Book Review: Hell Hawks: The Untold Story of American Fliers Who Savaged Hitler's Wehrmacht

Who’s Your Daddy?

People say you can’t judge a book by its cover. Maybe so; but the minute I laid eyes on the cover of Hell Hawks: The Untold Story of the American Fliers Who Savaged Hitler’s Wehrmacht, I had to read the book. Why? Because I wanted to find out if these guys really did savage the Wehrmacht; and if so, why has their story remained untold?

The Hell Hawks were the 365th Fighter Group, three fighter bomber squadrons flying the P-47 Thunderbolt, affectionately called the “Jug.” Theirs was a gritty and unglamorous mission flown by pilots fresh from flight training. Most were barely twenty years old. Often working at treetop level in poor weather, they bombed and strafed everything that moved; from tanks, trucks, and trains to troops deployed in ground positions. Stationary targets were not immune from their attacks either, especially aircraft parked on German airfields.

The 365^th arrived in the European theater just prior to D-Day, and flew their last mission the day the Nazis surrendered. During the Allied Forces’ advance across Europe, the group’s operating base was constantly moved to provide easy access to the front lines. For both pilots and maintenance crews this meant a daily routine of living in tents surrounded by cold mud; not unlike the GIs they were supporting.

On New Year’s Day 1945, the Hell Hawks found themselves on the receiving end of their own tactics. Early that day two Groups of Luftwaffe Bf 109Gs attacked the 365^th operating base near the Alsatian city of Metz. Their intent was to destroy the base and loosen the Allied hold over the airspace over The Bulge. The raid took the Hell Hawks by surprise, and left most of their aircraft badly damaged or completely destroyed. But they maintained their grip over The Bulge; because in just a few days after the attack, their ramp was filled with shiny new aircraft fresh from the factory. This was not surprising considering that America manufactured nearly 100,000 aircraft in 1944. When one of the Luftwaffe pilots who was shot down and captured near the airfield was shown the line of new aircraft, his only comment was, “That is what is beating us!”

One of the things I like about Hell Hawks is that it is written with the careful precision of a historian; while at the same time containing enough photographs and personal recollections to make the story come alive.

There is a taunt sometimes heard on the streets that goes like this, “Who’s your daddy?” As an old fighter bomber pilot, I’ve decided that my daddy was a Hell Hawk in World War II!

Hell Hawks is published by Book Surge Publishing and can be ordered at major online book sellers including Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble.

Book Review: Return of the Dittos by Dale Andrew White

Edward De Bono the author once said that humor is by far the most significant activity of the human brain. If this is true, then “Return of the Dittos” proves conclusively that the fertile brain of its author, Dale Andrew White, continues to work overtime, much to the benefit of his readers.

“Return of the Dittos” is a rich confection of satire and humor, all boxed in twenty short stories and tied with a ribbon. There is no central theme to the stories which adds an element of surprise and anticipation to each one. Browsing through the stories the reader will be entertained by the account of a bag boy revolt in a rundown grocery store; a cat fight to end all cat fights over the presidency of a posh woman’s club; the boring and mind numbing revelations of an aging, semi-retired rock star; and even a bit of revisionist history concerning what really happened when Christopher Columbus approached Queen Isabella about exploring the new world. My favorite of the lot is the story of B B Motley, an up and coming young lawyer, who tries desperately and unsuccessfully to conceal from the staid, old law firm he works for the fact that he comes from a family of circus clowns.

One of the things that makes the stories in “Return of the Dittos” so clever and humorous, is White’s agile use of names to identify places and people. Several stories take place in Swampwater, which is the county seat of Mosquito County, FL for example; and while reading the book, the reader meets such characters as Mr. Knuckell, a heavy handed and authoritative high school principal; and Emily Hattcheck, a shy and unassuming member of the aforementioned woman’s club. But among the divers cast of character portrayed in the book my favorite is Parker Pry, a nose fetishist who succumbs to the charms of a nasally challenged married lady appropriately named Wendy Schnott.

I have to admit that even after reading White’s stories several times, I still have trouble describing his writing style. Some of his stories come across as being written in the classic style of humorists like Mark Twain or the British satirist Saki; while others remind me of the kind of comedy portrayed in the slapstick movies of Charlie Chaplin or Laurel and Hardy. Still other stories come across with raw, in your face humor worthy of Comedy Central. All I know is that David Andrew White is a clever and talented writer and “Return of the Dittos” is a truly funny book. It’s the kind of book you want to have with you when you have some time to kill and are ready to laugh at yourself and laugh at the world.

