This is the vivid story of men at all levels-from the captain to the seamen-and the Japanese they faced in battle, first at the Marianas in June 1944 and finally on October 25, 1944, during the Battle of Leyte Gulf. In that engagement, the Navy bloodied the Japanese sorely, but at a grim price: The Gambier Bay became the only U.S. aircraft carrier in World War II to be sunk by naval gunfire. The story of the Gambier Bay is a tale of uncommon courage under fire.
BOOK REVIEW BY: Tin Can Sailors - The National Association of Destroyer Veterans Reviewer: Bernie Ditter Overall Rating: Four Stars: Highly recommended. An excelllent book. Ron Burt writes a compelling story about his older brother's heroism and injuries received at the hands of Kamikaze direct hits on two ships, about his brother's recovery from those injuries and about his own efforts to gather the information necessary to support the process to have his brother awarded the Navy Cross and Silver Star. His brother, Pete Burt, was on the USS OMMANEY BAY (CVE-79) when it was sunk by a Kamikaze attack. While he was in the water following the order to abandon ship he gathered ten non-swimmers and kept them together until rescued. The officer on the whaleboat told Pete that he planned to recommend him for the medals. Following his rescue he was transferred to the USS COLUMBIA (CL-56) where two days later it too was struck by a Kamikaze attack resulting in the injuries sustained by Pete Burt. He was to survive fifty surgeries and twenty-two and one half months in hospitals and nearly a lifetime of post traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD). During much of this time his brother Ron, a four year Navy veteran of the Korean Conflict and a tin can sailor (USS SHELTON (DD-790), spent years of research and writing his account of his efforts to locate veterans who could corroborate Pete's heroism. He contacted the Navy, veteran's organizations, his congressman, placed ads in veterans magazines and contacted numerous veterans by phone, mail and in person. He went to the reunion of the survivors of the OMMANY attack in 1990 and spoke to the nearly 120 veterans and their families who were there. The result is a book that is unique in that it puts a face to the Kamikaze pilots who committed these atrocities, provides vivid first person accounts of the experience (as painful as they are) and gives us a hero that we can all identify with, one who was there and who lived through it with grace. This is a book that will make you think about war in all of its ugliness. Availability: Amazon.com * * * This book (with 28 photographs) is about my brother, Pete Burt, a survivor of four Japanese kamikaze crashes while on board the USS Ommaney Bay (CVE-79) and the USS Columbia (CL-56). These two ships encountered countless attacks from the kamikazes. The Ommaney Bay was sunk while the Columbia sustained three hits, seriously injuring Pete. He was pronounced dead twice, unconscious for 7 days and hospitalized for 22 1/2 months, undergoing 50 operations during that period. He suffered from PTSD for 32 years. For 44 years, he contended that the kamikaze pilot was a woman. Research uncovers a unique aspect of the kamikaze that has remained dormant for years. * * * The Dept. of The Navy has deposited "Kamikaze Nightmare" in their Operational Archives Branch to allow for its preservation and availability to researchers. The book is a fine addition to the Center's World War II Collections and is especially valuable because it adds a personal dimension that is lacking from the official records. Ltr. Aug 1995. * * * Ron Burt holds a Bachelor of Science in Commerce degree from Texas Christian University. A Korean War Veteran, he served on board two vessels, a patrol frigate, the USS Burlington (PF-51) and a destroyer, the USS Shelton (DD-790), from December 1950 to May 1954. He made four cruises to the Far East during that period and earned five combat stars while in Korea. He was on board the Shelton on February 22, 1952, while that ship was defending the island of Yang Do, near Songin, North Korea, from further invasion attempts by the North Korean Communists. The Shelton suffered four direct hits and fifty near hits from five mobile shore battery guns resulting in twelve casualties.
A detailed account of the heroic naval battle between Rear Admiral Clifton A.F. Sprague's Task Unit 77.4.3 and Vice Admiral Takeo Kurita's Imperial Japanese Navy Centre Force on Wednesday, 25 October 1944.
Popularly known as the Douglas Dauntless, the U.S. Navy's SBD dive bomber was well named. Though considered obsolete at the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Dauntless turned the tide of war in the Pacific with the destruction of four Japanese carriers at the Battle of Midway, making its mark in aviation history for sinking more enemy carriers than any other aircraft. Still in service at war's end, the Dauntless was the only U.S. carrier aircraft in operation from Pearl Harbor to V-J Day. The Dauntless was the only American Navy aircraft to fly in al five of the naval engagements fought exclusively by aircraft carriers and was credited with sinking the first Japanese fleet submarine and dropping the first bombs on Japanese-occupied soil during the war. The SBD was also active in the Atlantic, sinking Vichy French shipping at Casablanca and German vessels in Scandinavian waters. In between his authoritative accounts of these missions, Barrett Tillman tells the rousing story of the men who took the "slow but deadly" Dauntless into combat, loving her for her ruggedness and dependability while wishing for more speed and firepower. Among the people he describes is the pilot who nearly single-handedly knocked out a Japanese carrier and died in the process, and SBD squadron that flew unexpectedly into the Pearl Harbor attack. Filled with fascinating photographs, this book was widely acclaimed in 1976 when first published and is now available for the first time in paperback.
The author of The Great Railway Bazaar explores the South Pacific by kayak: “This exhilarating epic ranks with [his] best travel books” (Publishers Weekly). In one of his most exotic and adventuresome journeys, travel writer Paul Theroux embarks on an eighteen-month tour of the South Pacific, exploring fifty-one islands by collapsible kayak. Beginning in New Zealand's rain forests and ultimately coming to shore thousands of miles away in Hawaii, Theroux paddles alone over isolated atolls, through dirty harbors and shark-filled waters, and along treacherous coastlines. Along the way, Theroux meets the king of Tonga, encounters street gangs in Auckland, and investigates a cargo cult in Vanuatu. From Australia to Tahiti, Fiji, Easter Island, and beyond, this exhilarating tropical epic is full of disarming observations and high adventure.
Drawing on oral histories, diaries, correspondence, postwar testimony from both American and Japanese participants, and interviews with survivors, Thomas provides this riveting account of the Battle of Leyte Gulf in 1944, the culminating battle of the war in the Pacific. Photos.
This black and white edtion tells the story of the Naval Battle of Leyte Gulf. It is based in large part on action reports of the American ships that fought in the battle that were recently declassified in 2012. Also, the Japanese action reports available were translated and contributed greatly to the text. All available written and video veteran interviews were consulted. Timelines for each ship and squadron were created and contributed to the creative process. A composite course plot was created in a Geographic Information System and used to generate detailed and accurate diagrams of the battle. It is an exciting retelling of one of the most amazing battles in history.
