World War II Heroes of Southern Delaware by award-winning journalist James Diehl is an engaging and inspiring look into the contributions made by regional members of the United States Military during World War II.
In profiling these men and women, Diehl has shared the stories of many reluctant heroes whose efforts during World War II helped the Allies win the war. While the ranks, the locations, and the level of action varies, there is no doubt that every person mentioned in this book deserves to be honored for his or her contribution to the war effort.
In his Introduction, Diehl shares how this project came into being, the impact speaking to these brave men and women had on him, and how saddening it is to know that we will soon lose the ability to talk to our World War II veterans. Five veterans profiled in the book died prior to its publication. I think it is also important to note, as Diehl mentions in his Introduction, that none of these people saw themselves as heroes. They were simply doing what they had to do.
Each of these stories is moving in its own way, and Diehl offers you the opportunity to really get to know what it was like for these men and women during their years of service. Also included are other personal tidbits, which provide small glimpses into these people's lives.
Among the many things I learned while reading World War II Heroes of Southern Delaware, is that the 261st Coast Artillery of the Delaware National Guard was responsible for protecting the mouth of the Delaware Bay from the Nazis during the war.
In the special Fort Miles Insight section at the back of the book, Diehl shares the story of Horace Knowles of Lewes, Delaware, a member of the 261st, and the efforts of the Fort Miles Historical Association to return portions of the fort to their original condition. As a lover of history, I find it very discouraging to read of historical sites being sold and developed in the name of progress. I honestly believe there can be some type of balance between the two, and stories of this type of restoration encourage me to keep believing it is possible.
World War II Heroes of Southern Delaware by James Diehl is a book I would highly recommend to history lovers, those who enjoy reading about World War II efforts, and anyone who is inspired by heroic stories. Even without ties to the area, there is so much to learn from reliving the memories alongside these brave men and women.
Title: World War II Heroes of Southern Delaware Author: James Diehl Publisher: DNB Group ISBN-10: 0615322565 ISBN-13: 978-0615322568 SRP: $19.99
We welcome James Diehl back with another excellent guest post. James is the author of World War II Heroes of Southern Delaware, which is available for purchase from his website.
I hope James doesn't mind if I pop in with a quick story of my own first. Growing up, we had an elderly couple living in the apartment next door. The husband, Phil, had served during World War II. In the late 80's and early 90's, I worked at a credit union, where Phil's brother and sister-in-law did business. I noticed that his brother's last name was spelled differently and asked him about it one day.
It seems that right after Pearl Harbor, Phil and his two brothers, Stanley and Fritz ran, like many other young men, to sign up for military service. Stanley's last name was incorrectly spelled with an "i" instead of an "a" by whoever registered him for service. Sometime later, Stanley would be interrogated as a possible spy because his last name was slightly different than Phil's and Fritz's.
A bit of useless WWII knowledge that I remember to help me keep those memories of Phil and his brothers alive since they've all passed away.
Now I hope you'll read the touching post that James put together for the anniversary of Pearl Harbor!
"Pearl Harbor Reflections" by James Diehl
Ask someone who was born in the 1970s or beyond what the words “Pearl Harbor” mean and you’ll likely get an answer straight out of the 2001 movie that became a blockbuster at the theaters for Touchstone Pictures.
Ask that same question to someone who was raised in the 1940s and you’ll get an entirely different answer, one filled with realism and sorrow for what happened on Dec. 7, 1941. Now take the next step – ask a veteran of World War II what those two simple words mean to him. It is likely a day he will never forget; most veterans from that era know someone who made the ultimate sacrifice as a direct result of what happened on that early December day nearly 70 years ago.
Listen to John Ross, who was on the deck of the U.S.S. Selfridge in berth X-9 that fateful day, just off the famed Battleship Row. It’s a day that has defined his entire life, and a day he will never, ever forget.
“We were lucky because they weren’t after destroyers [like the Selfridge]; they wanted the big ships. But it just seemed like all hell had broken loose – bombs were raining down on all the battleships,” Ross recounts in my book, World War II Heroes of Southern Delaware. “I saw the [U.S.S.] Arizona take a bomb through the deck and just settle down in the bottom of the harbor with a lot of people still trapped below deck. I was just dumfounded.”
Or the memories of U.S. Army soldier Clayton Cugler, who was stationed at Schofield Barracks, just a few miles from the harbor.
“When we went around the city, we looked out and the oil was all over the water and it was on fire. And those poor boys from the Navy, the ones who were on the ships that had been blown up, they were out there in the water fighting the fires and trying to get to shore. A lot of them died trying. Those Japanese really caught us by surprise. They had us really puzzled and mixed up for awhile.”
The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941 was a resounding and complete victory for Emperor Hirohito. On the flip side, it was a devastating defeat for the Americans and thrust then into a war they had been hesitant to enter.
The day changed the course of history and eventually led to President Harry S. Truman’s decision to drop atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.
The Japanese attack on the U.S. naval base lasted for nearly two hours. When it was complete, 2,403 Americans were dead, 1,178 more were wounded, eight battleships were damaged or sunk and 188 aircraft were lost. It was a complete sucker punch to the gut of the United States, possibly the biggest ever, leading to a declaration of war and an intense wave of patriotism all across the county.
For Ross and Cugler and thousands more just like them, it was an event they will never forget. Sadly, our country’s World War II veterans are passing away at record numbers now and with them go their stories, their first-hand accounts of a time unrivaled in the history of the world.
We owe it to all the brave men and women of the World War II era to never forget the sacrifices they made all those years ago so that we may live today in the greatest country in the world. They truly were members of the “greatest generation” as Tom Brokaw so eloquently stated a few years ago. Without them and their service, who knows what the world would be like today.
