Author Archives: GP
History and the 11th Airborne Division
1946 outlook for the U.S. Navy
USS Iowa (BB-61), 1946
Charles M. Hatcher, of “Our Navy magazine, September 1946, after reading about the 2 bomb explosions on Bikini Atoll, came across the discussion as to whether those tests proved to render navies obsolete. Here is an excerpt from that article, written in September 1946. Do you feel it still applies today?
The battleship was obsolescent long before the A-bomb, proven so by Billy Mitchell on the Atlantic Coast, Taranto, Pearl Harbor and Malaya merely lent emphasis to the knowledge and belief of airmen that airborne bombs and torpedoes would and could sink any ships built.
The US Navy tacitly recognized the departure of Line-of-battle tactics when it brilliantly organized its task forces, train-fleets and amphibious assault groups.
That it was taken by the scruff of the neck and damn well forced to do some brilliant improvising when the battle fleet was blotted out at Pearl. But that the US Navy high command did come up with some tremendous ideas, the recently won global war will attest. And that this same leadership might reasonably be expected to be alert to continuing new ideas, tactics and strategy should seem logical to any by the blindly partisan or the uninformed.
LST-731
The US Navy needs to worry about John Q. Uninformed. Assailed by enough propaganda and blinded by continuous smoke clouds of half truth, the general public may in time forget the concrete exploits which won the Pacific War and made the European campaigns possible.
He may consent to a drying up of funds for experiment, practice and construction – as happened after the first World War. And then he’ll wonder what hit him when a catastrophic emergency explodes all over an undertrained, under-built and under-researched fighting outfit.
We can count on this: if there is a U.S. Navy in the future, it will be largely an aviation Navy plus submarines.
Obviously, it’s the job of every man in this outfit, seaman deuce on up, to start worrying about his Navy if he believes in anything… Volunteering as a sailor and saying to hell with whining or letters of complaint to Congressmen, then he’d better scram out. We’ve got a rugged cruise ahead.
USS Arnold J. Isbell (DD-869), 1946
The job is to learn something every day to toughen ourselves up; to develop a justified pride in our outfit, and to make ourselves the best damned fighting men in the world. He who stimulates dissatisfaction in the ship; who grumbles without constructive effort; who whines and whimpers and goldbricks – that man is the Navy’s worst enemy within.
I just got to looking around and watching the beautiful new equipment being handled by youngsters so busy complaining about personal problems, they couldn’t appreciate the swell new equipment they were getting.
BY: Charles M. Hatcher, “The Sky’s the Limit: Aviation News and Views” article in Our Navy magazine, September 1946
Courtesy of Jeanne Bryan Insalaco @https://everyonehasafamilystorytotell.wordpress.com/
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Military Humor –
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Farewell Salutes –
Albert H. Cote – Morristown, NJ; US Army, Vietnam, Colonel, (Ret.)
Richard A. Dunn – Perry, MI; US Army/US Navy, Vietnam, Captain (Ret. 35 y.), Bronze Star
US Flag at Half-staff, courtesy of Dan Antion
Herbert A. Higgins – Brooklyn, NY; US Navy, WWII
James B. McCartney – Ridgway, CO; US Army, WWII, ETO, Pvt., Co B/1/222/42 Infantry Division, KIA (Wildenguth, FRA)
Ralph Puckett – Tifton, GA; US Army, Korea & Vietnam, Colonel (Ret.), Distinquished Service Cross, Medal of Honor, 2 Silver Stars, 2 Bronze Stars, 5 Purple Hearts
Daniel L. Ruby – North Beach, WA; US Army, Vietnam
Raymond U. Schlamp – Dubuque, IA; US Army, WWII, ETO, Pfc., Co G/2/11/5th Infantry Division, KIA (Dormot, FRA)
Clifford H. Strickland – Fowler, CO; US Army, WWII, PTO, Co C/803 Engineers, POW, KIA (Cabanatuan Camp, Luzon)
Robert Thompson – Lewistown, IL; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, 11th Airborne Division
Doris Eileen Zeissig (102) – Decatur, IN; US Army WAC, WWII, ETO, Nurse
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Quotes that came out of WWII
New Guinea
True combat power is arms multiplied by fighting spirit
___ Asahi Shimbun
We were all teenagers or barely in our twenties, totally naive to the ways of the world. Our patriotic goal was to get even for Pearl Harbor. All forty-eight states were united. Aviators would be needed to defeat Japan. We were the Flyboys…
___ Pilot Lou Grab, quoted in ‘George Bush: His World War II Years’
Japanese, had failed fully to appreciate the strategic revolution brought about by the increased capabilities of air power.
