WWII Roundtable Books

In Dick Klobuchar's Pearl Harbor: Awakening of A Sleeping Giant, he presents details of the Japanese surprise attack, casualties, and responses by American forces stationed at Pearl Harbor. But the book also factually points out key perspectives on the results of the attack, as well as a collection of lesser known experiences and stories of December 7, 1941. Klobuchar has authored a number of articles and has made many presentations on his books. He is a civil engineer, retired from the Minnesota Department of Transportation.

[Order at any bookstore; Published 2003; Authorhouse, Bloomington, IN]

The USS Ward: An Operational History of the Ship that Fired the First American Shot of WWII, by Dick Klobuchar, details not only the historically important sinking of a Japanese midget submarine just outside Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, very shortly before the surprise Japanese aerial attack, but also traces the full wartime service of the USS Ward. The USS Ward was very heavily manned by Minnesotans. Klobuchar has met extensively with these veterans to assemble this story which has never before been told in this detail. He also presented the USS Ward story at the official dedication of the Minnesota WWII Memorial at the state capitol in June 2007.

[Order at any bookstore or request a blank order form from www.mcfarlandpub.com; Published 2006; McFarland Publishers, NC]

The USCG: 1790 to Present (Published 2004) is a well researched narrative history of the United States Coast Guard. The same thorough treatment is continued in Ostrom’s second book, The USCG: On the Great Lakes (Published 2006, Red Anvil Press). Both of these histories tell of the challenging and surprising diversity of the Coast Guard mission, and include WWII service. Ostrom’s books have been reviewed favorably in the prestigious United States Naval Institute’s Proceedings. In addition to these books Ostrom has written a number of articles for various magazines. Prior to retirement Ostrom taught history, geography, and anthropology at Rochester Community and Technical College, and is a member of the U.S. Coast Guard Reserve.

[Books are available on www.amazon.com or at your favorite bookseller]

At home and overseas, the United States Coast Guard served a variety of vital functions in World War II, providing service that has been too little recognized in histories of the war. Teaming up with other international forces the Coast Guard provided crew members for Navy and Army vessels as well as its own, carried troops, food, and military supplies overseas, and landed Marine and Army units on distant and dangerous shores.This thorough history details those and other important missions, including combat at Pearl Harbor, the Alaskan Aleutian Islands, the beaches of Normandy, the Mediterranean Sea, and the Pacific island campaigns against Axis forces, kamikaze attacks, and typhoons. It also describes how the home front presented its own unique dangers and challenges, as Coast Guard personnel faced dangerous search and rescue missions, firefighting, explosives loading, and enemy espionage and sabotage. Also included are illustrations of aircraft, vessels, personnel, and combat action, maps of maritime combat theaters, extensive source notes, and documents such as combat action reports and personal correspondence.

[Books are available on www.amazon.com or at your favorite bookseller]

An Aeronautical Engineer's View.....The Vought F4U Corsair and its Contemporaries (4th Edition), by Tom Brinkman, is a well researched, factual and historical description of five legendary United States fighter aircraft of WW II - the Vought F4U Corsair, Republic P-47 Thunderbolt, North American P-51 Mustang, Grumman F6F Hellcat, and Lockheed P-38 Lightning. This book presents a clear description of the design rationale, capabilities, characteristics, performance, and limitations of each of these superlative aircraft. Also included are American vs. Axis aircraft dog fighting comparisons, results of formal military competitive fly-offs, and mock dog fighting match-ups between these aircraft. Several key flight behavior characteristics which are very rarely discussed are explained, and perspectives on a number of important topics not often given coverage in the popular media are presented. Brinkman has given many presentations on his book, including a symposium with several original VMF-214 "Black Sheep" pilots. Brinkman is an aeronautical engineer, retired from a career in engineering, engineering management, and program management with IBM Corp and several other companies in the computer industry.

[Books are available through Tom Brinkman at tombrinkman@charter.net or at 507-287-1021; Published 2006; Printed at The Printers, Rochester, MN]

Marine Wings: Stories of War and Peace as Written by the Pilots has been written by members of the Minnesota Marine Air Reserve, LLC. Minnesota Marine pilots who flew in WWII, Korea, and beyond have personally written their stories as seen from the cockpit—riveting tales of aerial combat and other harrowing flight experiences. Tom Brinkman has written a condensation of his book on WWII fighter aircraft (see above) which is part of the Marines’ book. He has also written the Introduction to their book. Marine Wings has received endorsements from Tom Brokaw, Col. John Glenn, and Brigadier General Bruce Matheson, USMC (Ret.), a pilot in Maj. Greg Boyington’s original VMF-214 “Black Sheep” squadron. Marine Wings has become a Regional Best Seller, and DeForest Press' all time best seller.

[ Published 2007; DeForest Press, Rogers, MN. Available from Tom Brinkman at tombrinkman@charter.net or 507-287-1021 and www.deforestpress.com]