Memorial Day - William Shone Williams

Like millions of others all over the world, the First World War  would have a lasting impact on the Williams family. This picture is of my paternal Grandfather, William Shone Williams, in North Carolina, just prior to shipping out for France. Growing up in the 1950's and 1960's, my family never talked much about my Grandfather's experience in the War. As a matter of fact, I never even met the man. He passed away about 8 years before I made my entrance into the world. So, naturally, I have been fascinated by him my entire life.

Two years ago I began looking into his wartime service to see where he went when he joined the Army and the 27th Division in the spring of 1917. The story is still missing several pieces but this is a brief account of what I have discovered so far by using photos provided to me by my favorite Aunt Gloria.


He was in the 27th Division of the NY 107th US Infantry, under the command of Major General John F. O'Ryan. This was their insignia, composed of the letters NY in an arched fashion to closely resemble the constellation Orion, a play on the major's last name. It's handle also points to the brightest star in the sky, Sirius. They became known as the "Orion Division."

The 27th trained at Camp Wadsworth in South Carolina through the winter of 1917-18. While there they published a weekly paper called "The Gas Attack" and later this name was changed to "The Gas Attack of the NY Division". The first issue was published in November of 1917 and the last was on May 4th, 1918 as they were about to transfer to Norfolk. Another issue was put out in France at Christmastime 1918, after the war was over. Another was issued right before the Division came home to a huge parade in NY in March 1919.

In Spartanburg there were two colleges and the one most favored for dances etc was the Converse College for Girls. There are quite a few photos on line of soldiers on leave in Spartanburg during that time. I keep looking for my Grandfather.

This is a photo of Major General John F. O'Ryan. He is shown standing on a snow bank at Camp Wadsworth. My Grandfather must have recognized him and took the photo. They were at Spartanburg from Nov 1917 through May 4th 1918 when they shifted to Norfolk for deployment to England.

Interesting side note; Spartanburg was the only place in South Carolina that did not welcome the Northern Divisions. (See the NY Times Article dated August 31st, 1917.) It concerns the Mayor of Spartanburg and his venomous attack upon the presence of "Yankee" troops. Apparently, there was also an African-American Division there at the same time. Captain N.B. Marshall, an African American of the NY Bar Association was called a "dirty nigger" and thrown from a street car in one instance. When Frank De Broit, an African-American private, attempted to buy a newspaper in a hotel lobby, with the permission of his Lt., a man named Europe, he was knocked to the ground by the hotel clerk. About fifty members of the NY 27th Division jumped in, hell bent on murdering the hotel clerk when they heard the command, ""Attention!" called out by Lt. Europe, who then ordered the men to cease their action and file out peacefully two by two.(He was, apparently, an early version of Martin Luther King.)

Major O'Ryan wrote a book about the whole experience, from Spartanburg to France and then coming home again in 1919. It's called "The Story of the 27th Division" and can be found online and read for free. You can even download it as a PDF file. http://www.archive.org/details/storyof27thdivis02oryauoft

Once in England they trained jointly with the British troops and appear to have crossed the Channel at Dover to France and marched down South towards Paris. On the way he would have taken the photo of the "Ponts de la Soissons" which is the Bridge at Soissons. From there they would likely have gone on South to Paris to group up before starting the final offensive of the war, referred to as the Muese-Argonne campaign and included the Second Battle of Verdun. Verdun is on the west bank of the Muese River. This is where he allegedly stole the keys to the city and a mandolin, which my step-mother, Alice, still has in her kitchen. The campaign lasted from September 1, 1918 through November 11th when the Armistice was called.

On Sept 29, 1918 the 27th Division, under command of Maj. General O'Ryan, along with the 30th Division, and the British units (under command of General Haig) jointly "cracked" the St. Quentin Tunnel Complex which ran parallel to the Hindenburg Line for a distance of about 4 miles North to South, and was used for resupply of the German forces there.

Forming a "pincher" and advancing eastward, the combined forces broke through the Hindenburg Line, which the combined French and British forces had been unable to do for 3 years. The 27th crossed through Guillemont and Quennemont Farms just West of the line. There were 227 officers and men of the 27th killed that day and another 688 wounded.

This means that they likely did not go to Paris upon arrival "in country", but rather, that after they cross trained with the British they headed to St. Quentin, which is North of both Paris and Verdun.

After the action at St. Quentin they continued on with the British 4th Army under the command of Major Rawlinson through most of October on their way to the Selle River south of the fighting at LeCateau.From there they would have moved on to the Second Battle of Verdun. He was wounded by artillery sometime during all of this, as a result of which he had a metal plate in his head for the rest of his life. He was also gassed. I am still, at this writing, trying to find out where and when he was wounded. It would appear, by the mere existence of the photographs, that he was wounded late in the war, most likely right before the Armistice in November. After Verdun, the 27th "hunkered down" through March of 1919, when they were sent home.

This is a photo of the entire 27th Division taken in March of 1919, composed of all 10,000 officers and enlisted men just prior to leaving France. My Grandfather is most likely in this photo, but it's kind of like "Where's Waldo." And war is like that, millions of men, whose names often go unrecorded in the greater annals of history, do the heavy fighting, and pay the heavy price, while the select few garner the recognition of their sacrifices.

When he returned from the "Great War", as it was referred to at the time, he went on to become a Police Officer in New York City. When he died, at the all too young age of 43 years old, leaving a wife and 5 children behind, he became a belated casualty of that war.

"Captured" (1933) with Leslie Howard and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.

"Captured" starring Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Leslie Howard, Margaret Lindsay, Paul Lukas and J. Carroll Naish may at first seem like an innocuous forerunner to later POW films, but it is much more. It is an exploration of both the captured and their keepers. It explores the duty to ones comrades as well as the duty to what both are fighting for in the first place. And the validity of it all.

The prisoners are French, British, Italian and American. At first they are held in inhumane circumstances and likely to die of starvation and disease. The ranking British officer is able to come to an agreement with the prison camp commander, guaranteeing more humane treatment for all the prisoners. To effect this agreement, he guarantees their obedience to the Commandants rules, which are not unreasonable.

