MORE HISTORY TO KNOW ABOUT. No reason to study history?

We're not very good at celebrating our military heroes. Memorial Day and Veterans Day pass with less and less public acknowledgment, beyond a general holiday feeling. Around June 6, when the president goes to France to observe the anniversary of D-Day, there will be some notice of Normandy veterans. But no one will even pause to contemplate the anniversary two days before--Midway Day, the official commemorative day of the U.S. Navy. It marks one of our nation's most dazzling feats of arms, just six months after the disastrous surprise attack on Pearl Harbor.

That leads into a review of a new book about Midway, with a caution, and a recommendation.

[Author Alvin] Kernan [who served on Enterprise] brings this maritime battle superbly to life. He explains the whole history of the U.S. carriers and their arsenal and the commanders and pilots who were trying to learn on the job. And he narrates the air assault in gripping detail. Mr. Kernan makes it clear how it came to pass that U.S. admirals sent a large group of brave but poorly equipped and undertrained men to fight with outmoded tactics. He is less clear on why. One obvious explanation: At the beginning of a war, you fight with whatever is at hand and learn from your mistakes. Adm. Nimitz would have happily accepted double the casualty rate to get what he got: four sunk Japanese carriers.

Midway was a great victory, but the Navy still had miles to go to figure out how to use and defend its carriers--as the costly mistakes in the sea battles around Guadalcanal in late 1942 proved.

Must consider adding this book to the stack.