About Jeff Grim

http://collectedmiscellany.com/author/jeff-grim/

Jeff has been a reader all of his life. He has had a particular interest in military history, any war at any time. His fascination with military history has brought him to an interest in historical fiction.

Posts by Jeff Grim:

Sep 19 2011

Pacific Air by David Sears

Pacific Air: How Fearless Flyboys, Peerless Aircraft, and Fast Flattops Conquered the Skies in the War with Japan by David Sears is popular history at its best.  Sears does an excellent job of writing about the American effort to defeat Japan during World War II in an easy-to-read format.

In explaining why the Americans won the war, Sears writes about the American pilots who became aces and developed the air tactics that helped defeat the vaunted Zero.  These pilots include John “Jimmie” Thach who invented the fighter and wingman tactics still used today and Edward “Butch” O’Hare, the Navy’s first combat ace.  Although the stories about these pilots are somewhat disjointed, they are very engaging.

Not only does Sears write about American pilots, but he also includes the perspective of Japanese pilots via Imperial Japanese Navy pilot Saburo Sakai – a highly decorated pilot who survived the war with the loss of vision in one eye.  Sears describes, through the words of Sakai,  the Japanese pilots’ elation in dominating the Allies at the beginning of the war and, conversely, their total dismay when the tables were turned at the end of the war.

In addition to the pilots, Sears touches on the development of a few Navy fighters, especially the F4F Wildcat.  The writing on the development of the F2F, F3F, and F4F is very interesting.  Sears writes how Grumman (a small start-up company in the 1930s) was able to beat Boeing for the Navy’s first solely designed carrier-based aircraft.

As with many popular histories, accuracy is somewhat sacrificed.  There is more than one inaccurate statement in the book.  For example, Sears writes about the armored decking of U.S. aircraft carriers when in actuality the decks were made of wood planking (pine).  Many of the misstatements are minor, but they add up to be an annoyance.

Overall, this book is very entertaining.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher.  I was not required to write a positive review.  The opinions expressed herein are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with Federal Trade Commision regulations.

By Jeff Grim • Reviews • 0 • Tags: , , , , , ,

Sep 5 2011

Hitler in the Crosshairs: A GI’s Story of Courage and Faith by John Woodbridge and Maurice Possley

Hitler in the Crosshairs: A GI’s Story of Courage and Faith by John Woodbridge and Maurice Possley recounts the life of Ira “Teen” Palm, a man who grew up during the Depression and went off to fight in Europe during World War II.

The book is more about Palm’s relationships with his wife Helen and his pastor Charles Woodbridge (John is Charles’s son) and his deepening faith than it is about Palm’s experiences in World War II.  Through his relationship with Woodbridge, Palm came to know Christ.  Following the war (after a brief hiatus), Palm decided to pursue a career in the Army.  The authors recount how Ira and Helen shared their faith to others in the military and how they were active in the Officers’ Christian Union.

Regarding Palm’s experiences during World War II, the book is somewhat mistitled because Palm never had Hitler in his crosshairs.   I am not quite sure where the title comes from – other than a tangential connection between Palm and a German resistance member who had Hitler in his crosshairs, but could not pull the trigger for fear of hitting a child.

An interesting sidenote to Palm’s story is described by the authors in the latter part of the book.  Toward the end of the war, Palm and a few men were sent to capture or kill Hitler at one of his many homes in Munich.  They never found Hitler, but Palm did find one of Hitler’s greatest treasures – a gold pistol given to him by the Nazi Party. The authors explain the journey of the pistol from Palm to Charles Woodbridge to being stolen and then possibly resurfacing years later (it is unclear if a similar pistol discovered recently is the one Palm once owned).

Overall, I think the book is a great story for Palm’s family – there is a little too much  family history that I think most readers will not find very interesting.  However, it is an inspiring story that chronicles a man’s walk in Christ and how this walk got him through many tight spots during World War II.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Zondervan.  I was not required to write a positive review.  The opinions expressed herein are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with Federal Trade Commision regulations.

By Jeff Grim • Reviews • 0 • Tags: , , ,

Aug 25 2011

Skorzeny’s Special Missions: The Memoirs of Hitler’s Most Daring Commando by Otto Skorzeny

The central figure in developing and leading Germany’s commandos during World War II was Otto Skorzeny.  He will be forever known for his leadership of the German team that rescued Mussolini from Italian imprisonment in 1943.  However, he also was instrumental in many of Germany’s most pivotal events during the war.  He writes about his adventures in Skorzeny’s Special Missions: The Memoirs of Hitler’s Most Daring Commando.  (The book was originally published in 1957 and now republished for the first time in the United States.)

I am always a little wary of memoirs (especially ones that do not have other sources to support the person’s claims) because it sometimes hard to verify whether the author is telling the truth.  Some of  Skorzeny’s claims must be viewed with some skepticism, but I think the vast majority of this book can be taken on its face.  He meticulously explains the planning for the Mussolini rescue and how there was doubt on the mission’s success all the way until his men secured Mussolini.  According to Skorzeny, he halfway expected to not survive the mission.

The book’s strength centers around the main operations that Skorzeny planned and led.  Not only was he instrumental in the success of freeing Mussolini, but he also stopped Hungarian regent Admiral Horthy from signing a peace treaty with Stalin.  This operation was especially difficult because of the short time for planning and the risks involved if he failed (the German Eastern Front would have been severely compromised with Hungary out of the war).

His most controversial operation was during the Battle of the Bulge when men from his unit (dressed as American soldiers) infiltrated American lines and caused great confusion for the Allies.  During the operation, one of Skorzeny’s comrades was captured and claimed the operation was to assassinate Eisenhower – this caused Eisenhower’s bodyguards to refuse to allow him from leaving his headquarters for several days during the battle.