Is brutality ever justified, or does some leniency result in a more ordered situation for both sides? And just how far should this cooperation extend? And, how far does personal vengeance go in the scheme of larger issues? All eternal, and still unanswered, questions in these modern times.

Although these things may seem obsolete in the modern era, the theme of the film is still valid. When other powers, with whom we have no personal quarrel,  are at war, how far should the common soldier go in his personal struggle to escape, and what are his obligations to his comrades who have been temporarily removed from the larger struggle by their captivity?

In this film, all of these themes are played out when a British prisoner of war becomes imprisoned alongside his best friend from home, unaware that while he was captured earlier, that same friend began an affair with his wife. When that friend then escapes, jeopardizing the other prisoners safety, he is also charged with criminal rape and murder of a local peasant woman. What then is the moral obligation of his friend, who is also the superior officer?

When the enemy calls for the British Command to return the escapee to face trial for war crimes. The question then arises as to whether any loyalties remain to unite these two friends in their common struggle, personal differences notwithstanding.

Is that struggle, in which they are only pawns, undermined by personal betrayal? And more importantly, at what point do personal differences between friends, and responsibilities to those under ones command, begin or end?

Are the actions of the senior officer in this instance motivated by personal revenge, a sense of right and wrong, or is he doing his duty to protect the many for the war crimes of one man?  

This film delivers on all these points, and with its pristine restoration, and a rousing finish, is well worth the viewing.

The Fallen

                              

Some fell on the beaches, some fell from the sky.
Some died in the trenches, never knowing why.

They died for flags, they died in rags,
in clothes so battle torn,
Some died before they fully knew
why they were even born.

Some died upon the spots they fell,
and went quickly to their graves.
Some lived to tell their tales of hell,
wondering why they had been saved.

The best, the worst, dead last or first
they all died just the same.

Some had scars which couldn't be seen,
or plates worn inside their heads.
With lungs so scarred from gasses
they could hardly draw a breath.

But all of them died heroes,
on this we all agree.
They died deaths not for them selves,
but died for you and me.

Photo by Wm. Shone Williams
Circa July 1918 in France

Wm. Shone Williams died at age 43, with a metal plate in his head and lungs scarred from mustard gas. It took him 25 years to die. A belated casualty of "the War to end all wars." He was the grandfather I never knew.

Happy Veteran's Day - My Family Gallery

This is my paternal grandfather William Shone Williams, Private US Army in World War One. He arrived here in the US from Wales in 1906 when he was about 3 years old. Here he is during basic training at Spartanburg in 1918. He was just in time for the last push and was wounded sometime after the action  at the tunnels of St. Quentin just parallel to the Hindenburg Line. He was a "stringer" which is the guy who runs the lines fro the communications they were using back then. He was wounded shortly after that, suffering a head wound requiring a metal plate which plagued him until his premature death at age 43. He was a New York City Police Officer at the time of his passing.

This is my maternal grandfather Pincus Max Marcus who arrived in America in 1911 and left to fight in the Allenby Brigade in Palestine on the Ottoman front in 1916, even before the Americans  officially joined the war in 1917. He served with Distinction in the Kings Fusiliers, 38th through 42nd Regiments and, along with his brother Jack, was awarded the French Medal of Legion with Palms. When the war was over he had to re-enter the United States through Canada via Scotland. He went on to make and lose several fortunes before his death in the 1970's. 

World War Two came and my father's brother,Uncle Roy, served in the Navy as a Machinist Mate. He was awarded a Navy Cross for action in the  North Atlantic. After the war he went on to become a Captain and commanded his own ship.

On my mother's side her brother Walter Marcus was training for the infantry in Alabama when the war came to an end. He was always very candid about being glad he didn't have to go. But he was ready. He went on to a career as a professional gambler and lived in Las Vegas, Nevada. 

Here's my Dad who had already done time in the Naval Reserve, diving on the submarine USS Torsk out of Connecticut in the late 1940's. He felt very put upon when the Korean War broke out and he was called back up for active service in the Army! This explains the unhappy expression he wears in the photograph.

And here I am in the late 1970's, doing my bit taking bearings on the USS Milwaukee in Panama. You can tell that I was facing danger at every turn just by the expression on my face. 

The point is that, in war or peace, the veteran has always been there. Even when they may not have agreed with the policies with which they were tasked; they were there. And that willingness to serve, in itself, is a testament to our system.

Rin Tin Tin (The Real Story)

Now I never knew this before, but Rin Tin Tin was a real dog! If you already know this to be a fact you can stop reading now. But, if like me, you have been ignorant of this for about the last 60 years, read on. It’s a pretty cool story.

Rin Tin Tin was actually a German Shepard who was rescued from a battlefield by an American soldier. He had no idea that he would become a star at the time. He was just glad to get off the dam battlefield alive. Lee Duncan, the American soldier who found him, named him Rinty and began to train him for work as a stunt dog in silent films. He made 27 of the films in all. Darryl F. Zanuck is said to have built his storied career on the success of those 27 films.

The only dog who had achieved such success in films at that [point was another German Shepard named Strongheart. These 2 dogs are responsible for making German Shepherds acceptable as family pets. When the 1929 Oscars rolled around Rin Tin Tin received the most votes for Best Actor in the film “Frozen River”. But the Academy decided to go with a human that year instead.

In 1932 Rin Tin Tin made his final exit from stage and life. But the show must go on, and several dogs related to the original Rin Tin Tin were now featured in stories in movies and on the radio. Rin Tin Tin, Jr; Rin Tin Tin III both appeared in films during the 1930’s, and Rin Tin Tin III went on to help train dogs for the Second World War. That must have been strange; German Shepard’s training to fight other Germans. C’est le guerre. He also appeared in a film in 1947 with Robert Blake.

