Crossing the Line: A Bluejacket's Odyssey in World War II (Yale Library of Military History)

209 Pages·2007·1.19 MB·English

by  Alvin B. Kernan

The Yale Library of Military History
Donald Kagan and Frederick Kagan, Series Editors

CroSSing thE LinE
A BLuejAckeT’s OdYsseY in WOrLd WAr ii
ALvin KErnAn
Foreword by DonalD Kagan and FreDericK Kagan
introduction by lawrence Stone
Yale University Press / new Haven and london
First Yale University Press edition, 2007.
First published by Naval Institute Press in 1994.
Copyright © 2007 by Yale University.
All rights reserved.
This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, including illustrations,
in any form (beyond that copying permitted by Sections 107 and 108 of the U.S.
Copyright Law and except by reviewers for the public press), without written
permission from the publishers.
Designed by Mary Valencia.
Set in Minion by Tseng Information Systems, Inc., Durham, North Carolina.
Printed in the United States of America.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Kernan, Alvin B.
Crossing the line : a Bluejacket’s odyssey in World War II /
Alvin Kernan ; foreword by Donald Kagan and Frederick Kagan ;
introduction by Lawrence Stone. — 1st Yale University Press ed.
p. cm. — (The Yale library of military history)
Originally published: Annapolis : Naval Institute Press, 1994.
Includes index.
ISBN: 978-0-300-12315-9 (alk. paper)
1. Kernan, Alvin B. 2. World War, 1939–1945—Naval operations,
American. 3. World War, 1939–1945—Campaigns—Pacific Ocean.
4. World War, 1939–1945—Personal narratives, American.
5. Sailors—United States—Biography. I. Title.
D773.K46 2007
940.54'5973092—dc22
[B]
2006038455
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and
durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for
Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
For my children

ContEntS
ForEworD, by Donald Kagan and Frederick Kagan ix
introDuCtion, by Lawrence Stone xi
PrEFACE to thE YALE EDition xv
one snow 1
two Boots 8
three Pearl 23
Four cruising 35
Five Midway 52
Six sunk 68
Seven Wandering 88
Eight stateside 102
nine Black Panthers 113
ten solo 133
Eleven War’s end 149
twelve Peace 162
thirteen uncle sugar 173
inDEx 177
Illustrations follow page 112

ForEworD
War has been a subject of intense interest from the beginning of litera-
ture around the world. Whether it be in the earliest literary work in the
Western tradition, Homer’s Iliad, or the Rigvedic hymns of ancient In-
dia, people have always been fascinated by this dangerous and challeng-
ing phenomenon. Few can fail to be stirred by such questions as: How
and why do wars come about? How and why do they end? Why did the
winners win and the losers lose? How do leaders make life-and-death
decisions? Why do combatants follow orders that put their lives at risk?
How do individuals and societies behave in war, and how are they af-
fected by it? Recent events have raised the study of war from one of in-
tellectual interest to a matter of vital importance to Americans and the
world. Ordinary citizens must understand war in order to choose their
leaders wisely, and leaders must understand it if they are to prevent wars
where possible and win them when necessary.
This series, therefore, seeks to present the keenest analyses of war in its
different aspects, the sharpest evaluations of political and military deci-
sion-making, and descriptive accounts of military activity that illuminate
its human elements. It will do so drawing on the full range of military
history from ancient times to the present and in every part of the globe
in order to make available to the general public readable and accurate
scholarly accounts of this most fascinating and dangerous of human ac-
tivities.
Alvin Kernan, the author of The Unknown Battle of Midway, is a teacher
and scholar of great experience and outstanding talent who has made
a great name for himself in both fields at Yale and Princeton. But on
ix