Book Sentry January 2012

Book Sentry

Spot the incoming new books on military history, particularly those providing context for the library's Veterans History Project.

If you see a book that looks good, click on "Check Our Catalog" and place a hold. We will let you know when it comes for you!

Fatal Crossroads: The Untold Story of the Malmedy Massacre at the Battle of the Bulge
By Parker, Danny S.
2011-11 - Da Capo Press
From a leading expert comes the gripping tale of the largest single atrocity committed against American POWs on the Western Front in World War II. 288 pp. 25,000 print.

A Train in Winter: An Extraordinary Story of Women, Friendship, and Resistance in Occupied France
By Moorehead, Caroline
2011-11 - Harper
BookPage Notable Title
In January, 1943, 230 women of the French Resistance were sent to the death camps by the Nazis who had invaded and occupied their country. This is their story, told in full for the first time--a searing and unforgettable chronicle of terror, courage, defiance, survival, and the power of friendship to transcend evil that is an essential addition to the history of World War II. 384 pp.

The Second World War: A Military History
By Corrigan, Gordon
2011-11 - Thomas Dunne Books
Here is a rare overview, which could be useful wherever one can buy only a limited number of titles on this subject of World War II. A member of the British Commission for Military History, Corrigan is an expert on the subject. 672 pp.

Grant's Final Victory: Ulysses S. Grant's Heroic Last Year
By Flood, Charles Bracelen
2011-10 - Da Capo Press
In a masterful narrative, a prominent historian brings to life the last year of General Grant's life--a tragic, poignant, and inspiring story. 352 pp. 40,000 print. e

National Archives Puts Popular Records Workshops Online for First Time!

Dick Eastmann's January 4th newsletter reports that the National Archives has for the first time placed online Youtube videos on how to conduct research using military records.

Operation Hailstone on Truk Lagoon

On February 16, 1944, Americans launched Operation Hailstone, which has been called the Japanese Pearl Harbor,

The bombardment lasted for three days,wiping out 60 ships and 275 airplanes, sinking them to the bottom and making for the reputedly biggest ship graveyard in the world.

Christmas at Arlington National Cemetery

Richar Rogala, former prisoner of the North Koreans as a captured member of the US Pueblo crew in January,1968, provided this entry for the blog. He and his father, Chester Rogala, who served in World War II, both contributed oral memoirs to the Veterans History Project.




Rest easy, sleep well my brothers.
Know the line has held, your job is done.
Rest easy, sleep well.
Others have taken up where you fell, the line has held.
Peace, peace, and farewell...
author unknown



Readers may be interested to know that these wreaths -- some 5,000 -- are donated by the Worcester Wreath Co. of Harrington, Maine . The owner, Merrill Worcester, not only provides the wreaths, but covers the trucking expense as well. He's done this since 1992. A wonderful guy. Also, most years, groups of Maine school kids combine an educational trip to DC with this event to help out. Making this even more remarkable is the fact that Harrington is in one the poorest parts of the state.

50th Interview Addded! - Mr. John M McCann

Rich Wozniczka of the library's Information Technology Services Department pointed out that the most recent interview was the 50th for the Niles VHP effort.

Mr. McCann served as a radarman aboard the USS Case in the Pacific during World War II. His interview can be read and heard at the library and will soon be similarly available over the internet through the Niles Public Library's homepage.

Book Sentry, November 2011

Spot the incoming new books on military history, particularly those providing context for the library's Veterans History Project.


If you see a book that looks good, click on "Check Our Catalog" and place a hold. We will let you know when it comes for you!

When We Walked Above the Clouds: A Memoir of VietnamBy Barnes, H. Lee
2011-09 - University of Nebraska Press

There is the mythology of the Green Berets, of their clandestine, special operations as celebrated in story and song. And then there is the reality of one soldier's experience, the day-to-day loss and drudgery of a Green Beret such as H. Lee Barnes, whose story conveys the daily grind and quiet desperation behind polished-for-public-consumption accounts of military heroics. In "When We Walked Above the Clouds, " Barnes tells what it was like to be a Green Beret, first in the Dominican Republic during the civil war of 1965, and then at A-107, Tra Bong, Vietnam. …More


The Sword of St. Michael: The 82nd Airborne Division in World War II
By Lofaro, Guy
2011-08 - Da Capo Press

We Meant Well: How I Helped Lose the Battle for the Hearts and Minds of the Iraqi People
By Van Buren, Peter
2011-09 - Metropolitan Books

In this shocking and darkly hilarious expose of the reconstruction of post-Saddam Iraq, former State Department team leader Van Buren describes the tragicomedy that has been American efforts at nation building, marked by bizarre decisions and wrongheaded priorities.

Afghanistan: Graveyard of Empires: A New History of the Borderlands
By Isby, David
2010-04 - Pegasus Books

This illuminating history of modern Afghanistan, written by a veteran defenseanalyst, details the complex story of a country caught in a vortex of terror.448 pp.

Eden to Armageddon: World War I in the Middle East
By Ford, Roger
2010-05 - Pegasus Books
9781605980911 Check Our Catalog

In this epic account of World War I in the Middle East, Ford presents the complete story of the invasion of the Garden of Eden that ended with a momentous victory on the site of the biblical Armageddon and the creation of Iran and Iraq.

Carrier: A Century of First-Hand Accounts of Naval Operations in War and Peace
By Hood, Jean
2011-02 - Conway Maritime Press

The Last Mission of the Wham Bam Boys: Courage, Tragedy, and Justice in World War II
By Freeman, Gregory A.
2011-05 - Palgrave MacMillan

Military historian Gregory A. Freeman brings to life for the first time the dramatic story of a young American bomber crew that was forced to bail out over Germany in August 1944. After landing, they were captured and lynched in a two-hour assault by local townspeople who had fallen prey to the worst impulses of the ravages of war. The families of these airmen were never told what actually happened to their loved ones and the few survivors had to carry this burden alone for years. After the war, a highly dramatic trial took place in the German town, forcing the locals to confront their wartime atrocity. Drawing from government archives, photos, trial records, interviews with family members, and letters home from the crew, Freeman creates a vivid narrative of the dramatic event and follows the survivors’ moving, sometimes heartrending, efforts to understand how good men could die in such a terrible way and how those left behind are supposed to go on.

Black Sheep: The Life of Pappy Boyington
By Wukovits, John F.
2011-06 - US Naval Institute Press

Library Board President's Remarks at 5th Annual VHP Breakfast

Barbara Nakashini, the President of the Board of the Niles Public Library District, speaks to the veterans and guests as she shares her family's participation in World War II. Her father, Harry Gembala, is a Veteran,who served in the Army with the Occupation Forces in Japan for a year just after World War II. Her Uncle Walter, who was in the audience, served with the Army in the Battle of the Bulge and was awarded a Bronze Star.

Her father-in-law, Masahe Nakanishi, now deceased, was part of the Army’s 442nd Combat Regimental Team unit, which was comprised entirely of Japanese-Americans. He, along with thousands of Japanese-Americans, had been removed from their homes in California and placed in interment camps. He joined the Army and fought in Europe with the famed 442 whose famous motto was "Go for Broke."

She called attention to the ceremony held that very day in Washington when Congress would award its highest civilian honor to the Japanese-American soldiers who fought in World War II. Dozens of the veterans, known as Nisei, a Japanese term for children born with American citizenship, were at the Capitol to receive the Congressional Gold Medal for their service in the war. The medal is the highest civilian award given by Congress. Her husband Joe's two brothers represented the family at the ceremony.

Mrs. Nakanishi provided these two pictures of the hard-earned medal.