Zero Mystery
Jim Rearden. Harrisburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 1990. 130 pp. Photos. Bib. Ind. $11.95 ($10.75) paper.
For the first six months of the Pacific War, the Japanese Zero fighter plane dominated the skies. Then in June 1942, one of these heretofore mysterious aircraft crashed in the Aleutian Islands and the United States began to unravel the secrets of Japan’s success in air combat. This is a fascinating account that is part history, part aviation, and part mystery.
Cuba: From Columbus to Castro: 3rd Edition
Jaime Suchlicki. New York: Brassey’s (U.S.),
1990. 256 pp. Photos. Map. Bib. Ind. $16-95 ($15.25).
Reflecting the significant changes in Cuba since the second edition of this seminal work on Cuban history appeared in 1986, this edition includes the withdrawal of Cuban troops from Angola, a major purge in the higher echelons of the government and military in 1989, and the influence of Mikhail Gorbachev. More than a mere history, this book analyzes not only where Cuba has been, but where it is going.
CW2
Layne Heath. New York: William Morrow, 1990. 370 pp. Gloss. $19.95 ($17.95).
Nelson Demille, author of the best-selling Word of Honor (Warner Books, 1985) and The Charm School (Warner Books, 1990), calls this first novel “one of the best written novels to come out of the Vietnam experience,” and Tom Clancy calls it “a superb novel about the Warrant officers who fought the helicopter war in Vietnam. Powerful, eloquent, uncompromisingly realistic.”
The German Aircraft Carrier Graf Zeppelin
Siegfried Breyer. West Chester, PA: Schiffer Publishing, 1989. 50 pp. Photos. Ulus. Append. $9.95 ($8.95) paper.
Although she never saw active service in World War II, the story of Germany’s one and only aircraft carrier is interesting, nonetheless. The Graf Zeppelin’s short history, details of her construction (both actual and planned), and her ultimate demise are all covered in this heavily illustrated account.
Korean War Almanac
Harry G. Summers, Jr. New York: Facts on File Publications, 1990. 330 pp. Photos. Maps. Bib.
Ind. $24.95 ($22.45).
Similar in scope and utility to Colonel Summers’s Vietnam War Almanac (Facts on File, 1985), this excellent reference work overviews the relevant history and geography of Korea; provides a detailed chronology of the war; and includes 375 articles on the war’s people, weapons, military units, and issues.
A Question of Balance: The President,
The Congress, and Foreign Policy
Thomas E. Mann, Editor. Washington, DC: The Brookings Institution, 1990. 265 pp. Notes. Ind. $29.95 ($26.95) hardcover. $10.95 ($9.85) paper.
Senator Richard Lugar (R-1N) calls this book “a thoughtful set of essays on the tensions between the President and the Congress over the conduct of U.S. foreign policy.” Individual essays w.luen by experts in the field include “War Powers: Toward a New Accommodation” and “The New Congressional Role in Arms Control.”
Security at Sea: Naval Forces and Arms Control
Richard Fieldhouse, editor. New York: Oxford University Press, 1990. 320 pp. Tables. Figs. Append. Gloss. Notes. Bib. Ind. $49.95 ($44.95).
Noting that naval forces have been excluded from current arms control negotiations, and recognizing the need for their incorporation (since the navies of the United States, the Soviet Union, Britain, France, and China possess almost one-third of all the nuclear weapons in the world), this collection of papers by experts in the field addresses the problem and offers some reasonable solutions.
The U-Boat Commander’s Handbook
Translated by the U.S. Navy in 1943. Gettysburg, PA: Thomas Publications, 1989. 120 pp. Photos. Gloss. $8.95 ($8.05) paper.
During World War II, German submarine commanders relied on this book as a “bible” for operations. Nearly every conceivable situation is covered, and comprehensive guidance based upon the experience of seasoned skippers is provided. It is easy to see why this book was quickly translated and distributed to U.S. naval officers after a copy was captured mid way through the war.
The U.S. Navy: A History
Nathan Miller. New York: Quill, 1990. 308 pp. Notes. $10.95 ($9.85) paper.
A revised and updated version of Miller’s earlier (1977) work, this readable history ranges from the earliest days of Esek Hopkins and his fledgling navy, to the nuclear age, when naval warfare includes alfa strikes on Middle Eastern targets.
