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Comment by NavyDads Admin (Paul) on October 3, 2016 at 9:51pm

am currently going thru: 

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/may/24/ardennes-1944-antony-...

I have a photo of my dad in Bastogne in Jan 1945....this one hits close to home

Comment by NavyDads Admin (Paul) on October 3, 2016 at 9:48pm

You know Grant, I saw that only in the past few days.....there are so many amazing stories! 

this is another one...soon out on the big screen 

https://www.warhistoryonline.com/war-articles/mel-gibsons-new-movie...

Comment by Grant Miller on October 3, 2016 at 9:45pm

This isn't a book and it isn't even Navy, but it is one hell of a military story.

https://www.warhistoryonline.com/world-war-ii/air-force-academy-jan...

Comment by NavyDads Admin (Paul) on October 3, 2016 at 9:15pm

Sorry for no updates folks- I kinda got sidetracked away from Navy books- reading about tech and a bunch about WWII in Europe in '44. What are you all reading?

Comment by Grant Miller on April 5, 2016 at 10:55pm

Turns out I misunderstood. It's a bit of a tradition to have submariners read Thunder Below while they are qualifying. They then get to pick a passage from the book to be read aloud when they get their dolphins.That's cool.

Comment by NavyDads Admin (Paul) on April 4, 2016 at 8:36pm

don't know where your post is Grant.....found several references to passages form Thunder Below but only one reference to the following passage:

(With a frown)
"How do you feel about taking Barb out on patrol tomorrow Skipper" (Thus giving Fluckey command of Barb)
"We're ready in all respects sir! How many ships would you like us to sink?"
(Frown disappearing) "How many do you think you can sink Skipper?"
"Well, would five be enough Admiral?"
(Smiling now...) "Yes, five will be enough..."
"What type sir? Freighters, Destroyers, Tankers..."
"Five of any type will do Skipper...Fair winds."

With his orders in mind, Fluckey went to sea with Barb 12 hours later and sank 8 ships on Barb's 7th War Patrol.

 

Comment by Grant Miller on April 4, 2016 at 6:37pm

A retired Nav ET Senior Chief told me that often when a submariner makes his Quals there is a passage from Thunder Below that is read at the ceremony. 

Can anyone tell me where exactly that passage is located in the book, please? Thanks.

Comment by NavyDads Admin (Paul) on November 17, 2015 at 8:24pm

just finished listening to:

from Good Reads:

Enterprise: America's Fightingest Ship and the Men Who Helped Win World War II

Offering a naval history of the entire Pacific Theater in World War II through the lens of its most famous ship, this is the epic and heroic story of the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise, and of the men who fought and died on her from Pearl Harbor to the end of the conflict.

Pearl Harbor . . . Midway . . . Guadalcanal . . . The Marianas . . . Leyte Gulf . . . Iwo Jima . . . Okinawa. These are just seven of the twenty battles that the USS Enterprise took part in during World War II. No other American ship came close to matching her record. Enterprise is the epic, heroic story of this legendary aircraft carrier—nicknamed “the fightingest ship” in the U.S. Navy—and of the men who fought and died on her.

America’s most decorated warship, Enterprise was constantly engaged against the Japanese Empire from December 1941 until May 1945. Her career was eventful, vital, and short. She was commissioned in 1938, and her bombers sank a submarine just three days after the Pearl Harbor attack, claiming the first seagoing Japanese vessel lost in the war. It was the auspicious beginning of an odyssey that Tillman captures brilliantly, from escorting sister carrier Hornet as it launched the Doolittle Raiders against Tokyo in 1942, to playing leading roles in the pivotal battles of Midway and Guadalcanal, to undergoing the shattering nightmare of kamikaze strikes just three months before the end of the war.

Barrett Tillman has been called “the man who owns naval aviation history.” He’s mined official records and oral histories as well as his own interviews with the last surviving veterans who served on Enterprise to give us not only a stunning portrait of the ship’s unique contribution to winning the Pacific war, but also unforgettable portraits of the men who flew from her deck and worked behind the scenes to make success possible. Enterprise is credited with sinking or wrecking 71 Japanese ships and destroying 911 enemy aircraft. She sank two of the four Japanese carriers lost at Midway and contributed to sinking the third. Additionally, 41 men who served in Enterprise had ships named after them.

As with Whirlwind, Tillman’s book on the air war against Japan, Enterprise focuses on the lower ranks—the men who did the actual fighting. He puts us in the shoes of the teenage sailors and their captains and executive officers who ran the ship day-to-day. He puts us in the cockpits of dive bombers and other planes as they careen off Enterprise’s flight deck to attack enemy ships and defend her against Japanese attackers. We witness their numerous triumphs and many tragedies along the way. However, Tillman does not neglect the top brass—he takes us into the ward rooms and headquarters where larger-than-life flag officers such as Chester Nimitz and William Halsey set the broad strategy for each campaign.

But the main character in the book is the ship itself. “The Big E” was at once a warship and a human institution, vitally unique to her time and place. In this last-minute grab at a quickly fading history, Barrett Tillman preserves the Enterprise story even as her fliers and sailors are departing the scene.

Comment by NavyDads Admin (Paul) on November 17, 2015 at 8:20pm

Welcome Scott...tell us what your reading!

Comment by NavyDads Admin (Paul) on October 1, 2015 at 9:42am

keep forgetting to mention-

from Audible:

Now from Brandon Webb, Navy SEAL sniper and New York Times best-selling author, comes his personal account of the eight friends and fellow SEALs who made the ultimate sacrifice.

"Knowing these great men - who they were, how they lived, and what they stood for - has changed my life. We can't let them be forgotten. So read about these amazing men, share their stories, and learn from them as I have. We've mourned their deaths. Let's celebrate their lives." (Brandon Webb)

As a Navy SEAL, Brandon Webb rose to the top of the world's most elite sniper corps, experiencing years of punishing training and combat missions from the Persian Gulf to Afghanistan. Among the best of the best, he led the SEALs' clandestine sniper training program as course manager, instructing a new generation of the world's top snipers. Along the way, Webb served beside, trained, and supported men he came to know not just as fellow warriors, but as friends and, eventually, as heroes. Among Heroes gives his personal account of these eight extraordinary SEALs who gave all for their comrades - and their country.

Here are the true stories behind the remarkable valor and abiding humanity of those "sheepdogs" (as they call themselves) who protect us from the wolves of the world. Of Matt "Axe" Axelson, who perished on the Lone Survivor mission in Afghanistan. Of Chris Campbell, Heath Robinson, and J. T. Tumilson, who were among the 38 casualties of Extortion 17, the Chinook helicopter shot down in August 2011. Of Glen Doherty, Webb's best friend for more than a decade, killed while helping secure the successful rescue and extraction of American CIA and State Department diplomats in Benghazi, Libya, on September 11, 2012; and other close friends, classmates, and fellow warriors.

Interesting look at eight warriors from a close personal level...worth the read.....

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