Being there . . . for the current exceptional coverage of two early summertime reads dealingwith war matters until this time unknown, ignored, or beyond the usual military sphere. In bothbooks there are no finer definitions of courage and bravery, while, simply put, readingrelishable narratives. If the focus on the following two subject matters is to be broadened, ascertainly hoped for by this reviewer, war writers today and tomorrow will have to demonstratehigher degrees of sheer resoluteness, bibliographic skill, and emotional cleverness in tappingadditional primary source information and last survivor interviews. Predicatively, completingeach read overnight, as you are customarily wont to do, with riveting writing on hithertoneglected subjects, you, too, will appeal for greater widening of range and depth since intuitiontells you much greater knowledge remains to be gathered, organized, and narrated. Such athrusting proves that you are a military buff of the highest standard and rank, echoingMontaigne’s assertion that, “Nothing is so firmly believed as what we least know.”TWO FIRST-CLASS, FLESH-AND-BLOOD READING PRESENTATIONS, COMBINING 780 PAGES, OFWAR STORIES, ONE OF AMERICAN WOMEN IN AERIAL COMBAT ROLES SO SPELLBINDING THEREADER WILL CONSUME BOTH OVERNIGHT BEFORE BREAKFAST. CAN THERE BE HIGHERPRAISE? THANK THE AL-MIGHTY FOR THESE TWO ADDITIONAL SPLENDID, OMNIPOTENTFEMALE AUTHOR-HISTORIANS!Reviewed and highly, highly recommended by Don DeNevi“FROM YEOMANETTES TO FIGHTER JETS – – A Century of Women in the U.S. Navy”, by RandyCarol Goguen. Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD: 2024, 300 pages, 6 ¼” x 9 ½”, Women,History, Military, $34.95; USNI members, a 40% discount for $20.97; and at Amazon, currently$32.15.“SKIES OF THUNDER – – The Deadly World War II Mission Over the Roof of the World”, byCaroline Alexander. Viking, Penguin Random House: May 14, 2024, 480 pages, hardcover, 6 ¼” x9 ¼”, $32. Visit, https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com.From her painstakingly constructed easy-to-read chapters, Randy Carol Goguen, a retiredNavy Reserve Officer, introduces the significant progress women made integrating into theoperational force, which at long last opened doors to other opportunities. The Navy finallywelcomed women to almost all ship types, including, surprisingly, aircraft carriers, cruisers,destroyers, frigates, amphibious warships, and mine countermeasure command boats. Thewomen who persevered through decades of cultural and institutional discrimination andobstruction were finally earning salaries to lead and fully contribute to the Navy’s mission, “atthe pointy end of the spear,”Today, as Randy Carol continues, integrating women into our Navy has been a long and oftencontentious process, as women strove to overcome resistance imposed by prevailing culturaland institution norms and patriarchal prejudices. This fine exemplar writes, “We have provenourselves essential to the mission success of the service. We are forward deployed around the
world, sharing the same risks as our male counterparts. Some have commanded logistics and
combatant ships including aircraft carriers. They fly and maintain combat and patrol aircraftand serve as crewmembers on battleships and submarines. Some hold major commands ashoreand have risen to the highest echelons of Navy leadership.”Meanwhile, from New York Times bestselling author, Caroline Alexander, comes an unusual,admirably handled thriller of aerial combat, survival, and bravery in the Burmese skies as warraged throughout the Pacific in 1942 – – and, on the battlegrounds of jungles, hills, andmountains, with the Japanese Army, a massive, inexorable force advancing irresistibly, crushingmostly whatever was in its path, cutting and capturing the only ground route between Indiaand China. By July of that year, all munitions and supplies to these critical areas would have tobe flown in daily across “the Hump”, a formidable Himalaya high mountain barrier intosouthern China. Tackling rarely researched and written about historic battles and incidents,Caroline Alexander unequivocally proves her capacity to research for and captivate her readers.Once begun, try putting down “The Endurance” and “The Bounty”. Here, she brings her gifts tothe making of a pulsating throbber dealing with American airmen stationed not far from theadvancing, remorseless Japanese. By May 1942, they had to stop the relentless Japanesejuggernaut within striking distance of India.Over the past 80+ years, Caroline Alexander is one of the very, very few writers to peruseand draw upon the somber, hitherto unpublished, source, and eyewitness accounts of this“minor” Hump aspect of the Pacific War. Who, in the American public, wanted to read about
the depressing news from Burma, i.e., 600+ Allied cargo-carrying planes buried in the Myanmar
- – the era name for “Burma”; the 1,000-mile British retreat, the longest in the history ofBritain’s army, through Burma to the border of India; the relieving of command of severalnearsighted British commanders; continuous fierce fighting retreats. Yet, the Pacific Tide wasbound to subside. Spectacular American naval victories, Midway and Japan’s first island defeatat Guadalcanal meant the United States was bouncing back. The days of flying fickle, untestedoutdated aircraft through monsoons and enemy fire, while trying to read torn, outdated,coffee-stained maps, while relying on cheap WWI means of navigation were over.Both informationally historic, “From Yeomanettes to Fighter Jets”, by Randy Carol Goguen,and Caroline Alexander’s “Skies of Thunder” demand prominent places on every serious
military buff’s personal library shelf.
