Bøger af Robert Livingston

Wars are a tragedy. Death and destruction define them. War also provides opportunities in a time of change. This was true for America's black soldiers in World War II, who were relegated to menial tasks and denied combat roles. That is, until the U.S. Army conducted a highly secret experiment in 1944-1945 by creating the all-black 555th Airborne. Unknown by the general public, "men of color," participated in this classified effort, sacrificing everything to prove their competency and patriotism in their struggle for racial tolerance. They did so by leaping out of airplanes, not over wartime Japan or Nazi Germany, but rather California and the Northwest. There they fought the world's first intercontinental weapon, Japan's "balloon bombs," carrying with them the threat of fire, blast, and biological warfare. In doing so, these young men became the Army's first fully certified "smokejumpers" and contributed to winning the war. This is their story, neglected in our history books, to gain racial acceptance at a time when prejudice was all too common in America.

The decision to impeach the President of the United States is the most momentous action that the Congress can take. An indictment by the House of Representatives strikes at the heart of the executive branch. A trial by the Senate is a political spectacle that rivets the nation's attention. It is crucial that the public's perception is that a "fair and impartial trial" was held. This is the story of an older high school history teacher, very close to retirement, who dealt with the impeachment of Andrew Johnson in the aftermath of the Civil War, and in more recent times the trial of Donald Trump. He did so in face of withering partisan criticism from those who would censor and dictate what is taught in the classroom. He did so to honor those few courageous members of the Senate who rejected conventional wisdom and voted on the basis of personal conviction heedless of the political costs. In doing so he did not shay away from challenging racial issues that were the backdrop to the impeachment trials.

On May 3, 1945 a swarm of Japanese suicide planes attacked an American ship, the USS Aaron Ward during the fierce struggle for Okinawa. The ship was all but destroyed and forty-two sailors died in the 52-minute battle. One of those killed was Laverne Schroeder, only two months before his eighteenth birthday. After the war an anchor from the ship was placed in the military section of the Bluff City Cemetery in Illinois. There the anchor remains, a silent reminder of kamikaze pilots who wanted to die and young sailors who wanted to live. This is the story of the Aaron Ward's gallant fight, a brave young man, and a reporter's quest to honor the ship's legacy.

In the last years of World War II, the Japanese Imperial Army launched 9,000 balloons bombs in a last ditch effort to attack the American mainland. Each balloon carried one high explosive bomb and a number of incendiaries. In theory, these weapons would cause forest fires on the West Coast, and, if used to carry biological agents, create panic. Traveling in the easterly jet stream many of the balloons did reach the United States and detonate as planned. Many, however, simply disappeared into the forests of the northwest, armed and dangerous. This is the story of one missing balloon bomb that set off a terrifying forest fire near the California-Oregon border, and of three men who were inexplicably linked by time and history to the to the resulting inferno. In a moment of truth, when the fire crowned and torched the land, and survival depended on "e;tasting the wind,"e; these men did.

The North Atlantic, February 3, 1943. A German submarine, the U-223 torpedoes the USAT Dorchester. The ship sinks within a few minutes with the loss of over 700 lives. The official Naval Records indicate that four Army chaplains aboard the ship gave their lifejackets to frightened soldiers. Praying together the chaplains stayed on the sinking ship. They are known today as the Four Immortal Chaplains, a Catholic priest, a Jewish rabbi, and two Protestant ministers. There is evidence that a Fifth Chaplain, a Black sailor in the Coast Guard, also saved many lives that terrible night. His story, lost in history, should also be honored for his courage and sacrifice at a time when racism was endemic in the Navy.