In this post, I wanted to alert you to some books that I’ve been reading, and post a couple of videos that review a recent movie that fits in with those books. I’m trying to encourage everyone to ween themselves off of fiction, self-help, sports and modern movies. And in order to get people to do that, I have to find something better.

So, in World War 2, the Allies (UK, USA and USSR) were fighting in two main areas of the globe: Europe and the Pacific Ocean. Previously, I had ignored the Pacific, because island fighting didn’t seem to me to be as interesting as fighting in Europe. It just seemed too “close quarters” for any real tactics or strategy. But I had stupidly neglected the naval battles, which are full of tactics and strategy. So, I’ve been reading books about American aircraft used in the Pacific theater, the US submarine forces, as well as the major battles of our surface fleets.

Here are some of the aircraft books:

• Target Tokyo: Jimmy Doolittle and the Raid That Avenged Pearl Harbor
• Air Apaches: The True Story of the 345th Bomb Group and Its Low, Fast, and Deadly Missions in World War II
• Never Call Me a Hero: A Legendary American Dive-Bomber Pilot Remembers the Battle of Midway

Here are some of the submarine books:

• Wahoo: The Patrols of America’s Most Famous World War II Submarine
• Clear the Bridge!: The War Patrols of the U.S.S. Tang
• Thunder Below!: The USS *Barb* Revolutionizes Submarine Warfare in World War II

And a few surface ship books:

• The Battle of Midway (Pivotal Moments in American History)
• Neptune’s Inferno: The U.S. Navy at Guadalcanal
• World War II at Sea: A Global History

These are all available as audio books.

I wanted to specifically highlight the book on the Battle of Midway, by Craig L. Symonds. There was a recent movie made about the battle, and it had surprisingly few historical mistakes. This 2-part video review was excellent.

Part 1:

Part 2:

The movie is from 2019, and you can still stream it, or get the DVD. It will help you to have a broad overview of the battle, and then when you read the book, it makes sense. If you have never seen a war movie, this is an excellent one to start with. It really sticks to the historical facts. It is superior to the previous 1976 Midway movie with Charleton Heston and Henry Fonda.

What makes this particular battle interesting is that the American Navy was actually outnumbered and outgunned by the superior Japanese Navy at that time. They had more ships, better planes, and better trained airmen and sailors. But we had a secret weapon – you’ll have to watch the movie to find out what it was. Midway was the turning point of the Pacific War. It’s a good reminder why we always need to keep our “blue water” naval force in the trim. I wish we spent more on our armed forces than we do on all these spending programs to transfer wealth from taxpayers to other people – subsidies and welfare. At least when we spend money on the armed forces, it’s Constitutional, and we get something useful for it.

We really should not know the names of famous actors, artists, musicians, athletes, etc. These people are pretty and talented, sure. But they never did anything to fight against evils like Marxism and Japanese Imperialism. Christianity is a faith that pits good against evil, so naturally, I am very interested in people who battle against evil. The American armed forces have an excellent record of battling against evil, often at great personal cost. Something that the current generation of entertainers cannot match.