Tell a little about yourself
I was born in Chicago and spend the first 18 years
of my life there. I eventually moved to rural Mendota, Illinois and
spent the next five years working as a draftsman and going to school.
When I finally graduated from the community college, I moved back up
to the Chicago area to further my education and eventually got my Bachelors
Degree from Northeastern Illinois University. I worked at the university library for two and a half years
before becoming a university police officer at Northeastern. I have
been a police officer for the last nineteen years. I married my wife,
Susan, in August of 1999 and we have no children.
What got you interested in WWII history?
I got interested in WWII Pacific as a kid. I grew up in a German neighborhood
in Chicago and instead of re-fighting the "Germans" in WWII,
we always fought the "Japanese." As I grew older, I began
to read more and more about the Pacific campaigns and realized that
there was a lot more to it than what I was hearing in school. I had
a couple of good friends whose fathers were in the Army in the Pacific.
Unfortunately, everybody thinks of the Pacific as being a war fought
by the Navy and the Marines. Everybody forgets about the huge and vital
contributions of the Army and Air Force.
Did veteran relatives play a part in your interest?
No. My father was born in 1930 and was too young to
fight in WW II. His older brother was diabetic so he did not fight either.
The only WW II connection that I got is through a great-uncle. He was
a genius and was recruited to work with the War Department deciphering
German codes.
Why
did you write Fortress Against the Sun?
I have always been interested in the B-17 Flying
Fortress. I think it is one of the prettiest planes ever built, if not
THE prettiest. And, of course, it is one of the toughest birds! I am
a big reader and have always collected and read books on the B-17. Unfortunately,
I noticed that there was never any in depth coverage of the role of
the B-17 in the Pacific. It was mentioned here or there and then right
away the book went on to cover the 8th Air Force in England. (You also
never find much on the Mediterranean B-17s.) I knew that the B-17 was
used extensively in the Pacific, from the first day at Pearl Harbor
to the surrender of Japan, yet it was very hard for me to find much
on the subject. So, since I had a number of books with a bit of information
here and a bit of information there, and since I had a number of magazine
articles about Pacific B-17s, I decided to to some heavy research and
contact a few veterans and write a book myself!
My first approach was to try and contact the Pacific
B-17 veterans. I ran small advertisements in the numerous Pacific Bomb
Group and Bomb Squadron newsletters. A number of veterans saw my ad
and wrote me right away. In turn, they contacted some of their friends
and told them to write to me also. Believe me, Fortress Against
the Sun could not have been written without the overwhelming help
of the veterans. They all gave me such great stories, and some wonderful
never-before-published photographs. I really owe them a lot. My main
research took place at the Air Force Historical Research Agency at Maxwell
Air Force Base, Alabama. I took two trips down there and spent one week
each time. I must have spent $50.00 on a five cent photocopy machine
each time I went! I wanted to collect and cover everything, from day-to-day
combat reports, to reports on the highly-corrosive Dutch East Indies
fuel that the planes were forced to use in early 1942! It was cheaper
to copy everything and sort it out at home than to take another trip
to Maxwell just because I passed something over!
Share a little bit about your research process
for the book
I did speak to a number of veterans on the telephone
and record their stories. I did not attend any of the Fifth Air Force
reunions since most of the men are B-24 and B-25 veterans. As some of
the Pacific B-17 vets say, "There are very few of us left anymore."
You have to remember that the Pacific B-17s were mostly used during
the first two years of the war before they were phased out in favor
of the longer range B-24s and later, the B-29s. Most of the Pacific
B-17 vets were already in their early or mid-twenties when the war broke
out. Most of them had been in the service for a couple of years already.
By the time the war ended, the Pacific B-17 vets were "the old
guys." And, unfortunately, very few of them are around today.
What attracts you to Pacific B-17 stories are largely forgotten in the shadow of
ETO?
However, I must admit that as my writing progressed, I became
more and more fascinated with the B-17C and D models. I had always liked
the B-17E and F (I hate the ugly chin turret of the B-17G!) but my admiration
seemed to grow when I saw what the early B-17Cs and Ds did in the Philippines
and Java. They had no tail guns and the rough little belly bathtub gun,
and yet, very few of the planes were actually shot down during aerial
combat. The Japanese quickly learned that the best way to destroy a
B-17 is to catch it on the ground, before it ever has a chance to take
off!
It has always disturbed me that the Pacific B-17s got
such little publicity. If you read through my book you will see numerous
instances of heroism. Yet, only three B-17 crewmen from the Pacific
won the Medal of Honor. Those men faced an enemy that was arguably more
tenacious and ruthless than their brethren in the 8th Air Force, yet
the Pacific B-17 men got very little press and only a handful of noticable
awards.
People fail to realize what a bad situation we were
in immediately after Pearl Harbor and the Japanese attack on the Philippines.
With the loss most of our battleships at Pearl Harbor, we had only two
major offensive weapons to try and stem the Japanese tide in the Pacific:
the submarine and the B-17 bomber. And, although, in reality, it must
be pointed out that the B-17 failed miserably in high altitude bombing
against the Japanese, the planes and her crews kept pecking at the Japanese
and making life uncomfortable for them as they slowly expanded their
territorial gains.
