BOOK Report! “Black Snow” by James M. Scott

 

Both of my parents lived through the nightmare that was World War II. Maybe yours did too.

And if not, you’ve surely been taught and hopefully learned about it. You’ve heard about how Japan attacked our fifty-first state’s Pearl Harbor in the Pacific for no real reason. Clearly one of the most horrific events in history, which we do not, as humankind, want to repeat.

What may not apply to all of the above are the intricate details which led up to the USA effectively ending the war via the application of the world’s first atomic bomb. This book report is about the hardcover book which I just finished reading, “Black Snow” by James M. Scott [Norton, $35.00, 978-1-324-00299-4].

“Black Snow” is not a book about a race riot during a New England winter (pun intended), but an historical and well-researched factual account of the American response to that surprise Pearl Harbor attack, as well as the effect it had on the Japanese island’s population.

I hadn’t thought much about “the BIG one” recently, except when, upon watching a PBS news show, I see the atrocities going on in Ukraine – where I visited ten years ago before Russia’s invasion – at the hand of a despot who I call “Paranoid Putin”. His all-too-frequent use of the word “nuclear” is, at the very least, reckless and demented. Another in that club is the North Korean guy, who I call “Kim Young (mentally) Ill” who also gave me pause when I perused “Black Snow” at my local public library. I borrowed it with curious enthusiasm of the read which played-out as if watching a movie about the war!

The research that author James M Scott must have done to humanize and connect the people who lived in Tokyo with the people in our US Army Air Force (there was not a separate “Air Force” at the time), and Navy, to describe their intersection towards a common direction to end the war at that juncture is, in and of itself, worth the read!

Black Snow is not meant as a thorough history of what lead up to Pearl Harbor, but instead, it focuses more upon three main American military commander men: General Hayword Hansell,Jr., Brigadier General Emmett “Rosie” O’Donnell, Henry “Hap” Arnold, and General Curtis LeMay and their strategies, in the wake of Pearl Harbor, to punish Japan for their unprovoked, misguided attack in 1941 and the events that led up to, and including the first use of the atom bomb.  

However, the central character (protagonist maybe?) in this book, in my opinion, is the B29 “Superfortress” airplane, without which we could have never conducted the successful campaign to bring stubborn Japan to its knees. The surrounding result and vivid descriptions of the effects on the targets is so much worth your reading time!   There is a tactic that they used successfully, which I will not mention in this review, fore that would betray part of the plot and insights.

These so-called “leaders” of countries in the current news, who rattle sabers of war, should accept living within their borders, pay attention acutely to the brutal lessons of eighty years ago and also read this book, for the sake of peace on Earth forevermore, “lest we repeat the mistakes of the past” as my father, “The Major”, used to caution at the dinner table while watching Walter Cronkite on CBS’s Evening News.

It is the hope and prayer of this book report’s author; we’ve all been fortunate to have come such a long and successful way.  Thank you for reading and please lend your comment.  Highly recommended for English language enthusiasts due to the many dictionary reaching words, world history buffs and educators.  

~ Peace.

Book Report/Review: “Facing The Mountain – A True Story of Japanese American Heroes in World War II” by Daniel James Brown

Now, my take on the last book from my summertime night table reading stack (see my post of July 11, 2021).  Daniel James Brown’s “Facing The Mountain, A True Story of Japanese American Heroes in World War II” (Viking $30.00 9780525557401) recounts the reaction of our country at-large against Japanese Americans, in the wake of Japan’s surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 – 80 years ago, next month, as I write this review. As I read the chapters, I couldn’t help but notice, and am awestruck by how much our Black- American and Japanese-American soldier’s World War II experiences have in-common.  You see, I am the son of a career U.S. Army man who fought within the 369^th Field Artillery unit out of Harlem, U.S.A.  I remember him alluding to much similar discrimination by segregation within the U.S. Armed forces, even though the enemy’s bullets did not differentiate race when they found their mark. It would be like if Africa was one country and it attacked us, all suspected African Americans would be round-up and sent off to concentration camps.  The misplaced resentment against Japanese Americans also ran so deep, that even after the young Japanese American G.I. proved their patriotism in battle, they were not easily welcomed back home, to the point that one barber shop owner justified it by saying, “They all look alike to me.”  Hell, that’s what I heard said about black Americans back in the 1960s!

Brown’s spotless set-up straps you into your seat-belt for a six-part saga of a people mistrusted, who then excelled against all odds. Reading a chapter or so per night, I only closed the book to sleep and with anticipation of what the next Part would describe and I’m challenged here, to validly convey the accuracy and compassion of his reporting the events which led to the battlefield confrontations with Hitler’s forces in WWII.  What the doughty Nisei soldiers overcame should be read by every American, no matter your ethnic background – especially in these trying times.  One can truly see that, as the saying goes, “It could be a lot worse!” after reading this volume of valiance.

Chapter 19 is a standout exhale and great change of pace.  Brown even fills-in the blanks about what happened to the deep-voiced, late, great U.S. Senator from Hawaii, Daniel Inouye, who I noticed once on TV, had only one arm.  He is but one of many real characters we meet by name and family history in this true story. A personal glow came over me when I read page 382, about how one of the 442^nd battalion’s assignments took them to Menton,  near the French Riviera, where they saw white zinnias among other beautiful flowers.  I sold zinnia flower seeds door-to-door in my neighborhood as a boy, to earn prizes depicted on the backs of the comic books I read and had forgotten all about that! “Mountain” contains many reminders of why history is as important to study now, more than ever, as he recounts how the inhumanity nationalistic madmen, bent upon world dominance, can inflict needless suffering upon other men, women and children – and which we, collectively, must never let happen again on our planet. Often chilling and painful to reflect upon, but always riveting, educational reading.  5 out-of-five WWII field artillery canons.