Uss Charles Carroll Apa28: An Amphibious History of World War II - Softcover

Goldman, Kenneth H.

9781412021142: Uss Charles Carroll Apa28: An Amphibious History of World War II

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1412021146 ISBN 13: 9781412021142

Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2004

It was one thing to demand vengeance after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii plunged the United States into World War II, it was quite another to have the wherewithal to carry the fight to the Axis powers' front door. The same two oceans that had previously protected the United States from foreign enemies now provided a like obstacle to projecting American military force in the other direction. Battleships, aircraft carriers and submarines could not do the job alone. It was up to the ordinary soldier to occupy and hold the enemy's real estate, and the Navy needed to commission vast numbers of transports to get them there.

The attack transport USS Charles Carroll was originally laid down to be a combi-liner, carrying passengers and cargo on the Gulf of Mexico trade routes. Most of her wartime crew had never seen the ocean let alone manned a vessel of her size or even handled the small boats that were the ship's main offensive weapon. Yet, together they would evolve into the fighting machine that earned six battle stars in the invasions of North Africa, Sicily, Salerno, Normandy, Southern France and Okinawa.

Lt. Robert W. Goldman, USNR (ret), joined the ship after Operation Torch and participated in her five subsequent invasions. I grew up listening to his stories, which, with the invasion maps, documents, photographs, issues of the Plan of the Day, etc. that he saved, form the backbone of this narrative. I have also met many of his old shipmates and have incorporated their recollections and, whenever possible, entries from the weathered diaries in which some of them set down their first-hand experiences, their fears while in combat and the capers they cut to blow off steam. As much as possible, the book evokes the feel of the times and the perspective of those who were there. The generals and heads of state set policy and strategy but it is the individuals in the field and on the seas who must translate the best laid plans into actions which spell victory or defeat. This is their story.

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