Charles Ashbacher Reviews

  Review of Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo , by Captain Ted W. Lawson Five out of five stars The first military action on the Japanese homeland   From Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 until the battle of the Coral Sea in May 1942, which was basically a draw, Japanese forces won every engagement against Allied forces. Singapore fell in February 1942, Bataan and hence the Philippines fell in April 1942, and Indonesia fell in March of 1942. The Japanese leadership was loudly proclaiming that their home islands were impregnable, and the war would be fought on foreign soil.   That claim was rendered incorrect in April, 1942 when Lieutenant Colonel  James Doolittle led a group of 16 B-25B bombers in a raid over Tokyo. While the damage was relatively minor, the psychological impact was massive on both sides of the fighting. It was a major boost to American morale, and it demonstrated to the Japanese at all levels that the Japanese mainland could indeed be attacked fro...

  Review of A Close Encounter: The Marine Landings On Tinian , by Richard Harwood Five out of five stars Battle for a Pacific Island that is overlooked   When talking about Marine assaults against Pacific Islands held by the Japanese, the battles for Tarawa, Okinawa, Iwo Jima, Saipan and Guadalcanal are featured. The Mariana Islands were held by Japan and the most widely known components were Guam and Saipan. Tinian is an island in the same chain and was invaded by the Marines after they took Saipan. In fact, the islands are so close together that American artillery on Saipan could bombard Japanese positions on Tinian.   This is the story of the fight for Tinian, much of the action is similar to what happened in previous Pacific battles. In is a story of heroism, determination in the face of danger, the bloody destruction of thousands of human bodies and an ultimate American victory. One fact generally lost to history is that Tinian was the busiest American airf...

  Review of Lewes, Delaware: Coastal Stories , by Robert Casseday, ISBN 9781628061581 Five out of five stars Mythical stories about a real place on the coast   While these stories are similar to other stories and have some factual basis, they are tall tales, some taller than others. Lewes, Delaware is an actual town with over 2,000 residents and a lot of history. It is the first European settlement in Delaware, founded by Dutch settlers in 1631. This gives it a lot of time for the tales to be concocted and embellished.   There is a story about a haunted lighthouse, another about the fish factory on Canary Creek where the dumpings in the creek enticed a shark to swim out of the ocean with terrible consequences and even a reference to Jack the Ripper. There is the almost obligatory story of the monster fish, one involving Blackbeard the pirate, an unusual one about Marie Antoinette having lived in Lewes for a time and the last story involves a massive earthquake t...

  Review of Across the Reef: The Marine Assault of Tarawa , by Colonel Joseph H. Alexander Five out of five stars A concentrated, brutal battle   While the battle for Guadalcanal between Allied and Japanese forces involved land, sea and air forces in greater numbers than took place on Tarawa, it could not match the concentrated savagery. In the battle for Guadalcanal that came earlier, the Japanese forces eventually withdrew rather than fighting to the end. That was not the case with Tarawa.   After the Japanese forces in control of Tarawa realized that the Allies would eventually attack, they spent a year fortifying the islands against an assault. This was not the case with Guadalcanal. The overall size of the islands of Tarawa were also small, so that there was no real room to maneuver, therefore both sides knew that it was going to be a frontal assault against well prepared positions. The Japanese forces also understood that there was little chance of any aid...

  Review of The Funniest Moments in Sports , by Herman L. Masin, ISBN 0871311526 Four out of five stars Good, generally retreaded jokes   As someone that has been reading sports fiction, fact and humor for decades, I have read a great deal of all types. There is one fact of humor and that is that if a joke is not based on some new social or technical achievement, it is probably an old joke simply being retold. At most, the context has changed.   That is the case with this book. For example, there is the story about a rookie catcher where each of the first six batters all swung at the first pitch and got a hit. When the manager asked the catcher, “What kind of pitches is he throwin’,” the catcher replied, “I don’t know, I haven’t caught one yet.” This is a story that is more well-known where the great Yogi Berra was the catcher. The validity of the story has been confirmed by Berra himself.   There is another story about a man impersonating the giant outfi...

  Review of Calendar Girls , DVD version Five out of five stars Great human interest story   This movie is based on a true story. There is a close knit group of women in the British village of Knapely. They belong to the local chapter of the Women’s Institute and tragedy strikes when one of the women’s husband comes down with Leukemia and dies. After discovering that the couch in the waiting room is very uncomfortable and seeing a girlie calendar, one of the women comes up with an idea for fundraising.   Her idea is to create a girlie calendar featuring women of the Women’s Institute nude and engaging in typical activities of women in the club. Props would be situated so that the important parts would be hidden from the camera. After some initial skepticism, enough women agree to pose so that they can make a calendar. The project is a great success, and it raises hundreds of thousands of pounds for leukemia research.   This movie is very well cast and act...

Review of The Batboy , by Mike Lupica, ISBN 9780399250002 Five out of five stars Living the dream, sort of   Brian Dudley is a boy that loves baseball. While he has an encyclopedic knowledge of the statistics of baseball, he also understands the strategies behind the actions taken by managers on the field. His father is a former major league pitcher that so refused to give up a role in baseball that he left to serve as a coach for a team in Japan. His father’s devotion to baseball dominates everything else in his life, to the point where Brian’s parents divorced, and Brian has no contact with his father. His mother now wants nothing to do with baseball.   Their lives are complicated when Brian is offered a batboy position for his hometown team the Detroit Tigers. Brian also plays on a youth team and has some skills. It is the dream job for Brian, as he has been a devoted follower of the team for many years.   The batboy job goes well until former star Hank Bis...