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suebrownreads's review against another edition
5.0
I really enjoyed learning about Donald Stratton's story. I have read many books on WWII, and this is one of my favorite memoirs. It is not too long, and it is very well written. I definitely learned some new information. It was also nice learning about the band members on the Arizona, and what their jobs were aboard the ship. I didn't realize that there were bands on all the ships, and that they had a battle of the bands (although it was never completed due to the bombing on Dec 7.) I also learned a little more about those men of the Arizona who survived the attack that day, and I learned that in the 1980's the navy made it possible for the Arizona survivors to have their ashes interred on the Arizona which many of them chose to do. Donald Stratton's story is a unique one. After almost dying and being medically discharged, he chose to reenlist in the Navy where he fought again in the Pacific at Iwo Jima and Okinawa. It is an emotional story and well worth the read!
chaddah's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
4.0
bookhawk's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
fast-paced
4.0
I was fortunate to visit Pearl Harbor and the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial on Friday March 8, 2024. I try to pick up a book by a local author or something about an event that occurred there. I picked this book up at the Memorial bookstore and it turned out to be a good selection.
Stratton told his remarkable story of survival well. Stratton provided first person perspective that truly added to the history of the attack and the mentality of a military enlistment as well as of families who suffered losses on the Day of Infamy. Stratton wrote about his recovery, return to home and reenlistment in the Navy to rejoin the fight. The book moves quickly and is well written with honesty about his reconciliation with the Japanese. The book moves quickly and I recommend it to anyone interested in WWII history. 4 stars.
Stratton told his remarkable story of survival well. Stratton provided first person perspective that truly added to the history of the attack and the mentality of a military enlistment as well as of families who suffered losses on the Day of Infamy. Stratton wrote about his recovery, return to home and reenlistment in the Navy to rejoin the fight. The book moves quickly and is well written with honesty about his reconciliation with the Japanese. The book moves quickly and I recommend it to anyone interested in WWII history. 4 stars.
qu33nofbookz's review against another edition
5.0
Half history lesson half memoir this is a very interesting and poignant look at one of America's darkest hours. Filled with things that weren't taught in school and a personal insight into the day that will live in infamy.
somamom's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
informative
reflective
fast-paced
3.75
gimpyknee's review against another edition
3.0
As a Navy Vet and son of a sailor who served on the battleship Nevada in WWII, I found Donald Stratton's account of the attack on Pearl Harbor very interesting and moving. As a history buff, I was both surprised and disappointed with some obvious errors of fact.
Eleanor Roosevelt was not at Warm Springs, GA when her husband died. She was at the White House and remained there while the president's body was returned to Washington. I can excuse a ninety-four year old Stratton from remembering this, but not his co-author and whoever did the editing of this book.
When Donald Stratton recovered from his awful wounds he returned to the Navy and served on the destroyer USS Stack. He claims the Stack could go 49 knots/45 mph. 49 knots actually equates to 56 mph. The Stack was a pre-WWII Benham-class destroyer launched in 1938. The top speed of these destroyers was 36-38 knots. The average modern US Navy destroyer, employing conventional propulsion, can travel at flank speed up to about 40 nautical mph for a few hours at maximum rpms. The new Zumwalt-class destroyers are powered be electric motors and nuclear power plants. While their maximum flank speeds are classified, under sea trials the Zumwalt has exceeded 55 nautical mph. So no, it is highly doubtful that the Stack could reach the speed claimed by Stratton.
In Chapter 12, The Lessons of Pearl Harbor, Stratton says the attack could have been thwarted, or lessened in severity if action had been taken immediately following the sinking of the Japanese sub by the USS Ward. This is highly unlikely. What? Stratton thinks the Arizona and her fellow battleships could have gotten underway from their moorings and fled out of the harbor into the open seas? The Ward reported the sinking at 7 a.m. The attack on the ships in the harbor began at 7:55 a.m. While at their moorings the battleships at Pearl Harbor typically had only one boiler lit to provide power. A battleship needed 2.5 hours to get up to steam. The Nevada was able to get underway 45 minutes after the attack had begun only because a second boiler had been lit during her last peacetime watch, planning to switch to the steam load later. Both boilers had plenty of steam giving the Nevada a 75 minutes jump in getting underway.