Skorzeny also touches on some other special operation projects that the German leadership did not pursue.  These included sabotaging the Suez Canal, sending manned V-1 rockets as suicide bombers against the Allies, and supporting more missions to the Middle East to foment rebellion or disrupt the Allied flow of oil.

Unfortunately, the book does not cover Skorzeny’s life after his release from Allied imprisonment after the war.  He does not describe his deep involvement in ODESSA – the operation to smuggle Nazi war criminals out of Europe to South America (he escaped to South America after being freed).  He took his involvement to the grave.

 

Disclosure:  I received a free copy of this book for review purposes.  This free copy in no way influenced my review.

By Jeff Grim • Reviews • 0

Aug 18 2011

Battle for the City of the Dead by Colonel Dick Camp

Since the start of  the Iraq War, I have been fascinated  in how the U.S. has executed operations in that War.  I have read about battles in Baghdad and Fallujah, but nothing on the Marine/Army assault on Najaf in 2004 until now.  Battle for the City of the Dead: In the Shadow of the Golden Dome, Najaf, August 2004 (320 pages with 132 color photographs and 10 maps) by Colonel Dick Camp is an excellent narrative of the fight to take the city and the effort to neutralize Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and his Mahdi Militia.

Here is a brief description from the publisher’s website:

In the spring and summer of 2004, Iraq was coming apart at the seams. Sectarian violence pitted Shiite against Sunni. American proconsul L. Paul Bremer had disbanded the Iraqi Army, placing disgruntled young men on the street without jobs or the prospect of getting one. Their anger developed into a full-blown insurgency fed by a relentless campaign by the clergy for jihad against the “occupation force.” In August, a Shiite cleric named Muqtada Al-Sadr called upon his thousands of armed followers, the Mahdi Militia, to resist the occupation. Fighting broke out in several locations, including the holy city of Najaf, the site of the largest Moslem cemetery in the world, and the Imam Ali Mosque. The U.S. forces fought in 120-degree heat through a tangle of crypts, mausoleums, and crumbling graves. The fight was brutal, pitting religious zealots against the highly motivated and disciplined U.S. Army and Marine Corps troops. It makes for a riveting account of Americans in battle.

Camp perfectly captures the soldiers and Marines tasked with taking Najaf back from the Mahdi Militia.  The Marines, many of whom were veterans of the initial invasion of Iraq, had to adjust their fighting skills to an urban environment.  The urban environment required them to be on high alert for attacks not only in the front, but also behind and below from the burial crypts – I can’t imagine the exhaustion from the concentration, stress, and heat.  Camp conveys the utter exhaustion the Marines felt in fighting in 100 plus degree temperatures – the feeling of roasting in their body armor.

The Army Cav soldiers needed to adjust their mechanized tactics to take into account the close confines of the cemetery.  Camp explains how the tanks and armored personnel carriers were forced to take specific routes through the cemetery because of the limited avenues in the cemetery.  Because the Cav units were heavy on the mechanized and light on the infantry, they were in some situations that jeopardized the armor (not enough infantry support to protect the armor from the Mahdi light infantry) – this was somewhat alleviated by the addition of more infantry support.

Despite all that the Militia threw at them, the soldiers and Marines proved time and again why we have the best military in the world.  Our men were often outnumbered, but they were able to not only defeat the Militia, but do it in an overwhelming fashion.  Camp highlights another unique feature of the American armed forces – the men and women will do everything they can and use every type of ordinance in order to defend their fellow warriors.  Camp recounts a number of instances where the full (well almost the full) power of the U.S. military was unleashed in order to protect Americans in a tight spot.

Camp touches on an issue that is a sore point for members of our military – the rules of engagement.  During the battle, the rules restricted any fire near the Imam Ali Mosque (the restricted zone became smaller as the battle progressed) – the place where al-Sadr was supposedly holed up.  Camp explains that as a result of these rules, U.S. forces were put in more danger.  The Mahdi Militia would fire from the Mosque with impunity because they knew they could not be touched in the Mosque.  Camp highlights many examples where a soldier or Marine was either killed or wounded because of these restrictions.

I know that our military should be sensitive to a country’s religious, historical, and cultural sites, but at what cost when the enemy uses them as bases for offensive operations against our troops?

I received a free copy of this book for this review.  However, this did not influence my opinion of the book.

By Jeff Grim • Reviews • 0

Aug 11 2011

Known and Unknown: A Memoir by Donald Rumsfeld

My most recent read is about a very polarizing figure in the George W. Bush Administration – Donald Rumsfeld.  His book, Known and Unknown: A Memoir, chronicles his life – mainly his political life.  It is not a quick read by any imagination at 726 pages, but it flows well for the most part.

The book is divided into 14 parts which generally cover his childhood, Navy career, Congressional terms, various roles in the Nixon and Ford Administrations, private sector career, and stint as Secretary of Defense in the Bush Administration.  A majority of the book (close to 500 pages) covers his years in the Bush Administration.

One word describes Rumsfeld’s political life – fascinating.  He was obviously an important player in the Bush Administration, but I did not know how influential he was in his earlier political career - especially in the Nixon and Ford Administrations. He had relatively minor roles in the Nixon Administration until he was appointed U.S. Ambassador to NATO.  Under Ford, he was the Whitehouse Chief of Staff and then the Secretary of Defense.  In each of these roles, he brought his own style of leadership – allowing his subordinates to do their jobs without much interference from him unless they screwed up.

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