___ “U.S. Strategic Bombing Survey Report” 1946
We hold his examples of atrocity screaming to the heavens while we cover up own and condone them as just retribution for his acts. We claim to be fighting for civilization, but the more I see of this war in the Pacific, the less right I think we have to claim to be civilized. In fact, I am not sure that our record in this respect stands so very much higher than the Japanese.
____ Charles Lindbergh, ‘The Wartime Journals of Charles Lindbergh’
Meet the expectations of your family and home community by making effort upon effort, always mindful of the honor of your name. If alive, do not suffer the disgrace of becoming a prisoner; in death, do not leave behind a name soiled by misdeeds.
____ “Imperial Japanese Army Field Service Code”
Pacific War; downed aircraft
Please try to understand this. It’s not an easy thing to hear, but please listen. There is no morality in warfare. You kill children. You kill women. You kill old men. You don’t seek them out, but they die. That’s what happens in war.
____ Paul Tibbets, quoted in “Duty: A Father, His Son, and the Man Who Won the War”
If we are prepared to sacrifice 20 million Japanese live in kamikaze effort, victory will be ours.
____ Admiral Taijiro Onishi, quoted in “Hell in the Pacific”
If I had lost the war, I would have been tried as a war criminal.
____ General Curtis LeMay, quoted in “Dark Sun: The Making of the Hydrogen Bomb”
As long as there sovereign nations possessing great power, there will be war.
____ Albert Einstein
Among the men that fought on Iwo Jima, uncommon valor was a common virtue.
____ Admiral Chester Nimitz, 16 March 1945
The Limeys want us in even with our hastily made plans and our half-trained and half-equipped troops.”
____ General Joseph Stillwell speaking about joining the war alongside Britain
Eastern Front
Nice chap, no general.
____ General Bernard Montgomery, speaking his first impression of General Eisenhower
Anyone who says they weren’t scared in combat, was either crazy or stupid.
____ Everett “Smitty” Smith, 11th Arborne Division
Old soldiers never die, they just fade away. And like the old soldier in that ballad, I now close my military career and just fade away, an old soldier who tried to do his duty as God gave him the sight to see that duty.
____ General Douglas Mac Arthur
With the development of weapons of indiscriminate mass murder and the real possibility of a nuclear holocaust, Japan’s experience of the “horrors of war” may prove a valuable lesson for other countries as well…
____ Saburo Ienaga
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Military Humor –
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Farewell Salutes –
Frank V. Benak – Scottsville, MI; US Army, WWII, PTO, Cpl., Co C/128/32 Infantry Division, KIA (Papua, NG)
William L. Carroll – Riverside, RI; US Navy, WWII, PTO, USS St. Mary’s
Leroy C. Cloud – Taylor, TX; US Army, WWII, ETO, 744th Tanker Battalion, KIA (at sea)
Lou Conter (102) – Ojibwa, WI, US Navy, WWII, PTO, pilot “Black Cats”, USS Arizona (Last Survivor), Lt. Comdr. (Ret. 28 y.)