Nitpicking complaints? Certainly. My father was also a "China" sailor who served on an ocean going tug in China following WWII. I took him to see the movie The Sand Peebles over 50 years ago. A three hour film that garnered eight academy award nominations, it told a story about a US Navy gunboat in China in the '20's. During the opening scene the lead character, Machinist's Mate First Class Jake Holman (played by Steve McQueen) reports aboard the Sand Peebles carrying his seabag over his shoulder. According to my father, his seabag was not knotted properly, and with that, the rest of the movie was lost on him. I am my father's son. Eleanor Roosevelt was at Warm Springs when FDR died? The USS Stack could go 49 knots? Not so. Ergo just three stars for this account.
Eleanor Roosevelt was not at Warm Springs, GA when her husband died. She was at the White House and remained there while the president's body was returned to Washington. I can excuse a ninety-four year old Stratton from remembering this, but not his co-author and whoever did the editing of this book.
When Donald Stratton recovered from his awful wounds he returned to the Navy and served on the destroyer USS Stack. He claims the Stack could go 49 knots/45 mph. 49 knots actually equates to 56 mph. The Stack was a pre-WWII Benham-class destroyer launched in 1938. The top speed of these destroyers was 36-38 knots. The average modern US Navy destroyer, employing conventional propulsion, can travel at flank speed up to about 40 nautical mph for a few hours at maximum rpms. The new Zumwalt-class destroyers are powered be electric motors and nuclear power plants. While their maximum flank speeds are classified, under sea trials the Zumwalt has exceeded 55 nautical mph. So no, it is highly doubtful that the Stack could reach the speed claimed by Stratton.
In Chapter 12, The Lessons of Pearl Harbor, Stratton says the attack could have been thwarted, or lessened in severity if action had been taken immediately following the sinking of the Japanese sub by the USS Ward. This is highly unlikely. What? Stratton thinks the Arizona and her fellow battleships could have gotten underway from their moorings and fled out of the harbor into the open seas? The Ward reported the sinking at 7 a.m. The attack on the ships in the harbor began at 7:55 a.m. While at their moorings the battleships at Pearl Harbor typically had only one boiler lit to provide power. A battleship needed 2.5 hours to get up to steam. The Nevada was able to get underway 45 minutes after the attack had begun only because a second boiler had been lit during her last peacetime watch, planning to switch to the steam load later. Both boilers had plenty of steam giving the Nevada a 75 minutes jump in getting underway.
Nitpicking complaints? Certainly. My father was also a "China" sailor who served on an ocean going tug in China following WWII. I took him to see the movie The Sand Peebles over 50 years ago. A three hour film that garnered eight academy award nominations, it told a story about a US Navy gunboat in China in the '20's. During the opening scene the lead character, Machinist's Mate First Class Jake Holman (played by Steve McQueen) reports aboard the Sand Peebles carrying his seabag over his shoulder. According to my father, his seabag was not knotted properly, and with that, the rest of the movie was lost on him. I am my father's son. Eleanor Roosevelt was at Warm Springs when FDR died? The USS Stack could go 49 knots? Not so. Ergo just three stars for this account.
heatherwolford's review against another edition
emotional
informative
sad
tense
fast-paced
5.0
This is my favorite book I have read. It is so good.
If you have a love for World War II history this is the book for you. Reading about the events that took place on the USS Arizona from a survivor is so surreal. As you read you walk through his healing process and re-enlistment. Yes, you read that right. He re-enlisted after surviving the attacks at Pearl Harbor.
Such a good book. I recommend it to anyone and everyone.
If you have a love for World War II history this is the book for you. Reading about the events that took place on the USS Arizona from a survivor is so surreal. As you read you walk through his healing process and re-enlistment. Yes, you read that right. He re-enlisted after surviving the attacks at Pearl Harbor.
Such a good book. I recommend it to anyone and everyone.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content, Gore, and Blood
If you have a sensitivity blood and gore, please know that he does talk about his healing process and the treatments that they used then.zhelana's review against another edition
5.0
This book was really hard to read, but was also really good. It's the firsthand account of Pearl Harbor along with a little bit about the rest of the war in the Pacific. More than names and statistics (which he does provide) he provides humanizing pieces of many people's lives, and what was lost when they died. He focuses a lot on the band, a few people, none of whom made it out alive. These scenes made me cry a lot. Then he talks about the effects on his life. He, like me after 9/11, was angry, and rejoined the navy to get revenge. It may not be the best motive, but I suspect it is a motive for a lot of us. He reaches the end, and in an epilogue tells us about his children, 3/4ths of whom didn't out survive him. And his wife, and asks the question asked by the old soldier in Saving Private Ryan - Did I live a good life? He says that now, at age 94, that is the only question that really matters to him. He died in 2020, at 98 years old. His memory is certainly for a blessing.