This book was written by a man who served aboard the USS Bang during the years of 1961-64. He starts off by telling the story of the submarine before he was on board, and a bit about his childhood and what led him to be a part of the Navy. The purpose of the book is clear. His father would tell him stories and quiz him later. "Someday, most people will forget who we were and what we did and why. I want you to remember." It's why I read memoirs and tell my kids about these interesting people. They're going to be responsible for what the next generation remembers.
Once the author gets into the Navy, the book is more anecdotal. Serious stories are in there as well as humorous ones. A couple stories may make the animal lover cringe, but overall, none of them are too long. They held my interest pretty well, and the writing style was easy to read.
I read a review from someone questioning the truth of the the author's stories. The author does mention in the forward that "time has blurred some detail," but his stories were reviewed by his friend, Tom, who was on the ship at the same time he was. The Captain for most of the time he was on board was also consulted and helped provide some dates. The main thing I keep in mind when I read a memoir is that I'm reading colored memories. It's like the experiment where you talk to ten people at the scene of an accident and you get ten different accounts. There are going to be some overlapping elements to the stories, but no two will be exactly the same. Without reading multiple accounts from multiple people, there's just no way to get a clear and exact picture of what happened. In this case, I believe the author was relating his memories. Are they 100% accurate? Probably not, but I'm not approaching it as a historical account.
I liked the anecdotal nature of this book, and I learned a lot about submarines and the way they worked that I didn't know before. I appreciated how the author would shine a light on the people that made an impression on his life. Good Book!
First off, I want to clarify something from my last review of this author, The Last Wish. When I read that book, I was under the impression it was tied to the show based on the stories and the cover. Also the way it was listed on Amazon confused me as well. The Last Wish is listed as 'The Witcher Saga Book 1' and Blood of Elves is listed as 'The Witcher Book 3/The Witcher Saga Novels Book 1.' After a bit of research, I discovered that the first two books, The Last Wish and Sword of Destiny are collections of short stories, and the novels begin with Blood of Elves. It's my mistake, and my apologies for the misunderstanding.
In this first full novel of the series, Geralt starts out trying to get some help with Ciri. She is showing some signs of powers that no one at Kaer Morhen can understand, so he asks Triss Merigold for help. She's out of her league with Ciri, and so it's clear that the girl is going to have to seek help from Geralt's "dear friend" Yennefer. There are numerous people who are after Ciri, and one man in particular seems to be the most dangerous.
I really enjoyed this book. I found a couple times where I had to go back and read over a section again because I didn't pay enough attention the first time. My main concern for the future of reading this series is that I'll forget what was going on when I pick up the next one. Overall, I really did like it and hope to read more of the series soon. Good Book!
Growing up, I saw planes landing and taking off from the Rickenbacker Air National Guard Base on a daily basis. I also watched air shows from my front yard. It was pretty cool seeing jets streak over my roof. I even saw the Thunderbirds go past the house in formation one year. Great stuff. Anyway, I realized that I knew very little about the man himself, Eddie Rickenbacker.
Before World War I, this man was a race car driver. During the war, he was an Ace pilot who cared about the other pilots in his squadron, but not too much. He refers to it as one of the horrors of war. You had to be able to carry on the next day no matter what had happened to your friend.
This book is completely about his time in the air. He is very descriptive when it comes to telling what happened during a lot of the mid-air battles, and he tells what happened to others in his squadron as well. I noticed again that pilots have an unusual amount of respect for their enemy. Just like when I read Samurai!, there is a level of respect and good will for the other men in the air. Rickenbacker doesn't like to see men burning on their way to the ground and fought with valor in the skies.
He mentions a couple of times the fact that he saw German pilots abandon their planes and float to the ground with parachutes. It was something he and his fellow pilots didn't have. I found that ridiculous and agreed with his criticism that the Americans should have the same choice. He saw men burn on their way to the ground and wished they'd had the option to bail out. Who could blame him?
I enjoyed this book and wish I'd read it sooner. I can't believe people flew in these things and made it out alive. Or even that they chose to get in one. The first planes the 94th Aero Squadron had were prone to have the fabric of the wings shear off if you put too much strain on them during maneuvers. WHAT?! These men were so much braver than I'll ever be, and they have my respect. To the ones who made it and who never made it home, I salute you. Good Book!