The Return of the Dittos is published by Book Surge Publishing and can be ordered at all major online booksellers including Amazon.com and Barfnes and Noble.

Book Review: A World I Never Made by James LePore

Suspense, Love, Betrayal, and Terror. All That, and More

The words suspense, love, betrayal, and terror are standard fare for literary hype promoting books in the genre of international thrillers. But “A World I Never Made” by James LePore delivers the goods in short order, starting in the very first chapter. It is a carefully crafted, well written book with a rich cast of characters and a plot as complicated and convoluted as the characters themselves. In short, it is my kind of novel.

The plot is relatively straight forward, at least in the beginning. Pat Nolan, an American, is summoned to Paris to confront a nightmare that would chill the heart of any father; namely, to claim the body of his estranged daughter Megan who had committed suicide. After a painful interview with the Paris police during which he is given a suicide note, he is escorted to the morgue to identify his daughter‘s body. But when the moment of truth arrives and the sheet is pulled back, Nolan realizes that it is not Megan. At that moment it becomes instantly clear to him that his daughter staged this fake suicide, that she is in serious trouble, and that she is calling to him for help.

Although Nolan feels certain that his daughter is alive, he has very few clues as to her whereabouts. As he begins his search, he is joined by Catherine Laurence, a beautiful but tormented Paris detective who sees in Nolan something she never thought she’d find—genuine passion and desperate need. But as the couple expands their search throughout France, it becomes evident that others are intent on finding Megan Nolan as well; namely, Interpol, DST---the French equivalent of the CIA, and a group of international terrorists carrying credentials from the Saudi secret police. The chase turns deadly when the latter begin to stalk Nolan and Detective Laurence, hoping that the couple will lead them to Megan.

Juxtaposed against this tale is Megan’s story. A freelance journalist, Megan is in Morocco doing research for a series of articles she hopes to write about Muslim terrorists. There she meets Abdel Lahani, a Saudi businessman who offers to assist her in her research. Soon the couple begins a torrid affair and Megan becomes pregnant with Lahani’s child. Too late, she discovers that Lahani is the master mind of a vast terrorist group whose operation extends throughout the Middle East and Europe; and that she will be held a virtual prisoner in his home until the child is born. Desperate to escape, she tries to poison Lahani but is not successful. Finally, she manages to escape through the slums of Casablanca and onto a ferry with the help of an elderly gypsy who is dying of cancer.

The book ends in fine fashion with a confrontation between all concerned in a gypsy camp on the Czech border. By then, Pat Nolan and Catherine Laurence have fallen in love, which begs the final question; will they marry and have a life together? You will have to read the book to find out.

A well written book with interesting characters and an exciting plot. What more can I tell you? “A World I Never Made” by James LePore is a winner!

Book Review: A Seat at the Table by Marc Miller

In his latest book, “A Seat at the Table,” Marc Miller proposes nothing less than a totally different approach to selling; an approach based on a very simple concept; namely, that the only thing customers care about these days is value.  Not price, not product performance, but value.  For many sales professionals, especially those from the old “hard sell” school, this is a concept that borders on heresy.  For them, the name of the game is outmaneuvering the competition by selling the product at a competitive price.  It’s as simple as that.

If you accept the premise that customers only care about value, then the next question is; what does the word “value” mean when used in the context of Miller’s approach to selling?  As it turns out, it could mean many different things, depending on the customer’s needs. Value could mean knowledge help; brainstorming help; idea help; analytic help; creativity help; collaborative help; or strategic help.  This list suggests that the operative word in describing a customer’s definition of value is “help.”  But as you read further in Miller’s book you quickly conclude that there is a second, operative word; and that word is “strategic.”  So in a nutshell, it appears that when he discusses a customer’s need for value he is really describing a need for “strategic help.” 

If the key to successful sales is to stop selling and start helping the customers, how qualified are today’s sales personnel to provide strategic help?  In a section of the book titled “A New Enemy,” Miller described a survey conducted   among the customers of a large Fortune 500 company.  When asked to rate the company’s sales force on their ability to provide strategic help, the customers gave it a rating of 4.1 on a scale of 10.  When asked the same question, the sales force gave itself a rating of 9.9!  This disconnect in perception calls to mind an old line from Walt Kelley’s cartoon strip Pogo; namely “we have met the enemy and they are us.”

