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APA 154 Video Links

APA Blueprints from APA 154

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Energy Plan for the Future

The background for pages is "Tidepool" and represents where water meets the land. I thought it was appropriate.

COMBAT LOADED - by Tom Crew - the definitive representative history of the APA and AKA classes of ships.

It is a carefully researched, well documented history of the ship and the men who served on her.  Tom interviewed over 60 men from the Tate and did unbelievable research.  The book is not only full of information, it is extremely well written.  The narratives are priceless.  Some of them had me laughing my a$$ off, other brought tears to my eyes.  I also had a lot of "OH WOW" moments when it cleared up things that I had pondered, but not found the answer to before. What separates this book from all others is the combination of documentation AND readability. These two things are not often found in the same book.  

I will be shamelessly pushing this book, because it is a MUST read or anyone wanting to know what life was like on the APA and AKA's in WWII.  

The Lady Gangster by Del Staecker - The story of the men of the USS Fuller APA 7, written by the son of one of the Crew.  It is very readable and well written.  The day after it arrived I picked it up and read it that day.  Too often history is the story of the rich and the powerful, and skewed to make them look good.  "To the victor belongs the history."  This is a great book to read that answers the question:  “Dad, will you tell me what you did in the war?”  Great history without all the BS that usually comes with it.  This book is available on Amazon.com

The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors by James D. Horfischer

An AWESOME book I finished it after 3 AM because I couldn't put it down while reading it.  It was worth it!!!

From Publishers Weekly: One of the finest WWII naval action narratives in recent years, this book follows in the footsteps of Flags of Our Fathers, creating a microcosm of the war's American Navy destroyers. Hornfischer, a writer and literary agent in Austin, Tex., covers the battle off Samar, the Philippines, in October 1944, in which a force of American escort carriers and destroyers fought off a Japanese force many times its strength, and the larger battle of Leyte Gulf, the opening of the American liberation of the Philippines, which might have suffered a major setback if the Japanese had attacked the transports. He presents the men who crewed the destroyer Taffy 3, most of whom had never seen salt water before the war but who fought, flew, kept the crippled ship afloat, and doomed ships fighting almost literally to the last shell. Finally, Hornfischer provides a perspective on the Japanese approach to the battle, somewhat (and justifiably) modifying the traditional view of the Japanese Admiral Kurita as a fumbler or even a coward-while exalting American sailors and pilots as they richly deserve. (American admirals don't get off so easily.)

Other books and Movies

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