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Humble Heroes: How the USS Nashville CL43 Fought WWII

 
 
Humble Heroes: How the USS Nashville CL43 Fought WWII
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Humble Heroes: How the USS Nashville CL43 Fought WWII

“Top Secret” mystery missions, many without other ships in support, were becoming uncomfortably familiar for the crew of the USS Nashville CL43. It started like a Hollywood thriller, secretly transporting from England $25 million in British gold bullion, delivered to the ship in unguarded bread trucks, a pre-war “Neutrality Patrol” that was really an unofficial hostile search for the far bigger and more powerful German battleship Prinz Eugen, and sneaking through the Panama Canal at night with the ship’s name and hull number covered for secrecy. Now, with the ship bulging with an unusual load of fuel and supplies, in the company of a large fleet quietly passing under San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge, the crew was about to learn of their latest (but not last) and most improbable adventure yet as the captain made an announcement that would change the war and their lives forever, “We are going to Tokyo!”. Over three years, scores of battles and hundreds of thousands of ocean miles later, the Nashville and her crew had earned 10 Battle Stars, served from the North Atlantic to the South Pacific, from the Aleutians to the Yangtze River, as McArthur’s flagship and suffered heavy casualties from a devastating kamikaze attack. Tokyo Rose reported her sunk, repeatedly. Earlier, with goodwill trips that included France, England, Scandinavia, Bermuda and Rio de Janeiro, the new, sleek Nashville built a pre-war reputation as a “glamour ship”. But with war came the secret missions, capturing the second and third Japanese POWs of the war, having a torpedo pass just under the stern, being strafed and bombed by Japanese planes, losing a third of the crew in a single Kamikaze attack, swimming in shark infested waters protected by marines with machine guns, enjoying the beauty of Sydney and her people, planning a suicide mission to destroy the Japanese fishing fleet, and bombarding Japanese troops and airfields across the Pacific. The Nashville crew served their ship and country well. They came from Baltimore rowhouses, New York walk-ups, San Francisco flats, Kansas wheat farms, Colorado cattle ranches, Louisiana bayous and Maine fishing towns. Many had never traveled more than 25 miles from home and had never seen the ocean until they joined the service. They were part Irish, part Italian, part Polish and All-American. Battered, burnt and bombed, they made the USS Nashville their home and lived and died as eternal shipmates. This is the story of their beloved Nashville and their personal experiences. A hardcover version is available on Booksurg.com (866-308-6235), an Amazon company.

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Product Details:
Author: Steven George Bustin
Paperback: 226 pages
Publisher: BookSurge Publishing
Publication Date: April 09, 2007
Language: English
ISBN: 1419658840
Package Length: 9.9 inches
Package Width: 6.8 inches
Package Height: 0.9 inches
Package Weight: 1.55 pounds
Average Customer Rating: based on 12 reviews
 
 

Customer Reviews:
Average Customer Review:4.5
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1 of 1 found the following review helpful:

4Bill from CT  Dec 16, 2009
Am really enjoying this read. I had an uncle whom I never met who was one of the officers on the Nashville (Cmdr. Dick Boutelle)who was killed in the Kamikazee attack. Since my father died when I was young we know very little about his brother other than that he was an Annapolis graduate. I learned of my father's service with the USAA 8th in Europe during WWII but knew nothing about his brother's service on the Nashville. Hope to contact any crew who knew him to learn more. If any WWII Nashville crew read this review I can be contacted at Kingfungo@AOL.Com. Wish the book had had an index.

1 of 1 found the following review helpful:

5A Rollicking Good War Story  Feb 15, 2009
Steven Bustin's "Humble Heroes" is a rollicking good war story that reminds you of what WWII was really about. The crew of the USS Nashville had an improbable series of adventures and secret missions. Bustin has thoroughly researched their individual stories and woven them into a gripping narrative. Top marks!

1 of 1 found the following review helpful:

4Very conversational style  Aug 27, 2008
Clearly the author has a personal relationship with many of the people who served on the ship...I felt like I was talking with good friends and hearing their stories firsthand. (If he really doesn't he faked it well). The writing style was very conversational - it made it an easy read. As another reviewer noted, it would have been nice if the pictures were more clear, but who knows the reason for that - age, production process, paper type? Not being a history buff I sometimes felt lost in the details, but at the same time, since I'm not a big history buff I got a lot of fascinating information in a very compact book. The people whose stories were told will live on - and that's a fabulous reason for a book.

1 of 1 found the following review helpful:

4History is important  Aug 27, 2008
I needed a vacation book this summer so I picked up `Humble Heroes' by Steve Bustin. I finished my last tax return and cooled down on the plane ride to Honolulu. I didn't open the book until I was on the 31st floor of the Sheraton lounging on the balcony. Overlooking Waikiki only a few miles away from Pearl Harbor gave me a different outlook as I read through this wonderful historic book. At times I thought I felt the zeros buzzing the hotel, part of which was standing during the raid. Thanks Steve, your book was a good addition to my vacation.

1 of 1 found the following review helpful:

5This book is a great tribute to the Heroes  Jan 15, 2008
This is a very personal book for me considering my dad was on the Nashville during this time. The book takes the it to a personal level telling the stories of the men who served, and gave their lives, on the Nashville. There are a few typos, but overall it is well written and published. I highly recommend it to anyone who wishes to experience what these young men saw and felt.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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