Thomas F. (hardtack) -
The title of this book includes "a Small Band of Carrier Dive-Bombers." Perhaps in relation to total U.S. military strength it was a small band, but the number of men and planes involved composed many squadrons. In fact, so many men and squadrons are mentioned I had trouble keeping them straight. And except for a few names of the pilots and rear-seat gunners, I lost track of most of the men.
What greatly impressed me was the large casualty rate of men and planes, not just in combat but also in training. In one case, five pilots died in seven days during training accidents. Many more were lost when their planes ran out of fuel returning from missions. And worst of all, a number of air crewmen died in stupid training exercises called for by ground control brass.
This reminded me of the day during USMC officer training when I was asked if I wanted to go for pilot training. I replied no. When I was told to take some time to think about it, I waited another five seconds and told them no again. I've never regretted making that decision.
I did have some problems with the first part of the book in that the author felt he needed to include information about the personal family life of the pilots and aircrew. This included giving the names of their parents and siblings. I'm not sure why he did that. The worst example occurred when---early in the war---he had a dive bomber pilot beginning his attack on a Japanese ship and then let us know he was the "eldest son of a country doctor." Why not also tell us how many sons the doctor had? Were there any sisters? Thank God the Japanese didn't have that information. :-)
The author also made two serious mistakes when describing the Battle of Midway. He states that four Japanese carriers were sunk on one day. Not true. Three were sunk one day and the fourth a day later. Plus, he has the USS Saratoga, a carrier, steaming from Pearl Harbor to help in the "mop up of the Japanese fleet." Well that never happened. After the aerial battles of Midway, both fleets withdrew. The Japanese because they had lost air cover, and the U.S. fleet because it was so heavily outnumbered by the Japanese that a ship-to-ship battle would have resulted in the destruction of the U.S. fleet.
Over all, it is a good book, showing how the men sometimes flew so many missions in one day they didn't have time to eat. And while most of us have the concept of Navy flyers enjoying their down-time in clean quarters and eating well aboard ship. The truth was many of them slept in the mud of Guadalcanal and ate food most of us would turn our noses up at, and lost weight due to tropical diseases In fact, my other readings show many of the men on Guadalcanal were medically evacuated with tags stating "AOE" or Accumulation Of Everything.
The aircrews, like the ground Marines they were supporting, experienced the sometimes constant shelling by Japanese warships. The idea of being in a fox hole while hundreds of 5, 10 and 15-inch shells from Japanese navy ships fell around you is not my idea of a good time. So I have a lot of respect for these men of the Greatest Generation.
What greatly impressed me was the large casualty rate of men and planes, not just in combat but also in training. In one case, five pilots died in seven days during training accidents. Many more were lost when their planes ran out of fuel returning from missions. And worst of all, a number of air crewmen died in stupid training exercises called for by ground control brass.
This reminded me of the day during USMC officer training when I was asked if I wanted to go for pilot training. I replied no. When I was told to take some time to think about it, I waited another five seconds and told them no again. I've never regretted making that decision.
I did have some problems with the first part of the book in that the author felt he needed to include information about the personal family life of the pilots and aircrew. This included giving the names of their parents and siblings. I'm not sure why he did that. The worst example occurred when---early in the war---he had a dive bomber pilot beginning his attack on a Japanese ship and then let us know he was the "eldest son of a country doctor." Why not also tell us how many sons the doctor had? Were there any sisters? Thank God the Japanese didn't have that information. :-)
The author also made two serious mistakes when describing the Battle of Midway. He states that four Japanese carriers were sunk on one day. Not true. Three were sunk one day and the fourth a day later. Plus, he has the USS Saratoga, a carrier, steaming from Pearl Harbor to help in the "mop up of the Japanese fleet." Well that never happened. After the aerial battles of Midway, both fleets withdrew. The Japanese because they had lost air cover, and the U.S. fleet because it was so heavily outnumbered by the Japanese that a ship-to-ship battle would have resulted in the destruction of the U.S. fleet.
Over all, it is a good book, showing how the men sometimes flew so many missions in one day they didn't have time to eat. And while most of us have the concept of Navy flyers enjoying their down-time in clean quarters and eating well aboard ship. The truth was many of them slept in the mud of Guadalcanal and ate food most of us would turn our noses up at, and lost weight due to tropical diseases In fact, my other readings show many of the men on Guadalcanal were medically evacuated with tags stating "AOE" or Accumulation Of Everything.
The aircrews, like the ground Marines they were supporting, experienced the sometimes constant shelling by Japanese warships. The idea of being in a fox hole while hundreds of 5, 10 and 15-inch shells from Japanese navy ships fell around you is not my idea of a good time. So I have a lot of respect for these men of the Greatest Generation.
