Merchant Mariners at War: An Oral History of World War II
George J. Billy and Christine M. Billy. Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida, 2008. 324 pp. Illus. Notes. Bib. Index. $30.
World War II naval history concentrates on major combatants. Consequently, much less attention has been paid to the thousands of cargo ships that braved blockades and air and submarine attacks to deliver vital supplies to Allied forces. Undoubtedly, merchant mariners have not received the credit they deserve.
This work was drawn largely from the Merchant Marine Academy (MMA) Mariners at War Project and is based on taped recollections of graduates. It is not widely known that 142 cadet-midshipmen died in action before graduating, or that an estimated 7,000 American merchant mariners were lost by the war's end.
Merchant Mariners at War spans 17 chapters ranging from operations in the Atlantic to the Murmansk Run and the Mediterranean, from the Pacific theater to the final days of the war. Many accounts are based on personal interviews; others are the recorded tales of MMA graduates.
In Chapter 8, covering the events of D-Day, according to Captain Walter Botto (MMA '44), "At Normandy, the troops were having a very difficult time landing on shore due to enemy action. When the tide went out, our ship sat high and dry. And at night we were all getting attacked." Chapter 12 relates the ordeals of William Mitchell (MMA '46) in a Japanese prison camp. "We lost a tremendous amount of weight. Toward the end there, the Japanese ran out of food, and they were actually going to shoot us the day before we got out."
Having spent much time embarked, or as ship's company in various Navy ships, I was impressed by the professionalism of MMA alumni. And so, too, will be the readers of this long-overdue historical record.
Alan's War: The Memories of G.I. Alan Cope
Emmanuel Guibert. New York, NY: First Second Books, 2008. 329 pp. Illus. $24.
As the author notes, Alan's War "wasn't the work of historians." Instead, this graphic memoir resulted from a chance meeting in 1994, when Guibert got lost during a trip in France. After asking Alan Cope for directions, a close friendship developed between the two, despite a 40-year age difference. Soon, Cope began relating stories of his Army experience during World War II.
Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, 18-year-old Cope was drafted, and, like millions of others, took part in America's greatest struggle since the Civil War. Notwithstanding his essentially "private nature," he openly described his experiences and views of that war to a talented artist who has portrayed them graphically, in black-and-white frames, in this book. Apparently, his unit saw little, if any, sustained combat.
Through Guibert, Cope relates that after the D-Day assault in 1944, he stayed in Normandy awaiting armored vehicles and weapons that were displaced in the confusion of the landing. "So we got two months' rest. It was a pretty boring life." Depictions of his outfit's troops include Staff Sergeant Kubacek, "who always wore an annoyed, sour look on his face. We weren't too fond of him."
Chapter 17 pictures German villagers greeting them with enthusiasm, probably owing more to "the thought that the war would soon be over than to seeing Americans." Later, during an incident in Czechoslovakia, Soviet troops disputed U.S. possession of a vehicle packed with German officers. When the Army NCO-in-charge acceded to their demands, the Russians immediately lined up the prisoners and "shot them on the spot."
Although the essential message of the book escaped me, Guibert's clever artwork made it worthwhile.
World War II 365 Days
Margaret E. Wagner. New York: Abrams, Inc., in association with the Library of Congress, 2009. Illus. Intro. Index. $29.95.
Taken from Library of Congress collections, this engaging hardcover combines text with 600 images to tell of World War II. There are photos, cartoons, maps, and other visual aids, along with quotes from letters, diaries, and memoirs of veterans and civilians.
In keeping with the format of Abrams' 365 series, the roughly two-inch-thick volume has no page numbers. It is organized in 12 chronological and thematic chapters that cover pre-war years, the war itself, and the aftermath. In his introduction, Pulitzer Prize-winning author David Kennedy calls it "an extraordinary historical account."
Early sections summarize events leading up to the onset of all-out war in 1941: the economic depression in America, the rise of Imperial Japan in the Far East, and the growth of fascism in Italy and Germany. In 1936, President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared that the peace and freedom of 90 percent of the world was "being jeopardized by the remaining 10 percent." A photo of German Chancellor Adolf Hitler shows him and other Nazi leaders meeting with Edvard Benes, the president of Czechoslovakia, who was unaware that German occupation was under way at that very moment.
From "A Global Conflict: 1941" on, the photos and illustrations are especially fascinating. They include posters by Norman Rockwell; attempts to contain fires on the USS West Virginia (BB-48) at Pearl Harbor; Brigadier General Frank Merrill, leader of "Merrill's Marauders" in Burma; starved bodies of German concentration camp prisoners; survivors of the famous U.S. flag-raising at Iwo Jima; U.S. and Soviet troops embracing in Germany; and the devastated city of Hiroshima after the atomic bomb was dropped.
World War II 365 Days is a one-of-a-kind, compact, and inexpensive book about our most costly war. Wagner and picture editor Athena Angelos are to be commended.
In Words and Deeds: Battle Speeches in History
Richard F. Miller. Lebanon, NH: University Press of New England, 2008. 424 pp. Notes. Bib. Index. $35.
Miller explores the numerous techniques leaders use to mentally prepare military personnel for the risks of war-primarily, the loss of their own lives. He covers ancient chronicled sources, such as Thucydides' writings, and present-day operations in Iraq to demonstrate how certain practices have evolved.
This is a study of leadership and what must be done when virtually everything is at stake. The battle speech is explained as "words, deeds, or words coupled with deeds whose purpose is to exhort soldiers for battles."
In his campaign in Gaul, in what is now Belgium, Caesar ordered formation of the battle line. After giving a minimum of essential directives, he hastened down to reassuringly address his Roman legionnaires, "urging them to live up to their tradition of bravery." He acted by speaking and "was fully engaged in his soldiers' struggle, and they knew it."
Regarding more direct measures, Miller cites an action during the Korean War, when an Army lieutenant came upon a Soldier hunkered down in a trench. Understanding that the position had a dwindling number of defenders and was exposed to heavy North Korean fire, he ordered the Soldier to find his platoon. When the Soldier refused, the lieutenant put his pistol against the shirker's head and said, "Go find your platoon. That's an order." Whereupon the Soldier moved quickly forward to join his comrades on Pork Chop Hill.
In Words and Deeds is a thorough collection of pronouncements, exhortations, and comments related to mortal combat, most of which had the desired effect. (Thank God, nobody recorded any of mine.)