And it all started in a quiet little harbor in the territory of Hawaii, on a peaceful morning that suddenly became one of the most historic days ever.
We must never forget!
James Diehl is an award-winning journalist who has covered Sussex County, Delaware for various media outlets since 1998. Since 2007, he has owned and operated a freelance writing company based in Seaford, Delaware and is also a partner in a Lewes, Delaware-based public relations and marketing firm. He is the author of two works of non-fiction – Remembering Sussex County, from Zwaanendael to King Chicken, published in 2009 by The History Press, and World War II Heroes of Southern Delaware, published in 2009 by the DNB Group, Inc. James can be found online at www.twitter.com/sussexwriter, at www.facebook.com/sussexwriter, at www.worldwar2heroes.blogspot.com or via www.ww2-heroes.com.
Today's guest blogger is James Diehl, author of World War II Heroes of Southern Delaware. James is an award-winning journalist who has covered Sussex County, Delaware for various media outlets since 1998. Since 2007, he has owned and operated a freelance writing company based in Seaford, Delaware and is also a partner in a Lewes, Delaware-based public relations and marketing firm. He is the author of one other work of non-fiction – Remembering Sussex County, from Zwaanendael to King Chicken, published in 2009 by The History Press.
I won a copy of James's book during his virtual book tour, so look for a review coming soon.
World War II Heroes of Southern Delaware is a book unlike any other ever written. In its pages are profiles of 50 ordinary Americans who did extraordinary things during a time unlike any other in American history.
These are men and women who today call southern Delaware home. In the 1940s, these brave Americans put their lives on hold to fight for freedom and democracy against the horrific threat imposed on the world by Emperor Hirohito of Japan and German Fuhrer Adolph Hitler.
When Imperial Japan attacked the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on Dec. 7, 1941, the world changed forever. These men and women were a big part of that change; they fought to protect our freedom and our way of life.
Among the amazing stories you’ll read in “World War II Heroes of Southern Delaware” are:
* A United States Marine who was a part of the 1945 attack on the Japanese island of Iwo Jima. He was one of 17 members of his company who survived, a company that numbered more than 300 at the beginning of the attack. * An Army soldier who was responsible for uncovering Adolph Hitler’s enormous, and illegally gained, fortune toward the end of World War II. * An Army navigator who led a group of 500 B-29s over Tokyo Bay on Sept. 2, 1945, the day the Japanese surrendered to the United States. * A United States Navy machinist’s mate who narrowly survived a Japanese kamikaze attack. * A United States Marine who witnessed the horrific attack on Pearl Harbor from the deck of a nearby ship. * Men who survived German prisoner of war camps. * First–hand accounts from the beaches of Normandy during the D-Day invasion. * Two black soldiers who served their country with pride during World War II. * Men who liberated German concentration camps. * A woman who served her country by becoming a part of the “Rosie the Riveter” movement. * And much, much more.
Readers of World War II Heroes of Southern Delaware will also receive a bonus section on Fort Miles, the immense, heavily fortified military facility built to protect the mouth of the Delaware Bay and the city of Philadelphia from an attack by the German navy. Today, the fort is being renovated and will soon become one of the largest World War II museums in the country.
I asked James to tell us about one of the fifty people profiled in his book and how he discovered this person's story. Here's what he had to say:
Wow! There are 50 brave men and women featured in the book and it’s so hard to pick out one above the rest, but if I must...
There’s one man in my book who was a United States Marine and was in one of the first units to invade the island of Iwo Jima in 1945. Of more than 300 members of his unit, he was one of only 17 who survived the attack. As a result, he had terrible survivor’s guilt for many, many years until he was finally able to come to peace with it.
He saw things during that time that are just incredible, surviving dozens of close calls. He was hit by body parts, spent days in foxholes, saw friends and colleagues killed in front of his eyes and was just missed by Japanese fire many times over. BUT, he also got to witness firsthand the raising of the Stars and Stripes atop Mount Suribachi, one of the most famous and emotional photos ever taken.
My book is filled with heroes just like Mr. Russell, men who put their lives on the line to protect our way of life here in the United States. They are all heroes, whether they’re comfortable with that title or not.
It’s hard to pick out just one, but that was one that came to mind. I should also note that not every person featured in my book saw as much action as did Mr. Russell, but each has his or her own special story to share about the war.
As to how I found them, I started out by going through lists provided to me by the local VFWs and American Legions. As the series picked up steam, however, more and more members of the public contacted me to recommend friends, neighbors or family members.
Here’s what people are saying about World War II Heroes of Southern Delaware:
“When the Seaford and Laurel Star newspapers decided to run a series of articles on World War II veterans, we were excited about the opportunity to preserve a part of history that would be lost forever, if we did not take action: the personal experiences of our local veterans. Through his interviews and research, James Diehl allowed us to share with our readers the amazing stories of the courage and sacrifices of our local heroes. Diehl put his heart into this assignment and his reports represent some of the best journalistic efforts I have read in my 37 years of newspaper involvement. We know readers of today and tomorrow will enjoy learning more about this tumultuous time in the history of the world from a local perspective.” -Bryant Richardson, Publisher, Morning Star Publications, Inc.
“Mr. Diehl does an exceptional job at getting to the heart of long ago war stories that live on in World War II’s reluctant heroes.” -Anonymous Judge, Maryland/Delaware/ D.C. Press Association
by award-winning journalist James Diehl is an engaging and inspiring look into the contributions made by regional members of the United States Military during World War II. 
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