By the mid 1950’s Duncan was training Rin Tin Tin IV for a role in a television series. But the dog just ccouldn'tcut it and was replaced with a dog from noted canine trainer Frank Barnes's kennel. That dog was named Flame, Jr. This was not something which the network wanted to advertise. Rin Tin Tin IV was secreted away to his home in Riverside and Flame, Jr. performed in his name.

Hopefully this information has not caused any emotional harm to anyone. It would seem strange though, to see an episode of the show and see the credit as “Flame, Jr!” instead of Rin Tin Tin. It just doesn't have that ring to it.

"Dark Invasion" by Howard Blum (2014)

If you believe; as I do; that the only thing new is the history you don’t know, then this book will astound you. It’s like reading today’s newspaper; underscoring the fact that precious little has really changed in the last 100 years since these events occurred.  

Terrorism, espionage, germ warfare, piracy; in short; anything which you can find in today’s paper can be found in this book which recounts the events of the 2 years preceding America’s entry into World War One. Germany’s undeclared war on the United States mirrors everything which the Islamic terrorist of the 21^st Century would like to accomplish.

If you lose track of some of the aliases and names while reading this book, don’t worry, author Howard Blum pulls everything together in an ending which rivals the best that Hollywood has to offer in the way of fiction. The big difference, of course, is that this story is true.

With the same wide ranging and highly charged style which marked his earlier book “American Lightning”, Mr. Blum introduces the reader to an astounding cast of characters; comprised of diplomats, Professors, stevedores, watchmakers and even J.P. Morgan; the American financer who once bailed out the country with cash during a recession. There are policemen, detectives and politicians; some good, some bad; but all part of the plot to keep American munitions out of the war against Germany by whatever means necessary.

The bombings were simple enough; compared to the planned anthrax and horse plaque attacks which were planned by German diplomats, along with scores of German seaman who found themselves stuck in a foreign neutral port for the duration of the war.

The story also involves a Harvard college professor named Muenter, who killed his wife and left his children, taking on a new identity in New Mexico.  He remarried under the assumed name of Frank Holt and began a new academic career in foreign languages. He was soon at the top of his profession. He also became an important component to the larger story.

At the same time, Detective Tom Tunney; in New York City; is on the trail of the mysterious bomber who has been successfully sabotaging the American war effort.  At the direction of the Police Commissioner he is able to tap phone lines, use force, and whatever else may be necessary to stop the sinking of ships by explosion after the ships have been at sea for several days.

During the summer of 1915 there were scores of ships sunk as a result. The devices ranged from a small “cigar” bomb; which was a small lead container divided in half by a small sheet of copper. Chemicals were added to each side that ate the copper sheet away. When the chemicals combined they produced a white hot flame. Planted among cargo they were devastating.

The German ships which were interred in the harbor on both sides of the river made for ideal recruitment for the network needed to plant the explosive devices on the American ships. And with the help of German diplomats and shipping executives, the operation was well funded and there was serious money to be made for the bored German seamen. One ship, interred at Hoboken, was actually converted into a bomb factory, with every member of the crew taking part in some way. Irish stevedores; with no love for England; were also a reliable source of operatives.

There were also plans to blow up various landmarks around the country. One of the first successes Detective Tunney enjoyed was the arrest of the men who planned to blow up St. Patrick’s Cathedral. That effort was foiled by two detectives dressed as scrub-women, who watched the bomber plant the bomb before tackling him.

Detective Tunney successfully infiltrates the Brescia Circle; a group of radical immigrants; and before too long finds himself involved with the German Abteilung IIIB spy network headed by Heinrich Albert, who was also the Commercial Attaché to the German Embassy here in the United States. From this lofty position he was able to recruit and co-ordinate not only the ship bombings, but also the germ warfare program. There is even a plan to restore Mexico’s exiled President Huerta to power in exchange for his help in de-stabilizing the Mexican border. His reward was to be the restoration of Texas and New Mexico to his country.

The germ warfare was designed to sicken the horses which the United States was supplying to all of the nations at war; with the exception of Germany. This is the same thing that caused Japan to form the Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere, which led to the Second World War. Sanctions don’t work well without force to back it up. This is a lesson which should be heeded by our own politicians today. There is no teacher as adept as knowing history.

Paul Koenig was the German shipping magnate who ruled the waterfront in New York and New Jersey. He was loaded with cash but when his nephew didn’t show up for work one day due to an illness, he was docked $2.52 for the day. Infuriated at his Uncle he would become part of the events which unraveled the madness.

It was the same with Heinrich Albert. He was too cheap to spring for a $1.75 taxi ride; opting for the elevated train instead. He fell asleep on the train and left his briefcase; which held documents summarizing all of the sabotage that had been done up to that point; and also gave insights into what was still being planned.

But of all the characters in this story, none is more fascinating than Frank Holt, the former Professor Muenter. After killing his wife with arsenic and leaving the children with his in-laws, he sets out to reinvent himself. With his love for the fatherland and his talent for languages, he is looking for a way to serve the cause. In a 48 hour period during the July 4^th weekend in 1915 he not only successfully plants an explosive in the Capitol; he then heads to Long Island and the home of J.P. Morgan.

Once there he intends to speak with him; he wants Mr. Morgan to stop financing the Allied war effort; but he brings along 6 sticks of dynamite and a revolver just in case JP needs persuading.  He is beaten and captured by the servants after shooting Mr. Morgan. Morgan survives, but Frank Holt only lives for a few more days in the town jail, where he is either killed by 2 gunshots to the head, or he jumped from the top bar of the cell door, dashing his skull.

There is so much more to recount about this book, but it really needs to be read to be enjoyed thoroughly. I think it is to safe to say; from the Black Tom Explosion to the Zimmerman Telegram; that Mr. Blum has covered it all.  He has a style which makes you wish he had been your history teacher in high school. He writes with a sense of urgency which is easily felt by the reader. As Detective Tunney races against the clock to avoid one disaster after another, you can almost hear the clock ticking. Or, is that a bomb? 

The Big Gun - Rock Hill, S.C.

