Thomas F. (hardtack) -
I was really looking forward to reading this book about the Coast Guard in the Pacific during World War II. I've always felt the Coast Guard doesn't get as much publicity as it deserves, only getting in the paper when it seizes a huge drug shipment or rescues people in trouble on the ocean, often because they are not smart enough to know how to use a boat in the first place.
And, as a former Marine, I was always impressed by Coxswain Douglas Munro, the only Coast Guardsman to be awarded the Medal of Honor during World War II. He died shielding Marines from enemy fire as they were being withdrawn from an enemy trap. His last words were supposedly, "Did they get off?" As a result, Murno is the only non-Marine to have his name enshrined on the Wall of Heroes of the National Museum of the Marine Corps.
While this book does an excellent job describing the training, skills learned by experience and operations of the Coast Guard during the war, it fails drastically when it come to being truthful in matters pertaining to the author's experience. Hey, I served in the military and in a war too, and I know how people like to sometimes embellish what they did in stories they tell. But Ken Wiley goes way over the top. Not only that, but he makes so many errors in this book I finally stopped counting them.
For example, During his several liberty times in Hawaii, he often states there were one million servicemen on Oahu. Well, maybe that was a total over the course of the entire war, but never at once. With all those men sitting on that island, no wonder it took us four years to defeat Japan. Then he makes a habit of calling task force commanders "Commandant." Well, the Marines have a commandant, and there are commandants in the Coast Guard and Navy who are in charge of schools or administrative units, but not sea-going forces. And he relates how 25 men were lost to sharks during a training exercise as they were not allowed to be picked up, due to training regulations, when their boat sank. Well, that just didn't happen. In fact, actor Eddie Albert received a Bronze Star by rescuing 47 Marines at Tarawa when their boat was sunk and they were under enemy fire.
Then he tells a story about downed pilots who exploded a Japanese ammo dump by lightning cigarettes which would take an hour to burn down and start a fire to destroy the dump. Well, I'm not a smoker, but I know even when you're not actively smoking it doesn't take that long for a cigarette to burn down. Then he relates a story about his ship's chaplain who blessed the Catholics over the ship's intercom before going into combat, but told the Protestants he didn't care about them. Chaplains are very respected in the military and one who said this would be kicked out promptly, but this one stayed around for a couple of years. Then he mentions the Army, Navy and Marine Corps Medal. Actually, it's just the Navy and Marine Corps Medal.
But one of his worst "stories" was about the eight Woman Marines who were having sex with an entire Coast Guard platoon while it was in training. If you were every in a military boot camp you know you are monitored intensely. But he has the Woman Marines being caught during an inspection and standing at attention in the nude. Like that ever happened. All these and more were on just the first hundred pages, and this is 320 page book. So I stopped keeping track of his mistakes, until the end. That's when he told us the Texans wiped out all the Comanches in the 1800s. Bet this is news to today's Comanches and American historians. Plus, he relates how the 8th Air Force in Europe took 50% loses on every bombing raid. They did have heavy losses in the days before long-range fighter protection, but 50% is way off!
I didn't plan on writing this long a review, but reviews from readers on Amazon showed too many readers believe the stories Wiley tells in his book. And I began to wonder how he served on so many "special operations" that uncovered and destroyed Japanese troops and materials. Even when there were hundreds of Coast Guardsman available for these missions they always seem to come looking for him. Yet all he ever received for saving numerous ships and hundreds, many thousands, of lives was a "Well Done" by his ship's captain. Where were all the medals he should have received? An Amazon review by another Coast Guardsman asks the same question.
Finally, I must admit a closely guarded secret about myself. When I begin a book, I also read the Preface and Introduction if it has those. And sometimes, you learn something about the book you wouldn't know if you didn't read those sections. For example, William Manchester was a respected author, biographer and historian. Yet if you read his book "Goodbye, Darkness: A Memoir of the Pacific War," you read how he served in the Marines during World War II and fought from Guadalcanal to Okinawa. His stories about his time in the Corps are fascinating. But most of them are just stories. In his introduction to that book he states he used stories he heard from others and incorporated them into the book as if they happened to him. The truth is Manchester was a Marine machine-gunner who fought only during the Okinawa campaign, where he was wounded and then sent back to the States. Please note I do not question his patriotism or bravery. The Marines on Okinawa took so many casualties, it made other invasions look easy. It made me glad I was a Marine in another war. But at least Manchester tells you his book is not entirely factual. The author of this book doesn't do that. His stories are so embellished and unrealistic they question his credibility to anyone who has ever served in the U.S. military.