Miller believes that the only proven way to increase sales productivity is to deliver new and different forms of value. To do that, salespeople must become experts in their customers' businesses and help them generate better results. Furthermore, those who learn to evolve from "salespeople" to "businesspeople who sell" will earn them a seat at the table--the place reserved for those select people who guide the strategic direction of an enterprise.  Hence, the title of the book.

A few months ago I reviewed a book entitled “The Hard Truth About Soft Selling.”  The selling principles outlined in that book are diametrically opposed to those described in “A Place at the Table.”  This tells me that the Hard Sell vs. Soft Sell controversy is still alive and well.  Nevertheless, Marc Miller’s latest book is extremely well written and very persuasive.  It is a must read for all sales professionals regardless of which side of the issue they come down on.  I strongly recommend it.

Title:  A Seat at the Table

 Author:  Marc Miller

 Publisher:  Greenleaf Book Group Press

 Publisher Address:  PO Box 91869, Austin, TX 78709

 Publisher Phone Number and URL:  512-891-6100, www.greenleafbookgroup.com

 ISBN, Price, Publication Date:  978-1-929774-69-2, $19.95, 2009

 Four Stars

 Reviewed by: Ron Standerfer for Reader Views (April/2009)

Confessions of a Rogue Teacher by George Colon

Not Your Grandparents’ Classroom!

 

Let me begin by saying that George Colon, knows what he is talking about.  Born in Puerto Rico, he absorbed the lessons of life served up  on the streets of the South Bronx, earned degrees in English and Education, and went on to teach English in the New York City schools for the past thirty  years.  In his latest book, “Confessions of a Rogue Teacher,” the harsh realities of teaching in the New York City public school system comes tumbling out in a torrent of taut, well written prose that keeps the reader on edge throughout the book.  It’s all there, the good, the bad, and the ugly; a graphic portrayal of a teacher’s life in arguably one of the most demanding education venues in America.

The principal character in the book is Manny Quesada, who is described as a jaded teacher whose ideals have long since been eroded by the new realities of urban education.  He is a man who wallows in self pity and lives a life that is moving dangerously close to overindulgence in drugs and alcohol. Meanwhile, his infatuation with Maggie, a bright, beautiful student who shares his infatuation is drawing him closer and closer to an improper, physical relationship.

But the worse is yet to come. After a physical altercation with a troubled student---an altercation that Manny felt forced him to act in self defense--- school officials remove him from his high school classroom and assigned him administrative duties in the "Rubber Room" of lore and legend in the superintendent's office, where lost souls known as “rogue teachers” await judgment.

Those who have read Dante’s “Inferno” will find the description of the Rubber Room vaguely familiar. It too consists of a descending spiral, in this case a long corridor lined with airless offices where those condemned there spend months or even years performing meaningless tasks while awaiting their fate.  But Manny is in no mood to wait.  Convinced of his innocence, he wants to return to his classroom.  Meanwhile, while performing his “meaningless” duties he makes a startling discovery.  Educational officials are falsifying statistics; a fact that if made public, would create a scandal that could reach to the highest level of city politics. This is where the story really gets interesting. The question is, can Manny barter what he knows into a ticket back to the classroom in a kind of quid pro quo mutual blackmail arrangement; or more importantly, should he even try?  In the end he decides to go for it.

The thing I like the most about “Confessions of a Rogue Teacher” is the authentic ring of the dialogue and descriptive prose.  It makes me wonder how much of Manny Quesada is George Colon and vice versa.  I hope to interview the author in the near future and will certainly ask him that question.

“Confessions of a Rogue Teacher” is my kind of book.  Short, interesting, and eminently readable!

Title:  Confessions of a Rogue Teacher

Author:  George L. Colon

Publisher:  iUniverse

Publisher Address:  1663 Liberty Drive, Bloomington, IN 47403

Publisher Phone Number and URL:  800-288-4677, 

ISBN, Price, Publication Date:  978-0-595-52342-9, $12.95, 2008

Four Stars

Reviewed by: Ron Standerfer for Reader Views (May/2009)

Jane Fonda – Some Crib Notes for the Governor

Dear Governor Schwarzenegger,

It has been over a week since the poopy-doo hit the fan over the impending induction of antiwar activist Jane Fonda A.K.A. Hanoi Jane to The California Museum's Hall of Fame.  Quite frankly, I thought by now your office would have issued a statement to the effect that upon further consideration, the decision to honor a woman who once famously declared that American POWs were being treated humanely, condemned U.S. soldiers as War Criminals, and later denounced them as liars for claiming they had been tortured, is a bummer and is hereby rescinded.  As far as I know, that hasn’t happened.