John O. Herrick – Emporia, KS; US Army, WWII, ETO, Sgt., Co B/149th Engineer Battalion, KIA )FRA)
Conrad J. Rioux – Hartford, CT; US Army, Korea, Capt., Medical Unit, 3rd Infantry Division, Bronze Star
Raymond U. Schlamp – Dubuque, IA; US Army, WWII, Pfc., 11/5th Infantry Division, KIA (FRA)
David Walker – Norfolk, VA; US Navy, WWII, PTO, mess attendant, USS California, KIA (Pearl Harbor, HI)
Julius G. Wolfe – Liberal, MO; US Army, WWII, ETO, Cpl., Co B/149th Engineer Combat Battalion, KIA (FRA)
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Did somebody say that it’s Monday?
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Ode for the American Dead in Asia, by: Thomas McGrath
Thomas McGrath, poet
Ode for the American Dead in Asia
1.
God love you now, if no one else will ever,
Corpse in the paddy, or dead on a high hill
In the fine and ruinous summer of a war
You never wanted. All your false flags were
Of bravery and ignorance, like grade school maps:
Colors of countries you would never see—
Until that weekend in eternity
When, laughing, well armed, perfectly ready to kill
The world and your brother, the safe commanders sent
You into your future. Oh, dead on a hill,
Dead in a paddy, leeched and tumbled to
A tomb of footnotes. We mourn a changeling: you:
Handselled to poverty and drummed to war
By distinguished masters whom you never knew.
2.
The bee that spins his metal from the sun,
The shy mole drifting like a miner ghost
Through midnight earth—all happy creatures run
As strict as trains on rails the circuits of
Blind instinct. Happy in your summer follies,
You mined a culture that was mined for war:
The state to mold you, church to bless, and always
The elders to confirm you in your ignorance.
No scholar put your thinking cap on nor
Warned that in dead seas fishes died in schools
Before inventing legs to walk the land.
The rulers stuck a tennis racket in your hand,
An Ark against the flood. In time of change
Courage is not enough: the blind mole dies,
And you on your hill, who did not know the rules.
3.
Wet in the windy counties of the dawn
The lone crow skirls his draggled passage home:
And God (whose sparrows fall aslant his gaze,
Like grace or confetti) blinks and he is gone,
And you are gone. Your scarecrow valor grows
And rusts like early lilac while the rose
Blooms in Dakota and the stock exchange
Flowers. Roses, rents, all things conspire
To crown your death with wreaths of living fire.
And the public mourners come: the politic tear
Is cast in the Forum. But, in another year,
We will mourn you, whose fossil courage fills
The limestone histories: brave: ignorant: amazed:
Dead in the rice paddies, dead on the nameless hills.
From:
Selected Poems 1938-1998
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I HOPE VERYONE HAS HAD A BEAUTIFUL EASTER WEEK !!!!
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Military Humor – 
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Farewell Salutes –
Kenyon Brindley – Little Rock, AR; US Army Air Corps, WWII, ETO, B-24 bombardier, 703BS/$)%BG/8th Air Force, KIA (Salzungen, GER)
James D. Coogler Jr. – Livingston, IL; US Army Air Corps, WWII, ETO, flight engineer, 483BG/15th Air Force
Pinecrest Memorial, Veteran’s Field of Honor
John Daddino (100) – Clovis, CA; US Army Air Corps, WWII, ETO, 406BS, Bronze Star
Paul F. Eshelman Jr. – Pittsburgh, PA; US Army Air Corps, WWII, KIA
Alfred Hammon – Elizabeth, NJ; US Merchant Marines, WWII, PTO, Ensign / US Naval Reserve, Cmdr. (Ret.)
John A. Hutton (101) – Newton, KS; US Army Air Corps, WWII, ETO, 2nd Lt.,B-24 navigator, 763BS/460BG/15th Air Force, POW
Joe Lieberman – Stamford, CT; US Representative / US Senator
Ray K. Lilly – Matoaka, WV; US Army, Korea, Cpl., KIA (Unsan, SK)
Elijah Riddle – Loma Linda, CA; US Navy, Gunner’s mate, USS Halsey, DWS (Indian Ocean)
John T. Rocca – Watertown, MA; US Navy, WWII
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Not really, it’s just Monday
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THE STRANGE NAVY THAT SHIPPED MILLIONS OF JAPANESE HOME
Japanese surrender in Malaya, 1945
When Japan formally surrendered on board the USS Missouri (BB-63) in Tokyo Bay on 2 September 1945, there still were seven million Japanese soldiers and civilians scattered throughout the Pacific and Asia with no way of returning home. The Allies had so devastated Japanese shipping during the war that few transports remained. There were some grumblings among U.S. officials who thought that it was Japan’s problem to rectify, but it was quickly recognized that after suffering under Japanese occupation for years, countries such as China and the Philippines should be relieved of the burden of stranded Japanese troops. There was also a need to return the million Chinese and Koreans who had been taken by the Japanese for slave labor.
