Semper Fi in the Sky - Book Review

Ed Brown | April 24, 2007 | 0 comments | Print | E-mail

Book Review: Semper Fi In The Sky: The Marine Air Battles of World War II, by Gerald Astor, Presidio Press, 2005, Random House, Inc., New York, NY

When you think of Marine air in World War II, what is the first thing that comes to mind? Do you think of John Wayne in Flying Leathernecks? Do you think of shiny, large, dark blue Vought Corsairs dogfighting with silver and quick Mitsubishi Zeroes? Do you envision those monster machines shooting down the enemy in droves? What of the men who flew those machines? Do you see them gathering in the officers clubs after their missions to celebrate and regale in their victories? Many probably have this view, based on the 1970’s television program known as Baa Baa Black Sheep, also known as Black Sheep Squadron. During the entire run of this program I was a Marine aircraft electrician. We never missed an episode.

What does this have to do with a book about Marine air in World War II? Perception. For many years I had the perception that Marine pilots led the way to victory in the Pacific. From the dark days of late 1941 to the unstoppable island-hopping advance through to Okinawa in 1945, I always envisioned Marine air in the forefront. A full decade after leaving the service, I met an old Marine airwinger who served on Guadalcanal. It was quite an eye-opener. In our many but brief discussions, I received a bit of an education. Forever lost was the vision of the undefeatable Marine aviator single handedly vanquishing his opponents.

When I picked up Semper Fi In The Sky, I was expecting to read a strategic accounting of the role of Marine air in the Pacific, during World War II. I found not a historical accounting of a list of battles and accomplishments, but a story, an easy reading, robust accounting of the men, machines and islands that appear in the annals of Marine aviation, for the period. Gerald Astor takes the reader from a survey of the early days of naval aviation, and the first Marine aviator, Lt. Alfred Cunningham, an army Spanish-American War veteran, up through Marine legends Joe Foss and “Pappy” Boyington, and the generals and admirals who pointed the way.

Astor does not just tell a story, he weaves a tapestry. He lays out the warp of the fabric through the general linear progress of the story, from Wake to Okinawa. The weft is the men who are shuttled in and out of the story, as they come and go from battle to battle, mission to mission. These men are more than just names. Astor provides background on most of the characters in the story. Providing the reader with some context to the hows and whys they became Marine aviators. There are many instances when a pilot is mentioned briefly during a description of flight training in 1942, then appear later in the book, reuniting with us as we proceed across the Pacific. And you think, ‘Oh, yeah, I remember you’. As the story unfolds you will find yourself attached to these men and their machines. You live through the depredations, the disease, the midnight banzai attacks, and the bailouts. Many times I wanted to flip ahead to find out how some downed pilot made out. Reading about some of their experiences, you can’t help but think they are the stuff that would make a great Hollywood war film. However, as you read through, and put it all into context, you realize Hollywood could never do justice to these men.

Everyone knows that the Marine air-ground team is arguably the deadliest weapon in the modern arsenal. The average amateur historian would assume this paring began in the crucible of the Pacific. They would be partly correct. Astor, in his opening chapter, describes the beginnings of Naval and Marine air, touching on Marine expeditions in Central America and the Caribbean. It was here that Marine pilots first provided air support to ground troops, from aerial evacuations, to supply drops, to bomb drops. They weren’t closely coordinated, but they proved effective. The lessons were mostly forgotten, until the Marines landed on Guadalcanal.

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