Military History

By Staff Historian Dr. Dave Winkler It was an honor back in 2011 to meet Tom Hudner who toured the Cold War Gallery that the Naval Historical Foundation had raised funds for. Ten years earlier the NHF hosted a symposium about the Korean War to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the Korean War and the Hudner rescue attempt to save Ens. Jessie Brown was discussed in detail and retired Vice Adm. Gerald Miller stood up in the back of the Navy Memorial theater to state he had been on the bridge of Leyte when radio transmissions of the loss of Brown’s aircraft and Hudner’s subsequent ditching of his aircraft to attempt to extract Brown were received. Miller recalled Le…

By Capt. P.T. Deutermann USN (Ret.) St. Martins Press (2022) Reviewed by Capt. C. Herbert Gilliland, USN (Ret.) In his latest novel, P. T. Deutermann continues his successful mining of World War II themes. This time we follow the spectacular fortunes of USS Holland, a destroyer escort sent from convoy duty in the North Atlantic to an uncertain assignment in the western Pacific. In Deutermann’s braided narrative, alternate chapters are told by ship’s CO, Mariano deTomasi, and his XO, Ephraim Edmond “Eeep” Enright. This structure allows each to observe and comment on the other while working well as a team despite great differences in background and makeup. Lieut…

By J. Michael Wenger, Robert J. Cressman, and John F. Di Virgilio, Naval Institute Press (2022) Reviewed by Charles C. Kolb, Ph.D. This is the fourth volume in the Pearl Harbor Tactical Series published by the Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD. The previous three volumes are No One Avoided Danger: NAS Kaneohe Bay and the Japanese Attack of 7 December 1941 (2015); This is No Drill: The History of NAS Pearl Harbor and the Japanese Attacks of 7 December 1941 (2018); and They’re Killing My Boys: The History of Hickam Field and the Attacks of 7 December 1941 (2019) previously reviewed by me in 2020: navyhistory.org/2020/12/pearl-harbor-tactical-studies-series/ …

Wednesday, December 7th @ 1:00 PM EST at the Museum Education Center of the National Museum of the United States Navy, Washington Navy Yard, DC 20374 Special Meeting of the Membership – Register Here The post Special Meeting of the Membership first appeared on Naval Historical Foundation. View the full article

John H. Maurer and Erik Goldstein (editors), Naval Institute Press, (2022). Reviewed by Charles C. Kolb, Ph.D. The editors are well-published senior scholars, well-equipped to undertake the organization and editing of this volume which focuses on the interwar years of two global conflicts. Professor John H. Maurer is the Alfred Thayer Mahan Professor of Sea Power and Grand Strategy and served as the Chair of the Strategy and Policy Department at the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island. Erik Goldstein serves as Professor of International Relations and History Boston University; his research interests include diplomacy, formulation of national diplomatic …

By Sean Walsh Last week I was able to watch the new movie Devotion along with three other NHF members. The movie centers around the real-life friendship between Ens. Jesse L. Brown, the first African American naval aviator* and Lt. (JG) Thomas Hudner and is based on the book of the same name by Adam Makos, previously reviewed here. I suspect many of you have seen trailers for Devotion on television and are familiar with the basic story. Prior to seeing the film I also re-read portions of Such Men As These by David Sears, about naval carrier aviation during the Korean War and watched the classic film The Bridges at Toko-ri to get additional background. The movie st…