MWSA Review

Author Julia Gimbel took her father's draft, an unpublished memoir, and expanded on it to give us her interesting book Student, Sailor, Skipper, Survivor. Her father, Robert T. McCurdy, was in college when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, and like so many of his peers volunteered to join the military to help his country win the war. As a college student, he had the opportunity to enlist as an officer in the Navy. He took advantage of that and never regretted his choice. McCurdy served on a landing craft tank (LCT) in the Pacific, transporting men and equipment on and off the islands. Many of the men he returned to the larger ships were injured. McCurdy survived the war, and after a while, he began to jot down his memories of the war years. While author Gimbel's discovery of her father's memoir and war years correspondence served as the inspiration to write this book, once she got started, she realized she needed to expand her research. She researched military archives and talked to more World War Two survivors. This book is not about major military victories or the feats of heroes. Rather it takes a look at the common sailor and what life was like so far from home and so close to death. It's a good book that I recommend. 

Review by Bob Doerr (May 2020)

Author's Synopsis

Student, Sailor, Skipper, Survivor goes beyond the often-told battle stories to describe the life experiences shared by millions of Americans serving during WWII. Using her late father's journal as the framework, researcher and author Julia Gimbel fleshes out what it was like to go through accelerated officer training, set sail, and live life at sea during the tumultuous war years.

Step into the shoes of one sailor and, by extension, millions more to catch a whiff of the American spirit and determination of WWII. Learn how young Americans navigated military life and connected with their new brothers over the simple pleasure of a meal or a smoke, all while keeping their eye on the goal of returning home to resume the life they put on hold.

ISBN/ASIN: 978-1645381068
Book Format(s): Soft cover
Review Genre: Nonfiction—History
Number of Pages: 307