By mid-September, a plan to repatriate Japanese personnel and revive the Japanese economy began to take shape. The U.S. Navy established the Shipping Control Authority, Japanese Merchant Marine and the Japanese Repatriation Group, known collectively as SCAJAP, under the Commander, Naval Forces, Far East (COMNAVFE). RADM D. B. Beary commanded SCAJAP with RADM Charles “Swede” Momsen serving as his chief of staff. SCAJAP developed regulations for Japanese shipping rights, laws of the sea, and safety rules. SCAJAP then assembled a fleet to transport cargo and another fleet to be used for the repatriation operation.
IJN Hosho
To hasten repatriation, SCAJAP gave Japan 85 LSTs and 100 Liberty ships that had been slated for decommissioning. Because the plan called for the ships to be operated by Japanese crews, all the instruments and hatches had to be remarked with Kanji. SCAJAP also repurposed any seaworthy vessel it could, including warships, for the mass repatriation effort. The Hōshō and Katsuragi, among the few Japanese carriers to survive the war, were given new roles as passenger transports, as were destroyers such as the Yoizuki. The ocean liner Hikawa Maru, which had been converted into a hospital ship, was used to gather thousands of men at a time. The fleet of castoffs eventually grew to about 400 vessels. The Japanese government was responsible for providing the crew with all food and supplies. Fuel had to be bought through U.S. authorities.
Because the rising sun flag was abolished following the surrender, the ships of SCAJAP were given their own flags. Japanese-owned ships with Japanese crews flew a blue and red pennant modified from international flag signal code for “Echo.” American-owned ships with Japanese crews flew a flag of red and green triangles based on the signal code for “Oscar.”
IJN Katsuragi embarking Japanese prisoners, New Britain 2/28/1946
Unsurprisingly, many American servicemen who were waiting to be shipped back to the United States were not happy with the effort. They complained that their return was being delayed because resources were being used to accommodate the same Japanese whom they’d been fighting only weeks earlier. Officials explained that Asia would not recover without immediate repatriation, resulting in more Americans having to stay longer to stabilize the region.
The operation was conducted quickly and efficiently with only a few incidents. One fully laden ship sank after hitting a mine near China but only 20 of the 4,300 passengers were lost. In another incident, there was outrage when the public learned of the appalling conditions of a ship that was overcrowded with women and children being returned to Taiwan. Korean refugees on another ship almost mutinied against the Japanese crew because of what they believed was inhumane treatment.
The removal of hundreds of thousands of Japanese civilians on Taiwan also was problematic because many had lived on the island their entire lives and considered it their true home. Most wanted to remain, but the Chinese announced that they intended to use any Japanese on the island as slave labor. Against U.S. objections, the Chinese also created ways to extort the Japanese being repatriated by charging them for the transportation and inoculations that the United States was providing for free.
SCAJAP ships also encountered bitter feelings that remained from the war. When a couple of Japanese-operated ships pulled into Hawaii for repairs, the crew was not permitted to go ashore.
The repatriation effort was conducted at a remarkable speed. It was initially estimated that the operation would take until July 1947 to complete, but In March 1946 Momsen projected that the repatriation effort would be complete by that May, with the exception of the 1,700,000 Japanese who were being held by the Soviets. SCAJAP earned additional praise from the Japanese government for returning the exhumed remains of thousands of Japanese war dead from far-flung places.