And, as a former Marine, I was always impressed by Coxswain Douglas Munro, the only Coast Guardsman to be awarded the Medal of Honor during World War II. He died shielding Marines from enemy fire as they were being withdrawn from an enemy trap. His last words were supposedly, "Did they get off?" As a result, Murno is the only non-Marine to have his name enshrined on the Wall of Heroes of the National Museum of the Marine Corps.
While this book does an excellent job describing the training, skills learned by experience and operations of the Coast Guard during the war, it fails drastically when it come to being truthful in matters pertaining to the author's experience. Hey, I served in the military and in a war too, and I know how people like to sometimes embellish what they did in stories they tell. But Ken Wiley goes way over the top. Not only that, but he makes so many errors in this book I finally stopped counting them.
For example, During his several liberty times in Hawaii, he often states there were one million servicemen on Oahu. Well, maybe that was a total over the course of the entire war, but never at once. With all those men sitting on that island, no wonder it took us four years to defeat Japan. Then he makes a habit of calling task force commanders "Commandant." Well, the Marines have a commandant, and there are commandants in the Coast Guard and Navy who are in charge of schools or administrative units, but not sea-going forces. And he relates how 25 men were lost to sharks during a training exercise as they were not allowed to be picked up, due to training regulations, when their boat sank. Well, that just didn't happen. In fact, actor Eddie Albert received a Bronze Star by rescuing 47 Marines at Tarawa when their boat was sunk and they were under enemy fire.
Then he tells a story about downed pilots who exploded a Japanese ammo dump by lightning cigarettes which would take an hour to burn down and start a fire to destroy the dump. Well, I'm not a smoker, but I know even when you're not actively smoking it doesn't take that long for a cigarette to burn down. Then he relates a story about his ship's chaplain who blessed the Catholics over the ship's intercom before going into combat, but told the Protestants he didn't care about them. Chaplains are very respected in the military and one who said this would be kicked out promptly, but this one stayed around for a couple of years. Then he mentions the Army, Navy and Marine Corps Medal. Actually, it's just the Navy and Marine Corps Medal.
But one of his worst "stories" was about the eight Woman Marines who were having sex with an entire Coast Guard platoon while it was in training. If you were every in a military boot camp you know you are monitored intensely. But he has the Woman Marines being caught during an inspection and standing at attention in the nude. Like that ever happened. All these and more were on just the first hundred pages, and this is 320 page book. So I stopped keeping track of his mistakes, until the end. That's when he told us the Texans wiped out all the Comanches in the 1800s. Bet this is news to today's Comanches and American historians. Plus, he relates how the 8th Air Force in Europe took 50% loses on every bombing raid. They did have heavy losses in the days before long-range fighter protection, but 50% is way off!
I didn't plan on writing this long a review, but reviews from readers on Amazon showed too many readers believe the stories Wiley tells in his book. And I began to wonder how he served on so many "special operations" that uncovered and destroyed Japanese troops and materials. Even when there were hundreds of Coast Guardsman available for these missions they always seem to come looking for him. Yet all he ever received for saving numerous ships and hundreds, many thousands, of lives was a "Well Done" by his ship's captain. Where were all the medals he should have received? An Amazon review by another Coast Guardsman asks the same question.
Finally, I must admit a closely guarded secret about myself. When I begin a book, I also read the Preface and Introduction if it has those. And sometimes, you learn something about the book you wouldn't know if you didn't read those sections. For example, William Manchester was a respected author, biographer and historian. Yet if you read his book "Goodbye, Darkness: A Memoir of the Pacific War," you read how he served in the Marines during World War II and fought from Guadalcanal to Okinawa. His stories about his time in the Corps are fascinating. But most of them are just stories. In his introduction to that book he states he used stories he heard from others and incorporated them into the book as if they happened to him. The truth is Manchester was a Marine machine-gunner who fought only during the Okinawa campaign, where he was wounded and then sent back to the States. Please note I do not question his patriotism or bravery. The Marines on Okinawa took so many casualties, it made other invasions look easy. It made me glad I was a Marine in another war. But at least Manchester tells you his book is not entirely factual. The author of this book doesn't do that. His stories are so embellished and unrealistic they question his credibility to anyone who has ever served in the U.S. military.
