Sublime
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Before the invasion of Tarawa—the central island of the Gilbert Island thrust—the Navy’s hydrographic analysis showed that on the morning of assault the coral reef that surrounded the island would only be submerged to a depth of four feet six inches. A fully loaded Higgins Boat had a draft of four feet—just enough. When it was discovered, however,
... See moreBenjamin H. Milligan • By Water Beneath the Walls
Admiral King “listened with utmost enthusiasm,” wrote Captain James Doyle, Turner’s operations officer, when describing the UDT efforts at Flintlock. “Excellent,” King interrupted in the middle of Doyle’s briefing, “that business of the hydrographic survey at the first possible moment is a pet hobby of mine.” For Turner, however, a unit capable of
... See moreBenjamin H. Milligan • By Water Beneath the Walls
In 1995, when he was 58, Mr. Foreman received a MacArthur Foundation fellowship, popularly known as the “genius grant.” The foundation praised him for his “original vision and commitment to developing new theatrical vocabularies” that influenced the direction of American avant-garde theater.
NYT, Richard Foreman obituary
In February 1943, Admiral Kent Hewitt—fresh from amphibious invasions in North Africa and equipped with the sailor’s gift to see a red sky at morning and predict the storm to follow—sent a message to the US Army’s commander of ground forces requesting a curriculum addition to the Scout and Raider program to begin training men on the destruction of
... See moreBenjamin H. Milligan • By Water Beneath the Walls
A Ghost's Memoir: The Making of Alfred P. Sloan's My Years with General Motors (The MIT Press)
amazon.com
George Melville would serve as the Jeannette’s engineer. Said to be distantly related to the great author, Melville was an improvisational genius with machines—a greasy-fingered savant who seemed most at home among thumping boilers and sharp blasts of steam. The engineer, thirty-eight years old, had a booming voice, a stout physique, and an enormou
... See moreHampton Sides • In the Kingdom of Ice: The Grand and Terrible Polar Voyage of the USS Jeannette
William (Willi) F. Unsoeld, Ph.D.: 36, Corvallis, Oregon; Assistant Professor, Department of Philosophy and Religion, Oregon State University, on leave as deputy Peace Corps representative in Nepal; Climbing leader.
Thomas F. Hornbein • Everest: The West Ridge, Anniversary Edition
In November 1942, well into the Guadalcanal campaign, even Admiral Nimitz had recognized that FTP 167 was a dinosaur and sent along a revision to Admiral King. Both Nimitz and King knew Turner; both knew he would never be constrained by good manners; both agreed to the revision—henceforth establishing the Marine Corps’ invasion commander as the equ
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