January 2011

Every year in August, when newspapers and magazines run Alfred Eisenstaedt’s famous photograph of that sailor and the girl in their passionate embrace, I remember my brush with history. I too 77 was in Times Square that day. But brush-off might be a better description of what happened to me.

I spent the morning of August 14,1945, at a city swimming pool in the Bronx. The war seemed to be going well, and at 16 years of age I was bursting with patriotism and hormones. The pool was a great place to ogle the girls, even though the bathing suits they wore then would be too tame for the cover of my AARP Bulletin today.

I was hanging out with my friends and a handful of girls when the loudspeaker announced that Japan had surrendered and everyone was celebrating in Times Square.

“Wow! This is really something!” I shouted. “Who wants to go downtown with me? Come on, what do you say?”

Silence.

The fighting on Okinawa was almost over. L Company, 32nd Regiment, 7th Infantry Division, was assigned the task of taking a grove of trees near the southern tip of the island, one of the last pockets of Japanese resistance. Our platoon leader was a former Marine who wanted the glory of reaching the ocean first. As we entered the trees, an American flamethrowing tank came up behind us; I suppose it had been assigned the job of burning the brush and flushing out any concealed Japanese.

Being the scout of the platoon, I was assigned the job of stopping the tank. I went warily back, got right up close, and shouted at the soldiers in the tank. They hadn’t seen me, and when they heard me, they threw the flamethrower in my face. I jumped back and began yelling obscenities so they would know I wasn’t the enemy. They settled down then.

When I got back to my company, the ex-Marine rushed us through the grove as fast as we could go. If enemy soldiers had been in there, we’d all have been dead.

In May of 1944 I was serving aboard a destroyer escort, accompanying convoys from the United States to England. On one trip I had an opportunity to visit London for a few days with two shipmates, a great adventure for us. A service organization provided us with a young English guide who took us on a walking tour of the historic sights. We asked her to recommend a restaurant for our evening meal, and she named one on a small side street just off Piccadilly Circus.

Not knowing that the British seldom dine before eight o’clock, we went to the restaurant just after six. The place was devoid of customers but it had everything we could ask for: wooden beams, dim lighting, a long bar, and an entertaining waiter with plenty of time for us. When we ordered oysters, he said in his Cockney accent, “I’m sorry, fellows. I’ve got 18 left, but I’m saving them for Winnie, er, Winston Churchill. He’s ordered those for this evening.”

A Dining-Out Guide to Wartime London
Victory in Sight
My V-J Day

I was surprised and disappointed that Richard M. Ketchum’s The Borrowed Years, 1938-1944: America on the Way to War was not included among the best books about the American experience. This fine work offers a detailed description of life in the United States during this period. It covers the Depression, events in Europe that affected the way we struggled between isolationism and our desire to help Britain survive Hitler’s assault, and our political atmosphere and foreign policy. It is swift-paced and deeply interesting reading—so much so that I have read it through twice.

To this reader there are a number of truly glaring omissions that most definitely should have been included in such a survey: COLONIAL ERA — American Colonies , by Alan Taylor (2001; Viking); BIOGRAPHIES— John Adams , by David McCullough (2001; Simon "&Schuster), Alexander Hamilton , by Ron Chernow (2004; Penguin), TR: The Last Romantic , by H. W. Brands (1997; Basic Books), Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr ., by Ron Chernow (1998; Random House), and Truman , by David McCullough (1992; Touchstone); MODERN AMERICA— Freedom From Fear: The American People in Depression and War , 1929-45, by David M. Kennedy (1999; Oxford). These books represent landmark efforts by their respective authors and belong on any U.S. historian’s reading list.

I very much enjoyed your fiftieth anniversary issue. Like any fan, I have my own additions to your all-time greatest team.

BIOGRAPHY

An Imperfect God , by Henry Wiencek (2003; Farrar, Straus and Giroux)

This is a brilliant, illuminating work wherein the reader discovers how George Washington’s perceptions of slavery evolved over time much in the way Abraham Lincoln’s did later. It gives the reader a greater appreciation of a great man.

Hawthorne in Concord , by Philip McFarland (2004; Grove Press) A beautifully written book that brings Hawthorne and transcendentalist New England to vivid life. The second-best biography I’ve ever read (the best is Dickens , by Peter Ackroyd).

HISTORICAL NOVELS

Where was The Red Badge of Courage , by Stephen Crane (1895)? It is all young men in all wars.

THE WEST

My thanks to the staff of American Heritage for your very special fiftieth anniversary issue with its guide to great books (November/December 2004). While one may quibble with some of the choices, overall the contributors were thoughtful and discriminating.

Using books as a theme to inform us about our past is a wonderful way to celebrate your golden anniversary. As Abraham Lincoln said in 1855, ”. . . get the books, and read, and study them carefully. . . .Work, work, work, is the main thing.”

When Tony Vaccaro went to war with the 83rd Infantry Division, he carried, along with his rifle, an Argus C-3 camera, and from Normandy through the Bulge fighting to the Elbe and beyond he covered the fighting in which he was involved with intimacy and authority. Afterward he recorded the occupation of Germany in photos that became ever more powerful, revealing, humane, and assured. These have recently been published by Taschen in a book called Entering Germany, 1944-1949 , from which the illustrations accompanying this article (save for that of its author and the scene of contemporary Augsburg) have been drawn. Opposite, a sergeant with the 2nd Battalion points with triumph and relief to Berlin the day after Hitler’s death.