The USS Puffer in World War II: A History of the Submarine and Its Wartime Crew
Craig R. McDonald. Jefferson, NC: MacFarland and Company, 2008. 319 pp. Illus. Maps. Bib. Index. Appens. $39.95.
This engaging book traces the Puffer (SS-268) from commissioning in April 1943, to her departure for the scrap yard in late 1960. The author obviously devoted much time to in-depth research of the boat's history and interviewing as many of her crewmen as possible.
Events recollected here encompass the Puffer's first war patrol, when she went through a then record-setting 38-hour submergence to avoid enemy fire, dangerous transfer of torpedoes in enemy waters, and the sub's furious bombardment of Japanese shore installations with her 5-inch deck gun.
Rear Admiral Maurice Rindskopf, former commanding officer of the USS Drum (SS-228), provides a most interesting foreword. He notes that the author refutes tales that the Puffer crew was dispersed after the severe 38-hour depth charging because its morale was broken. Further, Rindskopf points out that, had the Puffer not been the victim of several MK XIV torpedo failures (like those he experienced), she might well have sunk several more ships.
Early chapters range from qualification for submarine service, to the Puffer's construction and bonding of her crew, to "torpedo politics," which tells the vexing story of MK XIV inadequacies. Subsequent chapters describe in detail each of the sub's nine war patrols, interspersed with delightful pieces on R&R. The appendices specify the impressive number of awards given to Puffer crewmen, a summary of claimed successful attacks totaling 50,684 tons sunk, and a postwar roster of enlisted crewmen. The book's photos are simply great.
Craig McDonald's work is masterful and is commended to all hands.
Final Salute: A Story of Unfinished Lives
Jim Sheeler. New York: The Penguin Press, 2008. 280 pp. Illus. $25.95.
The author has specialized in covering the effects of war at home. This book describes troops that "nobody wants to see, carrying a message that no military family ever wants to hear." They are the military personnel saddled with the dismal task of casualty notification.
Final Salute tells of fallen warriors and their broken families. It is also the story of Marine Major Steve Beck's unflagging attempts to heal the wounds of those left grieving. Beck, an experienced officer trained for combat, hoped for frontline duty. Instead, he was assigned the remorseful job that "starts with a long walk to a stranger's porch."
Recollections of lost warriors are heartrending. Corporal Brett Lundstrom always wanted to be a Marine; he enlisted after 9/11. As a teenager, he told his friends, "I will die for you." Army Private First Class Jesse Givens left his thoughts in a notebook his wife found later: "No matter what the reasons, I will go and fight with all my heart. Not to win a war, but to come home to my wife and children."
Major Beck witnessed serious incidents. For example, there was the chaplain who admonished a distraught mother for cursing the President, which caused Beck to pull him aside and rightly advise him that she "could say whatever she wanted."
Whatever a conflict's genesis or motivation, Pulitzer Prize winner Jim Sheeler underscores the human cost of war in stark fashion. Not least, he reminds us that we should thank God for men like Major Beck, who step up to perform the sensitive and stress-filled mission of comforting the bereaved.
A Manual for American Servicemen in the Arab Middle East
Lieutenant Colonel William D. Wunderle. New York: Skyhorse Publishing, 2008. 128 pp. Illus. Gloss. Bib. Appen. $9.95.
A lack of cultural awareness among U.S. military personnel in the Middle East has affected missions, led to animosity, and created negative impressions of our forces. This compact manual is aimed at alleviating adverse effects by providing a handy and informative resource for deploying troops, as well as civilian contractors and others.
The first portion defines the need. Lieutenant Colonel Wunderle states that, "Culture must become a formal part of soldiers' training." At the same time, however, the author makes plain that attempts to describe the motives and values of entire populations is "risky" because they can lead to faulty generalizations.
The author then presents a critical conceptual framework for developing cultural awareness. For example, the Arabic language is considered to be high-context, meaning that what is not said may be more important than what is said. It also defines individualists and collectivists: The former are people who look mainly after themselves and their families; the latter belong to groups, families, or clans that look after them in exchange for loyalty.
Next is a primer for understanding Arabic culture. There are sections on history and heritage, Islam and the role of religion, Islamic views of war, and a case study of Iraq. Finally the author explains how to incorporate cultural awareness in U.S. military training and doctrine. Its sections include the need for cultural awareness in intelligence gathering and the changes it brings to planning and execution.
Lieutenant Colonel Wunderle, a political-military planner on the Joint Staff, has done first-class work that will serve the armed forces well. And, given America's diversity, it also has much to offer the general public.
Hell Under the Rising Sun: Texan POWs and the Building of the Burma-Thailand Death Railway
Kelly E. Crager. College Station, TX: Texas A&M University Press, 2008. 196 pp. Illus. Maps. Notes. Bib. Index. $29.95.
Here, a Texas Aggie history professor tells the horrifying story of the 2d Battalion, 131st Field Artillery Regiment (2/131) of the Texas National Guard in World War II. While en route to the Philippines soon after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the battalion was diverted to Java to assist in the island's defense. But by March 1942, Japanese forces had overwhelmed the defenders and 2/131 was captured.
For more than three years, the Texans—along with Sailors and Marines who survived the sinking of the USS Houston (CA-30)—would undergo incredibly harsh treatment. In late 1942, the Japanese shipped them to Burma to accelerate completion of the infamous "death railway." Alongside other Allied prisoners and Asian conscripts, they laid more than 260 miles of tracks for their cruel overlords.
The POWs suffered from abscessed wounds, near-starvation, daily beatings, and multiple diseases. Of the original 534 Texans from 2/131 who were taken prisoner, 89 died in the malarial jungle. When the survivors returned home on 29 October 1945, the governor ordained it as "Lost Battalion Day."
The chapter "Into the Jungle" has sad photos and drawings, including an especially depressing image of an advanced tropical ulcer on a prisoner's lower leg. A subsequent chapter relates the captors' campaign to hasten construction under orders from Tokyo. As guards shouted, "Speedo! Speedo!" the POWs endured the most extreme abuse of their time in captivity—some of them lost nearly one-third of their body weight, according to the author.
Kelly Crager documents the unimaginable abuse heaped on American captives in the Pacific theater of World War II. Cosmopolitan critics of our admittedly inhumane treatment of some prisoners during the Iraq War could use his book to gain perspective.