Sue and I have passed by an old abandoned American Legion Post in Rock Hill several times now. Each time we do I always mean to get out and have a closer look at the Vickers 6551-A anti-aircraft gun that sits outside of the old brick building. There are literally hundreds of such guns, cannons and the like displayed at the thousands of VFW’s and American Legions across the country. And I have always been fascinated with each and every one.

This one was most likely assembled from an original pre-war Vickers, and then outfitted with an automatic fuse igniter at a later date. The nameplates; or nomenclature; on the gun bear me out as far as the dates are concerned. The gun was manufactured in the opening years of the war, and then refitted in 1943. The latest plate affixed to the weapon bears the year 1943.

Most likely this gun came from duty on the Carolina coast after the War had ended. It probably did see some action, as the U-boats were only 10 miles off shore and sinking ships off Cape Hatteras on a regular basis at the time. These guns could fire at surface vessels as well as aircraft. 

When the war ended and the government found itself with a surfeit of weaponry, much of it found its way to the local VFW’s and Legion halls which dot the land. They make impressive markers. Actually, I would love to have this baby in the back yard. I know just where I’d put it, right off the brick patio on the lawn. Man, that would be something!

Here's picture of a fully manned and ready Vickers in the early days of World War Two;

And for more information about this weapon, which played such a large part in the war, go to;

http://www.wwiiequipment.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=86:37q-anti-aircraft&catid=41:anti-aircraft&Itemid=58 

"The League" by Bill Mills (2013)

Given enough time; and the opportunity; history will always repeat itself. It may not happen in your lifetime, but through the ages it always has, and we humans seem to learn nothing from it. That may be the most important message in this book, if the author intended there to be one. As Harry Truman used to say, “The only thing new is the history you don’t know.”

As the United States went to war in 1917, a civilian “army” of volunteers; numbering about a quarter of a million people, at a time when our population was just about 100 million in total; went to work spying on one another under the guise of “protecting the home front”. The unintended consequences of this well intentioned action played out across the nation as the American Protective League infiltrated Unions, busted up strikes, and generally intimidated anyone with an opinion against the war in Europe. This should be starting to sound familiar right about now, as we struggle with our own sense of what is right and wrong with the “War on Terror”, and the recently disclosed actions of the NSA.

Between 1917 and 1918 this group was like a miniature NSA, listening to everything said by their co-workers and friends. They even had their own newspaper/magazine called “The Spy Glass”, which gave tips on turning in your neighbors. Even preachers were not immune to this feeling of power, and in at least one case, a clergyman sent in a report about a fellow clergyman with whom he did not agree. 

That the APL became somewhat of a place for people to go in order to “get even”, or a place to settle personal scores should not be surprising at all. It’s human nature. Erich Maria Remarque wrote, in "All Quiet on the Western Front", that “even a dog trained to eat potatoes will snap at meat given the opportunity. Men behave the same way when given the opportunity to have a little authority. Every man is a beast underneath all his manners and customs.”

This book is both timely and informative. It is timely in respect to our current situation in the War on Terror, in which our own government is spying upon us; and informative in the sense that very few Americans alive today really have any idea that what we are experiencing now in relation to “national security”, has all been done before. The lesson of this book is simple; it was a bad idea then, and remains so today.

Two Books - Two Views

There are 2 books which have had more influence on events in the Middle-East than all of the diplomats and peace plans of the last 100 years combined. One, “The Seven Pillars of Wisdom” is an observation by T.E. Lawrence “of Arabia”, and gives insight into the fragility of the unity amongst the Arab tribes. It is also his personal observation of his experiences in the First World War as a liaison officer working with the Arabs against the Turks in the destruction of the Ottomon Empire in 1916-1918.

He took the title from the Book of Proverbs 9:1: "Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars.” Before the war had begun, Colonel Lawrence had begun a book on the 7 great cities of the Middle East, and their place in history. The finished version is actually the third version; the first having been abandoned by the outbreak of the war; the second having been stolen while on a train in England. (Wouldn’t you love to find that at a yard sale?)

“The Seven Pillars” is actually a rock formation located in Wadi Rum, or, what is present day Jordan. This is where he was based while serving with the British Forces in North Africa. Authorized by Emir Faisal he prepared attacks on the Ottoman Turkish forces from Aqaba in the south to Damascus in the north (present day Syria).

The dedication is one of the most debated in literature, with many believing it was dedicated to the young boy who acted as his aide-de-camp and was named Selim Ahmed, hence the dedication to “S.A.” Others believe the book was dedicated to the unity of the entire Arab race. Here is that poem;

I loved you, so I drew these tides of
Men into my hands
And wrote my will across the
Sky and stars

To earn you freedom, the seven

Pillared worthy house,

That your eyes might be
Shining for me
When I came

Death seemed my servant on the
Road, 'til we were near
And saw you waiting:
When you smiled and in sorrowful

Envy he outran me

And took you apart:
Into his quietness
Love, the way-weary, groped to your body,

Our brief wage

Ours for the moment
Before Earth's soft hand explored your shape
And the blind

Worms grew fat upon

Your substance
Men prayed me that I set our work,
The inviolate house,
As a memory of you

But for fit monument I shattered it,

Unfinished: and now
The little things creep out to patch

Themselves hovels

In the marred shadow
Of your gift.
 

The most unusual thing about this book is that T.E. Lawrence, who was an admirer of the Arab cause to be free of western influence, was the first cousin to Colonel Orde Wingate, the unsung hero of Burma during the Second World War, where he took on the Japanese with no outside support, constituting a third front and diverting valuable Japanese materials, and manpower to the area using tactics taken from the Old Testament, calling his 5 man groups the “Chindits” after the warriors depicted in the Bible. I have often wondered what dinner conversation was like between the two; what with one supporting Arab unity; while the other was an ardent Zionist.