ES U.S. Navy Ships and Coast Guard Cutters
RAdrn. M.D. Van Ordcn, USN (Ret.). Annapolis, MD: Nava] Institute Press, 1990. 96 pp. Photos. $17.95 ($14.36).
Described as a “Naval Institute Guide for Young Readers,” this book presents Navy and Coast Guard ships in terms that are easily understood but never condescending. Aircraft carriers, battleships, cruisers, destroyers, frig
ates, cutters, submarines, amphibious ships, and many more are included, all with accompanying photographs (many in color) and explanations of their roles, basic terminology, and operating procedures. Despite the appeal to younger readers, adults seeking basic information about the seagoing services will also find this book useful.
With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa
E. B. Sledge. Novato, CA: Presidio Press, 1990. 342 pp. Photos. Maps. Append. Bib. Ind. $24.95 ($22.45).
This reprinted first-person account of a young Marine’s experiences in the Pacific theater of World War II is a story of patriotism and coming of age under fire. “In writing [this book],” says Sledge in his preface, “I’m fulfilling an obligation 1 have long felt to my comrades in the 1st Marine Division, all of whom suffered so much for our country. . . .
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We owe those Marines a profound debt of gratitude.”
Video __________________
First Platoon
Camden, ME: Varied Directions, 1990. 64 mins. Documentary. Color. $39.95. Order directly from publisher: 69 Elm St., Camden, ME 04843 (1-800888-5236).
A film crew accompanies the first platoon of U.S. Marine Kilo Company on a NATO exercise in Northern Norway. The focus is on the individual Marines rather than the exercise and the result is an excellent look at life as a Marine—motivations, problems, and priorities.
Other Titles of Interest
Beyond the Beachhead: The 29th Infantry Division in Normandy
Joseph Baikoski, Harrisburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 1989. 304 pp. Photos. Maps. Figs. Append. Bib. Ind. $19.95 ($17.85).
Bright Star: A Novel
Harold Coyle. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1990. 432 pp. Maps. Figs. Gloss. Bib. $19.95 ($17.95).
Chrysanthemum in the Snow: The Novel of the Korean War
James Hickey. Crown Publishers, 1990. 336 pp. $19.95. ($17.95).
Conventional Force Reductions: A Dynamic Assessment
Joshua M. Epstein. Washington, DC: The Brookings Institution, 1990. 275 pp. Maps. Tables. Figs. Append. Notes. Ind. $22.95 ($20.65) hardcover, $8.95 ($8.05) paper.
The Dilemma of Third World Defense Industries: Supplier Control or Recipient Autonomy?
Kwang-II Baek, Ronald D. McLaurin, and Chung-in Moon, editors. Boulder, CO: West- view Press, 1989. 278 pp. Tables. Notes. Ind. $37.00 ($33.30) hardcover, $17.95 ($16.15) paper.
Great Battles of World War I
Anthony Livesey. London: Michael Joseph, 1989. Photos. Illus. Maps. Bib. Ind. Order directly from publisher: 27 Wrights Lane, London W9 5TZ.
The Iran-Iraq War: Impact and Implications
Efraim Karsh, editor. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1989. 303 pp. Tables. Figs. Notes. Ind. $49.95 ($44.95).
Military Air Transport Operations
Group Captain Keith Chapman, RAF. Washington, DC: Brassey’s, 1989. 225 pp. Photos. Maps. Tables. Figs. Notes. Ind. $31.95 ($28.75) hardcover, $15.95 ($14.45) paper.
Poems from the War Years
Raymond Loring Atwood. St. Augustine, FL: Unique Books, Inc., 1990. $9.00
SIPRI Yearbook 1990: World Armaments and Disarmament 1
New York: Oxford University Press, 1990. 714 pp. Tables. Figs. Append. Notes. Ind. $72.00 ($64.80).
Special Forces Air Operations
Boulder, CO: Paladin Press, 1989. 107 pp. Tables. Figs. Append. Gloss. Bib. Ind. $15.00 ($13.50).
Steady Nerves and Stout Hearts: The Enterprise’s (CV-6) Air Group and Pearl Harbor, 7 December 1941
Robert J. Cressman and J. Michael Wenger. Missoula, MT: Pictorial Histories Publishing Co., 1990. 62 pp. Photos. Maps. Tables. Figs. Notes. Bib. Ind. $9.95 ($8.95).
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