Military Officer - October 2008 - (Page 22) rapidfire In Review The Ghost Mountain Boys: Their Epic March and the Terrifying Battle for New Guinea By James Campbell. Crown Publishers, 2007. $25.95. ISBN 978-0-30733596-8. incompetence in ordering an unnecessary and costly battle of attrition. Rampant Raider: An A-4 Skyhawk Pilot in Vietnam By Stephen R. Gray. Naval Institute Press, 2007. $32.50. ISBN 978-1-59114-342-0. 1 Military Olympians U.S. servicemembers have been participating in Olympic games since 1896. The 2008 games in Beijing were no exception. Competitors included Maj. Michael E. Anti, USA; Capt. Eli Bremer, USAF; Staff Sgt. Dremiel Byers, USA (2); Staff Sgt. Elizabeth “Libby” Callahan, USAR; Capt. Kevin Eastler, USAF; Pfc. Walton “Glenn” Eller III, USA (3); Sgt. 1st Class Bret Erickson, USA-Ret.; Maj. Dominic Grazioli, USAF; Pfc. Vincent 2 C. Hancock, USA (4); Spc. Jeffrey G. Holguin, USA; 2nd Lt. Weston “Seth” Kelsey, USAF; Capt. Michael Mai, USA 3 (1); Sgt. 1st Class Jason A. Parker, USA; U.S. Military Academy cadet Stephen Scherer; and Sgt. 1st Class Daryl L. Szarenski, USA. Eller and Hancock brought home gold medals in skeet shooting and double trap, respectively. Both soldiers are members of the U.S. Army Mark4 manship Unit. 22 MILITARY OFFICER OCTOBER 2008 The campaign to recapture New Guinea from the Japanese from September 1942 to January 1943 is a battle study of where never to fight a war. James Campbell tells the story of Australian and American forces fighting the Japanese on the most inhospitable island imaginable, where climate, terrain, and disease were far more deadly than enemy forces. This is the story of the Ghost Mountain Boys, a highly motivated but illtrained and unprepared National Guard outfit ordered by Gen. Douglas MacArthur, USA, to cross 100 miles of swamps and jungles and climb high mountains to attack the Japanese. Campbell tells of the fighting, starvation, fatigue, and disease that devastated both opponents, as well as the small-unit leadership challenges and the brass’ In 1967, naval aviator Ensign Stephen R. Gray was the junior pilot in his squadron aboard the aircraft carrier Bon Homme Richard (CVA31), conducting combat air operations off the coast of North Vietnam. This is a memoir of his years as pilot of an A-4 Skyhawk attack aircraft. The real strength of this book is the second half, in which Gray tells about his Vietnam service, flying more than 250 bombing missions over South and North Vietnam. He vividly describes harrowing carrier takeoffs and landings and gutwrenching bombing runs through walls of antiaircraft fire and surface-to-air missiles. He discusses aerial combat, shootdowns, pilot rescues, accidents, and losing good friends. Vietnam made Gray grow up fast; as he says, “Such is war — full of surprises and never quite what you expect.” — William D. Bushnell PHOTOS: ABOVE, STEVE BARRETT; ALL OTHERS, TIM HIPPS/U.S. ARMY
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