It occurs to me that you are silent on this matter because you don’t know it's going to happen.  Maybe the whole project fell through the crack, or your staff forgot to brief you on the inductee list.  Staffs will do that sometimes, just when you least expect it.  On the other hand, you may have decided that backing down on your decision to honor Jane Fonda would send exactly the wrong signal to those girly-girls in the state legislature and it is better to soldier on, despite the pesky protests coming from the nine million or so Vietnam Veterans still around.  Stiff upper lip and all that.

In case you have decided to John Wayne your way through this mess (Oops, sorry.  Bad choice of words.  The Duke was actually very supportive of our troops in Vietnam) you need to start thinking about the induction ceremony.  The end game would be to make Jane Fonda look as good as possible by reading a few quotes showing the caring and patriotic side of her personality. Quotes like that are hard to come by, but I managed to find three that might work.  I kept them short so you can write them on 3 X 5 index cards and put them in your pocket.

 

"We were elated when Jane Fonda, wearing a red Vietnamese dress, said at a press conference that she was ashamed of American actions in the war and that she would struggle along with us."

Bui Tin, a former colonel who served on the general staff of the North Vietnamese army, during a 1995 Wall street Journal interview.

"I would think that if you understood what communism was, you would hope, you would pray on your knees that we would someday become communist."

Jane Fonda, speaking at Michigan State University during a fund-raising tour for AWOL GI's, Vietnam Veterans Against the War, and the Black Panther Party, November 22, 1970.

"My Lai was not an isolated incident but rather a way of life for many of our military."

Jane Fonda, speaking at VVAW's "Operation RAW" in Valley Forge, PA, September 7, 1970

 

Governor, I've seen a lot of your movies and I liked them a lot.  But making Jane Fonda look good in the eyes of millions of Americans who remember her activities during the Vietnam War would require acting skills that far exceed those of a mere mortal.  Wouldn’t it be a lot simpler to remove her from the inductees list as not being a suitable candidate?  That would truly be a heroic act worthy of The Exterminator at his best; and it would be a win-win situation for all of us. 

McCain, Schwarzenegger, and Jane Fonda – the Perfect Storm

There are over nine million Vietnam veterans still alive in America. Their wartime experiences were as varied as the places they served and the things they did. Yet very few of them have forgotten Jane Fonda's 1972 trip to Hanoi after which she famously declared that American POWs were being treated humanely, condemned U.S. soldiers as War Criminals, and later denounced them as liars for claiming they had been tortured.

Last night, the Republican Party nominated Senator John McCain as its candidate for President of The United States; a man who spent five and a half years as a Prisoner of War in North Vietnam where he was beaten and tortured on a daily basis. That McCain was tortured while a POW is an undeniable fact, and evidence of his ordeal remains visible to the naked eye to this day. Yet, within days of his nomination the California Museum announced the list of notables that will be inducted into their Hall of Fame in 2008. One of the inductees will be Jane Fonda, an antiwar activist who is on record as saying that John McCain and his fellow POWs are liars. And to add icing to the cake, the Hall of Fame nominees will be formerly inducted by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, a conservative Republican governor who is, or should be, a supporter of McCain's candidacy. What a mess! As the saying goes, you can't make this stuff up!

As the ground swell of awareness and indignation increases, veterans and non veterans alike are beginning to complain. The big question now is what will "The Terminator" do? The results so far are not encouraging. Emails to his office (Lisa.Kalustian@GOV.CA.GOV) received this perfunctory reply: "Thank you for your message. I'm forwarding your concerns to Sacramento." A representative from the California Museum (ARobinson@sos.ca.gov) contributed this unhelpful comment, "Every year, the California Hall of Fame seeks to present a list of inductees who symbolize the diversity and uniqueness of this great state. Jane Fonda is one of twelve individuals who embody the spirit of California and whose achievements will be showcased at The California Museum." Not very helpful to say the least. Still, the battle has just begun.

The Jane Fonda controversy has all the makings of a perfect storm. And, like the storms currently wending their way across the Atlantic Ocean, it has a life of its own, and won't go away just because a few people would like it to. Meanwhile, for those who believe as I do, that Jane Fonda has no business being in anyone's hall of fame, keep those emails coming. Let the governor of the great state of California know how you feel!