The next book, “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion” or “The Protocols of the Meetings of the Learned Elders of Zion” was an anti-Semitic diatribe passed off as real. In it, it purports to verify a worldwide Jewish plan to take over the world financially. It was first published in Russia in 1903 under the supervision of Pyotr Ivanovich Rachkovsky, and then widely distributed in America by Henry Ford, who provided funding for 500,000 copies.  It was later used by Adolf Hitler to vilify the Jews in Germany and elsewhere in Eastern Europe. Many people today still read this book and believe it to be true.

If you are wondering about this post; what its purpose might be; there is none really, beyond calling your attention to these two books which represent a large part of how the Middle East of today became the Middle East of today.

"Two Americans" by William Lee Miller (2012)

On the surface Presidents Truman and Eisenhower would seem to have little in common. One was a former artilleryman who saw combat in World War One, going on to become a failed haberdashery owner, before entering politics and becoming President of the United States. He was the last President to have not attained a college degree. The other was a product of the military academy at West Point who never saw combat, but went on to lead the Allied Powers to victory in the Second World War. Both of their Presidencies were bracketed by Harvard graduates. What makes this book so interesting, and the perfect companion to last week’s selection “Red Scare” by Griffin Fariello, is the time in which both men lived and how they handled some of the same problems in uniquely different ways.

These two men from the Midwest, both faced the challenges of their times in very different ways, yet both were deeply committed to a strong America. The differences in their views on dropping the Atom bomb; at a time when Eisenhower was preparing to move all his equipment to the Pacific for the final push into Japan; is fascinating. We had already had success with firebombing cities like Dresden and Hamburg in Germany, and done the same in Japan. As a matter of fact, with the incendiary bombing of Tokyo, as well as other cities, those bombings killed more people in one night than both of the two atom bombs combined. The real reason behind the decision to drop the bomb was that the Nazi’s were already working on a bomb of their own; making it imperative that we develop, and use, ours first.  Had we not, the whole face of post war Europe would have been changed drastically, with the Soviets taking over much more than just Eastern Europe.

Socially, both men were not that far apart. Although not a “New Deal Democrat” by any means, Eisenhower was concerned with the stability of the middle class in the same way as Truman. On the subject of Civil Rights Eisenhower was not as groundbreaking as Truman was. Although Ike favored the integration of the Armed Forces in 1947, he dragged his feet on the Little Rock integration issue, waiting for it to turn violent rather than use his leadership as a bully pulpit for change.

In an engaging and highly readable fashion, the author charts the course taken by both men, from their earliest days, through to the pinnacle of their careers as the respective leaders of the free world. And though there is much difference between the two men, they were more alike than either would ever admit. Ah, but to have the likes of these two running for office now…

"City of Scoundrels" by Gary Krist (2012)

July 1919 was known as the Red Summer for several reasons. The Bolsheviks had just taken over Russia in the Revolution of 1917, and there was a world war that had just ended, with millions of people heaping blame for the carnage on the backs of the Industrialists, whom many believed suckered us into a war for profit. Coupled with the rise of the Unions in our own country, with their links to the Communist movement taking place world-wide, a young man named J. Edgar Hoover was just launching his infamous “Red Squads”, who were responsible for rounding up, and deporting, those who would foster discontentment and dissent in America.

This was also a time of great scientific and mechanical advancement. The airplane had proven itself useful as a tool for war, but with peacetime there came the question of what to do with airpower. It was already being used to transport the mail, but what about people? Part of that aerial technology was the zeppelin; or dirigible; which carried passengers in a gondola suspended from the zeppelin itself. In July of 1919 one such zeppelin was scheduled to land in Chicago to much acclaim. There was even talk of Chicago becoming the destination for flights from London and Paris, which would bypass New York, carrying her passengers further into the interior of the United States than an ocean voyage to our coast could accomplish. Until this point, if you came from Europe hoping to settle anywhere in the interior portion of the United States, you first took a ship to the coast of New York, or San Francisco, and then worked your way inward from there.

Fresh from our victory in Europe, flush with capital to invest in new technologies, few could have imagined the chain of events which would begin with the arrival of Goodyear’s zeppelin “Wingfoot Express” on July 21, 1919 in Chicago.

At approximately 5 PM on that day; just as the fans at Comiskey Park were 3 innings into a double header between the New York Yankees and the Chicago White Sox; the Wingfoot Express exploded over downtown Chicago, crashing through the glass domed roof of the Illinois Trust Company building, and setting fire to an area of Chicago’s famed loop. The 5 passengers and crew all jumped with parachutes, but only 4 opened properly, and even those caught fire from being too close to the burning zeppelin as they opened.

As horrifying as this event was, it was only the beginning. For the next 2 weeks Chicago would be torn by unrelated tragedies, all unfolding upon the heels of the last one. Within 2 days of the zeppelin incident, a race riot broke out in South Chicago at the 26^th Street section of the beach along the shores of the lake, which was broken up into several segregated places for blacks and whites to swim separately. The riot began as a routine disagreement, but quickly became one of the worst race riots in American history.

A transit strike followed on the heels of that tragedy, forcing many Chicagoans into the street for their commutes to work. This event only served to enlarge the violence begun by the riots at the beach, as blacks and whites were forced, by the strike, to pass through one another’s neighborhoods, and multiplying the odds for even more violence.

As if this was not enough trouble for one town to deal with in such a short period of time, the body of a 6 year old girl, who had been missing, was found in the basement of a tenement building on the North Side of Chicago. This was the worst part of the entire 2 weeks, as neighbors began to distrust their neighbors, and no children played in the streets.

The evangelical put it down to the wrath of God, and while the blacks and whites blamed one another, there were still others, some with political ambitions, who were willing to add fuel to the fire in order to reap some sort of benefits from these combined tragedies.

A wide ranging look at one of America’s most fascinating cities, the author has crafted a highly readable book from the ashes of a summer which spun wildly out of control.

"Rascal" by Sterling North (1964 Newberry Honor Book)

I have reviewed this book here before. I read it for the first time in 5^th grade, and many times since. Mrs. Denslow, the most saintly woman who ever taught a class, was my teacher at the time. She wore her hair in a halo braid around her head, with white blouses that buttoned up to her neck. I only mention it because she reminded me so much of the era in which this book takes place. Mrs. Denslow was born about 1904, and would have been the same age as the author, and so I must have felt like I was getting a peek into her world.

