Toy Boats and Tin Soldiers - Hardcover

Miller M D, Robert A

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0595749437 ISBN 13: 9780595749430

Publisher: iUniverse, 2003

Synopsis

Eric Warner was a military surgeon in Key West, Florida in 1940. He had few responsibilities, occasional surgeries, and his own forty-foot fishing boat. On December 8, 1941, the U.S. Navy pulled all of their ships and airplanes out of the base, sending them to the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.

Key West was a ghost military base. The Gulf Stream offshore was soon trafficked by hundreds of ships each day carrying guns and oil to European allies. Hitler dispatched U-boats to the U.S. coast and dozens of ships were attacked each day. Doctor Warner was suddenly swamped with wounded sailors from the merchant fleets. Only three Coast Guard ships defended the entire U.S. Coast. The Navy response was to commandeer civilian boats. Navy personnel manned the ships, which were used for harbor patrol and convoy duty. Eric found himself doing double duty...part time surgeon and boat captain rescuing seamen from burning ships in the waters off Key West. This is his story.

About this title

About the Author

The author was a ten-year-old boy living in Key West during the early years of World War II, when the Navy stripped all of its ships and planes from the island. Curiosity and his bicycle led him to many secrets on the barren island fortress, where ships torpedoed by U-boats could be seen floundering in the Gulf Stream.

In his later years as a military surgeon and then as a cardiologist and boat captain in South Florida his memories and imagination challenged him to share this story of the brave men and women of that era.

Edition details

• Publisher: iUniverse
• Publication date: 2003
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0595749437
• ISBN 13: 9780595749430
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 280