Colonel Joseph H. Alexander, U.S. Marine Corps (Retired), the 2010 Naval History Author of the Year, served 29 years as an assault amphibian officer. He has published six books, including Utmost Savagery: The Three Days of Tarawa (1995, 2008) and Storm Landings: Epic Amphibious Battles in the Central Pacific (1997, 2012), both published by the Naval Institute Press.
Arnold Blumberg is an attorney who lives with his wife in Baltimore, Maryland. A visiting scholar with the Classics Department at Johns Hopkins University, he is the author of When Washington Burned: An Illustrated History of the War of 1812 (Casemate, 2012) and is a regular contributor to numerous military journals and magazines.
Colonel Glen Butler, U.S. Marine Corps, holds a master’s degree in military studies from the Marine Corps Command and Staff College. A naval aviator, he commanded the Marine Corps Air Station at Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii, and served two tours in Iraq with Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 169.
Commander Tyrone G. Martin, U.S. Navy (Retired), has been studying the USS Constitution since 1974. He is author of the prize- and award-winning Naval Institute Press book, A Most Fortunate Ship (revised edition 2003), as well as five other books. His website about the Constitution, www.captainsclerk.info, is included in the Library of Congress’ permanent electronic archive.
Gannon McHale spent four years in the U.S. submarine force, serving on board the USS Sturgeon (SSN-637) and Dogfish (SS-350). He is a veteran character actor and the author of Stealth Boat: Fighting the Cold War in a Fast Attack Submarine (Naval Institute Press, 2008). He lives in New York City.
Lieutenant Colonel Frank N. Roberts Jr., U.S. Army (Retired), graduated from the U.S. Military Academy and was commissioned in 1974. He served in the Army for 23 years and now works at San Diego State University in the Joan and Art Barron Veterans Center as the military liaison officer. He dedicates his article to his late father in memory of the 75th anniversary of the sinking of the USS Panay.
William H. Thiesen is the Atlantic area historian for the U.S. Coast Guard. Earlier he served as curator and assistant director of the Wisconsin Maritime Museum. His books include Industrializing American Shipbuilding: The Transformation of Ship Design and Construction, 1820–1920 (2006) and Cruise of the Dashing Wave: Rounding Cape Horn in 1860 (2010), both published by University Press of Florida.