“Rascal” is the story of author Sterling North’s 18 months caring for a raccoon whom he named “Rascal” for all of the mischief he got into. He was abandoned by his mother and adopted by the author, who lived with his father in a Victorian house on the edge of a lake in Wisconsin. His father having been widowed when the author was a boy, made for an adventurous childhood, one which included building a canoe in the parlor, much to the chagrin of Mr. North’s older sister Theo. Although she did not live at home any longer, she felt the need to come and visit, criticizing all that she could.

Mr. North bonds with his new friend and they spend the next year and a half getting to know one another. Eventually, as Rascal matures, he hears the call of another, female raccoon and the author is confronted with a dilemma – should he keep the pet that he loves, or love the pet that needs to be set free?

The story takes place in the closing days of the First World War, which is probably another reason this book has endeared itself to me. Along with classics such as “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn”, “Penrod-His Complete Story”, and many others, this book really takes the reader back to a much simpler time, one which you will want to re-visit again and again.

"Beneath Hill 60" with Brandon Cowell and Anthony Hayes (2010)

A gripping, true story highlights this World War One adventure tale set beneath the battlefields of the Western front. The Allies, as well as the Axis powers,  had fought themselves to a stalemate. With over 1 million lives lost by 1916; and no end to the slaughter in sight; it was clearly time to think outside of the box in order to break the deadlock. That’s when they thought of the tunnel.

The Allied Commanders, minus the United States, who would not join them in the war for another year and a half, decided to try and listen in by use of underground tunnels which went far behind enemy lines. This story concerns the tunnel beneath Hill 60 in Belgium. For this mission they enlisted a battalion of experienced, and not so experienced, former mining personnel, who set forth against all odds, to penetrate deep beneath Hill 60.

The movie takes some turns towards being a “docu-drama” when it explores the life of the battalion commander before the ar. That part of the story is wonderfully costumed, with all of the period furnishings; as well as the clothes; expertly duplicated to great effect. But I could’ve lived without it, and at times I wanted to be back in the tunnel with the guys. In real life it’s like that. You don’t necessarily care about what was back home, either for you, or the other guy. That’s a whole different world, one which you can’t afford to think about in order to concentrate on the problem at hand.

Great acting, and realistic background, makes this a good movie for anyone looking to examine more closely what everyday life was for the average soldier in the First World War. I’m one of those. Having never met my Grandfather; who fought in the war; I have always been interested in what he went through. It started when I first read “All Quiet on the Western Front” in Junior High School. That was one of the first pieces of the puzzle for me. This movie helps to fill in another piece of what the war was like for him, and how it changed who he was forever.

"New York at War" by Steven H. Jaffe (2012)

With the exception of the American Revolution, and later the Civil War Draft Riots, New York City has managed to escape the ravages of war. Yet, she has played a major part in every war since Henry Hudson first sailed up the Narrows and into the Hudson River in 1609. Author Steven Jaffe has done an admirable job of chronicling the history of war in the New York during the 4 centuries since then.

Beginning with Henry Hudson sending 5 men to explore the northern reaches of the lower Bay, during which sailor John Colman was killed by an arrow from one of the local Indian tribes, the book takes on the Indian Wars, before delving into the American Revolution. Washington’s retreat from Brooklyn, across Manhattan, is covered very well, as are the “hulks” in Wallabout Bay, the site of today’s Brooklyn Navy Yard. The “hulks” were the British prison ships, aboard which thousands perished from want of food, water, clothing and sheer cruelty on the part of the British.
 
The War of 1812 brought panic to the city, as it prepared for an invasion which never came. The forts which were built during this period made any thought of invading New York from the sea impossible 50 years later when the nation was torn by Civil War.

The Civil War seems almost lacking in the memories of New Yorkers, mainly because no battle was ever fought that far North. But the city teemed with danger during this period as Confederate sympathizers from Canada plotted to burn the city to the ground, destroying the manufacturing, and banking facilities, which enabled the North to cripple the South. That plot was unsuccessful, doing nowhere near the damage caused by the Draft Riots of 1863. Those riots were largely caused by the friction between freed African-Americans, and the newly arrived Irish, as they struggled for jobs. There was also an economic reason behind the riots. Poor white Irish citizens could not afford to pay a substitute to do their fighting, meaning that an unduly large number of the soldiers conscripted were Irish. These riots diverted thousands of troops from Gettysburg, and had the potential of causing the Union to lose the war.

The Spanish-American War was very much a "New York" war. Although there was no violence; or even riots; caused by the war, the war itself was largely the creation of New York newspapers and “yellow journalism.”

The First World War was a bit more complicated for the city. The warring powers were divided into 2 camps; the Allied Powers of England, France, Italy and Russia; and the Central Powers of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire. With the city composed of so many different nationalities, loyalties ran the gamut. The impact of the outbreak of war in Europe was so great, that the stock market was closed for 4 months in fear of a financial panic.

The Irish did not support Britain, hoping that a German victory would give Ireland its freedom. The Jewish population was divided politically. They were hard pressed to back the Allies, who included Russia; and the Czar who caused them to flee their native land; while at the same time many saw the war as the best chance to defeat the Ottoman Empire, thus establishing a Zionist Holy land in Palestine.

Militarily, New York was technically invaded by the Germans, who used early submarines to mine the mouth of the harbor off Coney Island and Sandy Hook, New Jersey. They were also able to cut the underwater cable connecting New York to Nova Scotia, and thus to Europe. 15 ships were sunk by the German submarines within miles of the beaches at Atlantic City and Coney Island. These actions left New York in a state of panic. Milkmen of German descent were not allowed to work their routes along the coast, lest they use the opportunity to signal German ships and submarines waiting off shore.

Even before the United Staes entered the war, the war came to New York. At 2 AM on July 30, 1916, a huge explosion took place when German saboteurs blew up a munitions depot. The explosion was felt, and heard, as far away as Maryland.