People should remember that it was the Pacific B-17s
that rescued MacArthur and President Quezon from the Philippines. It
was the Pacific B-17s that flew the first successful skip-bombing missions
for the United States. And, it was the Pacific B-17s that helped stop
the Japanese at Midway, Coral Sea, Bismarck Sea, and dozens of other
places when America had almost nothing else to throw into the fight.
While the role of the Pacific B-17s in these naval battles was not highly
effective or significant, they none-the-less were there and the veterans
who flew those planes should never be forgotten!
Any reader who reads my book will undoubtedly be surprised to find out
just how much of a role the B-17 had in the Pacific. When I started
my research I knew that the B-17 was used quite extensively between
1941 and mid-1943. However, once I really began to gather information
and look into everything, even I was amazed at how extensive the use
of the B-17 had been! From 1941 through mid-1943 the B-17 was used in
every major conflict between the Japanese and the United States. The
B-17 was instrumental in wrecking Japanese attempts to reinforce New
Guinea and to capture Port Moresby, and sank dozens and dozens of ships
in Rabaul Harbor.
At the same time, the crews of the Pacific B-17s were
discovering the strengths and the weaknesses of their planes, which
were then incorporated in the thousands of B-17s that eventually flew
over Europe. The Pacific B-17s were the "trial and error"
planes for the Mighty Eighth! And, through the numerous letters, interviews,
and reminiscences provided by the Pacific B-17 veterans, I hope that
Fortress Aginst the Sun gives a reader a more fuller understanding
of the important role of the B-17 Flying Fortress in the Pacific in
World War
Share about your next book project
I am currently working on a book about Army tank battalions
in the Pacific. Again, here is a little known subject of the Pacific War.
While most everyone has herd about the massive use of armor by Generals
Rommel and Patton in Europe and North Africa, very few people have ever
heard about the use of Army tanks in the Pacific. When you mention Pacific
tanks, most people look at you as though you are crazy. "Weren't
most of the battles fought in the jungle?
How can you get a tank into the jugle?" Well,
you'd be surprised. Again, the Army tank battalions were there from
the beginning: from Clark Field in the Philippines to the last battle
at Okinawa, and almost every land battle in between. Wherever the Army
infantry went, the Army tank battalions were right beside them. (And
in some case out in front of them!) I am about half way done with my book but I would still
be interested in hearing from any veteran of a Pacific tank battalion.
Like my B-17 book, I want to tell the story of the Army tanks from the
view of the tank crews. I can gather all kinds of information from the
National Archives, but that is only the skeleton. It is the words of the veterans that puts the muscle
and the skin on top of that!
Is there anything PWD can help you with locating
veterans?
I would be hoping that a number of veterans
and/or their loved ones are tuned in to PWD. If so, I would appreciate
it if any Pacific Army tankers would contact me. And, while I am at
it, I have plans in the future to write a book about Pacific parachute
drops (both US and Japanese), and about the West Loch Explosion at Pearl
Harbor in May 1944, and even about Typhoon Louise that hit Okinawa in
October 1945.
What has captivated you about army tanks in the
Pacific?
I think the thing that captivates me about the Pacifc
Army tanks is the fact that they were everywhere and yet very few people
now about them. Like the Marine Corps tankers, the Army tankers had
to fight in extreme conditions (buttoned up inside a tank in 100-degree
temperatures) and go up against a tenacious enemy that was willing to
become a suicide bomber to try and disable one of these fighting vehicles.
As for highlights, I am simply captivated by the actions of the 192nd
and 194th Tank Battalions in the Philippines in 1941-42. Those men went
into the war with very little training (being National Guardsmen) and
with brand new tanks. They literally had to go through "on the
job training." Yet, while the Philippine army was falling apart,
(except for the excellent Philippine Scouts) the tankers from the 192nd
and 194th TBs were called on more and more to plug a hole or hold a
line until a new defensive position could be formed. I suppose the fact
that I grew up in northwest Chicago, not far from the suburb of Maywood,
Illinois, where Company B, 192nd TB, came from plays a little bit in
my bias for these two battalions. As a kid I remember climbing on the
Stuart M-3 tank parked in the memorial park. Now, of course, it is a more reverent place for me.
Any other forthcoming or future projects in the
works?
I guess I answered this question above. If I ever
find the time, I would like to turn out a book on Pacific parachute
jumps, on the explosion of the ammunition ships in the West Loch at
Pearl Harbor in May 1944, and on Typhoon Louise that his Okinawa in
October 1945. All of these events have been passed over in the history
books and I feel that the world has a right to know about each one. And, if we don't talk to the veterans now, and get their
words down on paper or on a recorder, they will soon be lost forever.
Our World War II veterans are not getting any younger! I
would just like to add that Fortress Against the Sun is
actually my second book. My first book was entitled Disaster
on the Mississippi :The Sultana Explosion, April 27, 1865 Again,
this book dealt with a little known incident in history that I felt
deserves a better fate than to be lost forever.
