Although more than half of the pages in “SHARPEN YOUR BAYNETS” focus on the general’searly years and WWII assignments and victories, author Stoy brilliantly chronicles “Iron Mike’s”command of 1 Corps in Korea, 1951 – 1952, then details closing out his career as the Chief ofthe Military Assistance Advisory Group in Vietnam in the early days of our involvement there.Lt. Col. Stoy provides readers, ordinary buffs as much as military bibliophiles, precisely whatthis column strives for – – the closest “being there” experience possible as we approach acentury later. Warts and all, we are introduced to the very essence of the man, a completeAmerican warrior, one who spent more time under fire with his front-line troops than behindthe safety of his office desk, a man who prided himself completing “grandpa duties” as much asa crusading anti-Communist, especially after serving in Moscow as Military Attache between1948 – 1950 when the cold war intensified. Especially revealing are Chapters 11 and 12, as wellas Appendices 5 and 6, “The My Lai Affair”, and “What I Think of Ngo Dinh Diem”. Especiallyheartfelt and endearing is Appendix 7, “CINCPAC Message to ASST SECDEF on O’DANIEL DSM”.It also should be noted that even high Russian military officers quietly smiled and forgave himwith, “No comments”, when asked what they thought of Mike’s statement after spending threedays and nights in Stalingrad while serving in Moscow. He casually mentioned that had hisAmerican Corps with its customary artillery been assigned the task of taking Stalingrad in 1942,his troops would have taken it in less than three days. Even this reviewer forgives him for suchan occasional absurdity.Thanks, Lt. Col. Stoy, for ensuring that Mike’s memory, nay, legacy, lives on. Without yourinformative biography who would have written about, let alone remembered, John? To all whoworked with him, John will always be remembered as an ebullient piece of the sun, (5’6””),tough, resembling and behaving as a bull, a man with a booming parade-ground voice. AfterWWII, he was pretty much destined for a tiny spot on a growing pile of dust filling a corner of
World War II history. He died of heart issues on 27 March 1975 at the age of 81.