By 1920 class warfare invaded Wall Street, largely the result of the inequities between the working class socialists and their capitalist counterparts. The bomb was set off in a wagon full of dynamite and detonated at lunch hour.

World War Two bought back the German U-Boats, which sank ships 10 miles off Brighton Beach. And, with the advent of long range bombing, the city was constantly in a state of blackout. This part of the book rang so true, as my mother had told me all the stories from the war years.

The Harlem riots of 1964; and the later Black Panther movement; when coupled with the Vietnam War protests, had the city  virtually under siege for another decade. Policemen were assassinated in the streets, and plans were made to blow up everything from the Police Station in Lower Manhattan, to all of the major department stores. The goal was to “bring Saigon home”, so that the American people would understand the atrocities of war.

Crime soared throughout the 1970’s and 80’s, fueled largely by the drug trade. But, the 1990’s saw a new kind of threat taking place, just as the city seemed to be revitalizing.  Terrorism began to rear its head with the first attempt to topple the World Trade Center. By 2001, that goal had been accomplished.

Steven Jaffe has done a superb job of laying bare the myth that New York City has always been spared the ravages of war. On the contrary, although bombs did not fall on New York, for every conflict in which she has participated, the city has paid a price. And, remarkably, the city has survived,  and is currently in a state of renaissance, with new buildings going up, while crime and violence are going down.  An engaging read by a veteran  author, this is a book which will educate even the most native of New Yorkers.  For more on Mr. Jaffe, and some of his other work, see his comments posted below.

Shifting Borders In a Changing World

In a world of constantly shifting borders it is often difficult to trace family lineage back through the destruction of the two World Wars that marred the 20th Century, especially in Europe. Throw in Russia's 70 year foray into Communism, along with these shifting borders, and you can run into a real puzzle!

When William and Esther Marcus left Poland for America around 1911, they left Poland. When the Russian Revolution was over and the First World War had ended, the borders had shifted. The same thing happened in the Second World War and then again later, when the Soviet Union collapsed in the late 1980's.

So, over the years I have been descended from Poles/Russian/Poles. And that's just on that side of the family! My second cousin, Jana Marcus, has done a lot of research on this and come up with a new twist. We have another family member we were unaware of, who died in infancy back in Poland in 1902. Here is a part of the e-mail I received yesterday about this new discovery, with some other background info thrown in;

I wanted to share with you some new family history I have discovered.

As you know, William and Esther were from Kishinev (Chisinau), Moldava.

I did some extensive research in the Moldava marriage and birth
records through Jewishgen.org. I found three exciting things:

1. The name of the village they came from in Kishinev is Rashkov

2. William and Esther had a child we didn't know about! Rivka Marcus
was born in Kishinev in 1901, and died on June 8, 1902 of a cerebral
infection. She died a baby, but was born before Minnie and Sophie.

3. I found William and Esther's marriage record. Married in 1895 in
Kishinev, Esther's "old world" maiden name was Saganovskaya. Her
father was Yosef Saganovskaya. This led me to a search for
Saganovskaya, and I discovered the following:

Yosef Saganovskaya, son of Pinkos Saganovskaya, was born abt. 1848
in Gaysin, Vinnitsa, Ukraine. He had three children:

Avrum Saganovskaya
Jankel Saganovskaya
Esther Saganovskaya

Avrum Saganovskaya married Rakehl Edya and had the following children:

Pinkhos Saganovskaya ( b. 1894)
Yankel Saganovskaya (b. 1896)
Sura Sarah Saganovskaya ( b. 1899)
Sheyndlya Saganovskaya ( b.1904)
Yosef Saganovskaya (b. 1907)

Jankel Saganovskaya ( wife unnknown) had one child that I could find:

Shlioma Saganovskaya (b.1900)

Noticed how many children were named Pinkhos and Yankel or a variation of...interesting, uh? So, we have gone two more generations on Esther's side!

Happy trails to you all,
Jana
--
Jana Marcus Photography
www.janamarcus.com

With this new information, Jana has established my family tree as far back as the 1840's on the Marcus (maternal) side. The Henkin side of that tree is shrouded in mystery with no one left to tell the story. And anyway, I like the mystery better, as it probably trumps the reality.

On my paternal side, we have information and Census forms dating back to the 1850's for the Burke's (my Dad's maternal side), and on the Williams' side we can trace our roots to the mid 1800's in Wales and England.

I never get tired of this stuff. The past is where we all come from and a large piece of who we are and where we are headed. Eventually we are all going to come around to the realization that we are all related. That doesn't mean we are going to love one another in the blink of an eye. But it is the beginning of becoming aware that we are all truly connected in one way or another. So don't judge your neighbors too harshly - you just might be related...

"A Measureless Peril" by Richard Snow

This book kind of ties in with the last one. I read them concurrently and was surprised at how many of the principals of the Second World War had played a large part in the First World War.

After the stunning German Naval Victory at Jutland in 1916, the German Navy did very little. It remained bottled up and neglected, until the point where crews were staging mutinies to avoid going back to sea. As a common soldier, Hitler detested the Navy, and as a Submariner so did German Admiral Donetz. He considered the U-boats to be independent of the Navy. When Hitler made him Admiral,he concentrated on the U-boats to the exclusion of the surface ships.In doing so, he effectively cut the German supply line to the outside world. That they made this mistake two wars in a row, and only 20 years apart, by neglecting their navy is astonishing.

The book chronicles the war in the Atlantic from January 1942 through 1944. Much of the action takes place off Coney Island in Brooklyn, New York where I grew up. No doubt this added to the allure of the book for me. I grew up on stories of ships exploding within sight of the beach and the U-boats that sank them. These stories, no doubt, fueled my desire to go to sea later in life.

It is also the story of the 5 individual U-boats that were doing all this damage 5 miles from our shore. The deprivation, the close quarters, all are written of here in detail, but with a writer's flair for the colorful thrown in. In addition the author manages to encompass the oft untold tale of the more than 40,000 Merchant Mariners who gave their lives transporting the goods of war to the European theater of operations. Without them we could not have won the war.

