Commodore Ed Miller Does It Again!
With his recent gift to underwrite Naval Institute Press book projects, Edward S. Miller of Washington, D.C., has crossed yet another threshold of generosity to the Institute. At last month's first annual Honors Dinner, the Institute recognized him among the select group of Commodores at the very top of our premier donor society.
Ed and his wife, Joyce, have been staunch Institute supporters for many years. Their latest gift will help make it possible for the Naval Institute to publish From Mahan to Pearl Harbor: The Imperial Japanese Navy and the United States by Dr. Sadao Asada and Carrier Battles: Command Decision in Harm's Way by Dr. Douglas V. Smith. The Institute's book publishing program has been immensely strengthened through the Millers' generosity.
Ed Miller is the author of the award-winning War Plan Orange: The U.S. Strategy to Defeat Japan, 1897-1945 (Naval Institute Press, 1991). He is working on a new book, Bankrupting the Enemy: The U.S. Financial Siege of Japan Before Pearl Harbor, due to be published in the fall of 2007.
Many opportunities are available to support the Naval Institute's educational mission by underwriting worthy book projects through tax-deductible contributions. For more information about book subventions or about the becoming a Naval Institute Commodore (individuals who have made cumulative lifetime gifts of at least $100,000), contact Matt Schatzle at (410) 295-1056 or [email protected].
The Passing of an Era
With the death of Frank E. Sublett Jr., of Glencoe, Illinois, on 27 September 2006, the last surviving member of The Golden Thirteen has passed. This remarkable group of men broke the color barrier when they were commissioned as the first group of black naval officers in March 1944.
In the mid-1980s, historian and author Paul Stillwell interviewed all the living members of this group and several of the officers who trained and worked with them for the Naval Institute's oral history program. The inspiring—and sometimes heartbreaking—reminiscences of these trailblazers are historical treasures that illustrate the value of oral history in capturing for posterity accounts that are often available from no other source.
The Naval Institute needs and gratefully accepts financial support to underwrite its oral history program. Donors can specify that their tax-deductible gift is for a specific project or allow the Institute to apply their gift to an under-funded history. For more information, please contact Sue Sweeney at (410) 295-1054 or [email protected].
Marine Hero among Naval Institute Photos
Christian Franklin Schilt of Richland County, Illinois, enlisted in the Marine Corps during World War I. After the war, he entered Marine flight training in Miami, Florida, and received his commission.
In November 1927, First Lieutenant Schilt was ordered to Managua, Nicaragua. Two months later, when rebel bandits ambushed two Marine patrols in the village of Quilali, Schilt voluntarily risked his life by making ten flights into the besieged town, bringing medical supplies and evacuating 18 casualties under heavy hostile fire. Having no brakes, each time he landed on the village's main street, Marines ran to catch the plane's wings and wrestle it to a halt. For his bravery at Quilali on 6-8 January 1928, Christian Schilt received the Medal of Honor.
Schilt further distinguished himself in action during World War II and the Korean War. His final duty, before retiring in 1957 as a general, was as director of Marine Corps aviation. He died at Norfolk, Virginia, in January 1987. Photos of Christian Schilt and the Second Nicaraguan Campaign are among the more than 475,000 images in the Naval Institute's Photo Collection. Through the generosity of supporters, we have been able to preserve and digitize approximately 14,000 photos, which are accessible through the Institute's Web site. The digitized photos represent a cross section of our most popular images of ships and aircraft, combat photography, and Sea Service personnel. The Naval Institute continues to slowly convert the rest of the collection as contributed funds and photo sales allow. You can help the Institute's photo preservation efforts by sending your tax-deductible gift by check, Visa, or MasterCard—specifying it is for the photo archive—to the Naval Institute Foundation, 291 Wood Road, Annapolis, MD 21402, or by making a donation online at our Web site.
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