Crossing the Line: A Bluejacket's World War II Odyssey (Now Hear This Series)
by Alvin Kernan
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Book Summary Information
Author: Alvin KernanEdition: Audio Cassette
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1997-04
ISBN: 1557501386
Publisher: Naval Institute Press
Book Reviews of Crossing the Line: A Bluejacket's World War II Odyssey (Now Hear This Series)
Book Review: An autobiographical treasure
Summary: 5 Stars
Dr. Kernan's four years overseas, which encompasses the full length of the War in the Pacific during 1941-45 is an autobiographical treasure that is as true a war story as any can be. This book takes us not on a pleasure cruise, but a voyage into a long-forgotten world of young, Depression-era ranchers and shoe clerks turned aviation ordinancemen and pilots. These we meet, however briefly, snaking up the stairs in a long line at the New Congress Hotel whorehouse in old Honolulu, in a below-decks poker game on a rusting, inflammable escort carrier, or seen for a fleeting moment, unconscious in the gaping seas as the result of a slight but deadly flight miscalculation, sinking beneath the waves, impossible to save, gone. Those voices of the past, their thoughts, fears and dreams, are recorded here with a painful honesty and without much sentiment for, as the author admits, he never really intended it for general publication at first. Those of us who appreciate history poured straight up will be forever in his debt that he changed his mind.
Summary of Crossing the Line: A Bluejacket's World War II Odyssey (Now Hear This Series)
Alvin Kernan, seeing no prospects in his native Wyoming, enlisted in the U.S. Navy in the spring of 1941. As a seaman on the U.S.S. Enterprise, he saw the destruction and smelled the fires still burning as the aircraft carrier returned to Pearl Harbor from maneuvers on the day after Japan's surprise attack. Years later he would see and smell much the same thing in Japanese harbors. In the time between, Kernan had some exceptional adventures, which are chronicled in Crossing the Line. This reflective memoir is utterly unpretentious in providing an engaging view of ordinary Americans at war. Leaving the grand historical themes for other writers, Kernan tells us what it was really like for the sailors in the fleet, during fierce combat as well as during some lively recreation.General Books
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