At the same time, the author is able to give us the history of the Lend lease Act and tell us how President Roosevelt, on the advice of Admiral Stark, met with Churchill and worked it all out. We would begin supplying the British, reducing our status as a "neutral" nation. As a consequence of this, the Germans would henceforth start sinking American merchant vessels. The last one before Pearl Harbor was the Rubeun James, in November of 1941. Woody Guthrie, a merchant seaman himself, wrote the famous song about the sinking, titled "Sinking of the Ruben James."

As if all this is not enough, the book is also about the birth of the modern anti-submarine technology that helped America win the Cold War over 40 years later. New weapons and ships needed to be designed, and built quickly in order for us to not lose control of the Atlantic for the re-supply of our troops. To do so would have brought the war to our shores, with longstanding consequences.

As a former member of the US Navy, and as a licensed Merchant Mariner, I can heartily recommend this book to anyone interested in either the sea, or history. It is obvious that I enjoyed this book.

"The Wolf" by Richard Guilliatt and Peter Hohnen

World War One was the last war which was fought with any "civility." The story of the Christmas Eve Truce in 1914 comes to mind. That was when the soldiers in the trenches began singing Christmas Carols and slowly emerged to share with one another, food, wine and photographs of loved ones. Several hours later they went back to killing.

But of all the stories from the Great War, the one that has always fascinated me the most was the story of the German Raider "Wolf." This was an ordinary freighter disguised as a neutral ship. She would plow the seas, making a 64,000 mile journey in search of ships to seize. The ships were emptied of anything that the Germans could use, the passengers and crew were taken aboard Wolf and the other vessel sunk.

The German Navy, after her stunning victory at Jutland in 1916, would be largely absent from the remainder of the war. The new submarines, or U-boats as they came to be known, were doing all the "heavy lifting" while the fleet remained in and around German waters. This was an extreme frustration to German Naval Officers, who finally hatched a plan.

This plan was mainly the idea of Captain Karl Nerger. He oversaw the upfit of the "Wolf", including large tanks for storing fuel. It was his intention to never touch land until his return to Germany. His voyage would last 444 days and take his ship to all corners of the world. She sailed, and prevailed, in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans, seizing coal and provisions from all she encountered. By the end of the voyage she was carrying 400 prisoners. Some of these were men, women and children taken off the merchant vessels.

Being so long at sea there was some interaction betwen crew and prisoners. There were even some romances. There was also a "split" system for holding prisoners. After the first vessel is seized and sunk off San Francisco, the Captain of the stricken vessel along with his wife and daughter, are given a private cabin that had been the home of 2 Officers. But as the ship becomes increasingly crowded, things change. Captured ships crews are held below decks in deplorable conditions, while above deck the Officers and wives of the Merchant ships are treated well.

Laying mines and running British blockades are two more of the many perils which give this book the suspense and edge that keep you reading. Just one more page....

When the ship runs aground off of neutral Norway enroute home, things become chaotic. The neutral countries refuse to help her off the sandbar. They also refuse to help her with anything that might violate their own neutrality. This sparks an international political crisis. The passengers/prisoners are finally released and the ship eventually does make it back to Kiel. The followups on the various principals in this story are very intersting as well. Written in an easy and engaging style, this book will give you quite a ride into the past.

While the nature of war never changes, the nature of the people who fight them does. That is the sad lesson I have taken from this book.

Plain Speaking-An Oral Autobiography by Harry S. Truman with Merle Miller

This is a book that I return to from time to time in order to clarify an historical point or opinion. I don't do politics here. But I am an active follower of what is happening in the news. And this book proves that the only thing new is the history you don't know.

This book is also essential to understanding not only the history of Post World War Two and how it affects us even today, it is also a passionate history of America. And it is told by the last President to not have a college degree. A failed businessman from the racially divided Kansas-Missouri border who went on to desegregate the Armed Forces while his mother in law (who had been a prisoner of the Union at Andersonville)railed against him as a traitor.

This book will make you feel as if your Grandfather is in the room and talkng to you-it's that personable. His experiences as a Gunnery Captain in World War One are truly captivating. So are his accounts of chasing down graft during World War Two and his battle with Glenn L. Martin over defective aircraft knowingly being sent into battle.

His humbleness at finding himself the Leader of the Free World at the close of World war Two is refreshingly innocent. He had been in the dark about the Manhattan Project and now had to make some fateful and momentous decisions. He would more than measure up.

The book came about in 1962 as a result of a TV special that one of the networks did in Independence, Missouri at the Trumans home. Merle Miller had interviewed the President before and they had an easy relationship. This enabled Truman to let loose with history, opinion, fact and his feelings about the Bomb, creating the CIA and what it would mean to America.(His only regret by the way is having created the CIA.)

The history of the division of the States and the War Between them is fascinating. He was married into a family that had suffered greatly at the hands of Union raiders in the cross border Kansas-Missouri conflict. His mother in law, who despised him as worthless, was a prisoner at Andersonville and he goes into some detail of the horrors she endured there.

His first hand accounts of the legendary confrontations with General MacArthur are piceless. His take on the best and worst Pesidents will amaze you in it's logic.

A self educated man who had read all of mythology and every classic from Plato on, his unigue take was summed up in this quote; "The only thing new is the history you don't know."

This is the man who with a penstroke ensured that Israel would be recognized by the UN in 1947 as an Independent Jewish State. He was greatly influenced in this by an old friend and Army buddy named Eddie Jacobsen. And all this was going on at the time of the Berlin Airlift and the newly founded Cold War!

He also created the Middle Class in America with the passage of the GI BIll at the end of the war.

His simple vision and common sense attitude is sorely missing in todays political environment-on both sides of the aisle! Like I said, I don't do politics here. This is history and has much to offer in that regard. You will bask in the warmth in which it is served up. And learn quite a bit in the bargain.