Reviews for Voices from the Pacific War: Bluejackets Remember

The average rating for Voices from the Pacific War: Bluejackets Remember based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2019-08-07 00:00:00 Robert Bayham This is a very simple and short book, 240 pages of text. Its simplicity is in the fact that it is about sailors that were in the Pacific Theatre during WWII. The book is a collection of stories of a large assortment of sailors stationed on a variety of ships doing an even greater variety of jobs under conditions we could never imagine without the assistance of books like this. Each story begins with the author giving a very brief thumbnail description of the life of each man prior to entering the Navy. In most cases these men were boys that had just graduated from high school or had just dropped out. In many cases they had no real ambition with regard to the Navy but because of the Depression they simply wanted to find a place that offered the potential of job training and three meals a day. Having a place to stay and regular meals was a recurring motivation for these boys soon to be men. Following the author's introduction each man tells his story of how and why he enlisted and how his Navy life unfolded after that. While the stories that are told in the words of each man are assembled without any real underlying plan or theme the reader will gain an insight into life onboard ship and on shore and to contrast this existence with what you may know of the life of GIs and Marines in the same war is more than a little interesting. GIs and Marines fought their war under barbaric conditions while sailors had hot meals and warm bunks to sleep in. The sailor's lot seems to be totally unfair when compared to that of their land based brothers but there was a trade off that becomes readily apparent after you read these stories. The GI and the Marine have their weapons in their hands and face their enemy directly and can control their actions and fate to a degree not shared by the sailor. A sailor's weapon is his ship and he is merely a small cog in the mechanism of that ship which is controlled by one man, the ship's captain. In many of these stories the sailors were in major naval battles and had no idea what was going on because they were stationed somewhere below deck. They never faced their enemy directly or had any control whatsoever over their actions or fate. And then if they were hit or torpedoed their ship, their weapon, became their island in hell, a smoke filled inferno in which the cheapness of their lives became abundantly clear. During battle all water tight hatches were secured and locked so they couldn't be opened. If you were in a compartment that needed to be flooded to save the ship then you were going to drown and die on the captain's order by the hands of your fellow sailors. So, yes the sailors had it good but when it was bad it was very, very bad and these stories will let you experience just what that was like. This is an interesting set of stories well worth reading even if the writing isn't profound or particularly noteworthy. These are the histories that escape popular attention and they shouldn't.

Review # 2 was written on 2014-08-22 00:00:00 Daniel Peinado This book is exactly the reason that I love Non Fiction - because this is a real story. It's true. And while the details might have to be fleshed out from letters and documents of a bygone era, it doesn't change the fact that Nathan Bedford Forrest was a remarkable man. If you are a student of the Civil War or a resident of the deep South, you have probably heard Forrest's name. Most notably it is connected with a massacre of Black troops at Fort Pillow and as First Grand Wizard of the KKK. But even those details cannot be taken at face value of what we understand them to be today. Forrest was one of the greatest American Cavalrymen to ever ride a horse. Although untrained in military methods, Forrest had an uncanny ability to make the most of any situation - even when vastly outnumbered. His name invoked fear in the hearts of the Union soldiers. There is so much more to Forrest's story than his Civil War service - and even a surprise and unexpected ending. Looking back on his life, the author fleshes out a Forrest that is unseen by many because the world is too busy trying to define him by atrocities which may or may not have been his fault. It's an eye opening account. I personally grew up in the Midwest, and had a very scant education on the details of the Civil War. In teaching my children about the history of this country, I have gained my own unexpected passion for this conflict, and have enjoyed the opportunity to learn about the many amazing men that have fought on both sides - some whose names I never even knew. Forrest is one of these. I have very much enjoyed learning about his life, and the war in the west. Recommend for: Students of the Civil War.