A SCAJAP LST at Inchon, Korea, 1950
SCAJAP’s repatriation operation was an extraordinary logistical achievement that played a significant role in the postwar recovery of Asia. After completion of the operation, SCAJAP ships would soon be called upon to transport men and equipment to Korea, providing crucial support in the amphibious operations at Inchon and Wonsan.
The signing of the Treaty of San Francisco on 8 September 1951 meant that Japanese ships could again fly the rising sun and operate under policies developed by the Japanese government. On 1 April 1952, SCAJAP was dissolved. Many Japanese-crewed ships remained in the service of Military Sea Transportation Services, drawing the ire of U.S. maritime unions, which charged that the practice was depriving Americans of jobs.
Info from: U.S. Naval Institute
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Military Humor –
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Farewell Salutes –
John Burson – Atlanta, GA; US Army, WWII, ETO, Bronze Star
Old Glory, courtesy of Dan Antion
Dan Corson – Middletown, OH; US Army Air Corps, WWII, ETO, Lt., 401 BS/91BG/ *th Air Force, B-17 co-pilot, KIA (FRA)
Robert Cross (100) – Yorkton, CAN; RC Air Force, WWII, ETO, mechanic
Charles Crumlett – Streamwood, IL; US Air Force, SSgt., weapons load chief, 90th Fighter Generation Squadron, KWS (Alaska)
Roland A. Hall – Hurricane, UT; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, 188/11th Airborne Division, Bronze Star
Richard J. Kasten – Kalamazoo, MI; US Army Air Corps, WWII, ETO, 1stLt., B-24 navigator, 68BS/44BG, KIA (FRA)
Matthew Langianese (103) – Moab, UT; US Army, WWII, ETO / Korea
Gerald W. Miller Vienna, VA; US Army, WWII, cartographer / US Navy, Korea
Ira “Frank” Moseley (101) – Conyers, GA; US Army, WWII, ETO / US Air Force
William L. Reichow – Decorah, IA; US Army, Sgt., 11th Airborne Division
Leroy J. Schoenemann (101) – Lyons, TX; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, pilot, 64th Troop Carrier Wing
Brooks Winfield – San Rafael, CA; US Navy, WWII, PTO, Radioman, USS Oklahoma, KIA (Pearl Harbor, HI)
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The History of V-Mail
Jeanne, who pens the excellent blog, “Everyone Has A Story” has this historical and interesting article from WWII…
Joy Neal Kidney also did a post on V-Mail…
Admiral Chester W. Nimitz
“Our Navy” mag, 1 September 1946
Chester W. Nimitz : “Every Man’s Admiral”
(excerpts from “OUR NAVY” magazine, 1 September 1946)
He hailed from Fredericksburg, Texas, with a sea-faring family history. It seemed natural he would choose a Navy career, but in high school, his friends made plans for the Army. Chester decided he would compete with them for West Point.
When Nimitz became eligible to take the exam, he learned there were no more appointments available in his district, except for Annapolis. The winner of a competitive examination would land him that assignment. He entered in 1901 with Royal Ingersoll and William F. Halsey, Jr.
In his first year, he showed up at the boat dock, his 150 pounds barely filling his gym suit, and tried to get a place on the boat crew. The coach thought he was a bit small, but Nimitz said, “Give me a chance.” He got that chance and became the stroke oar in the 4th crew. They did so well, the Texan was promoted to the 3rd crew that consequently kept winning. Out-weighed by 35lbs., Chester would stroke the seven men in the first boat.
At 23-years old at the Asiatic Station, he impressed his superiors as an officer fit for submarine service. With his executive abilities, remarkable memory and exceptional patience, he arrived at the 1st Submarine Flotilla for his training.
The first sub Nimitz took command of was only the second one accepted by the Navy, the Plunger. Not even named for a fish, he called it “a cross between a Jules Verne fantasy and a whale.” He then proceeded to other classes of underwater craft.
One day in March 1912, while on the Skipjack, W.J. Walsh F2c was washed overboard. He couldn’t swim. Nimitz was the first to dive into the water and reach him before he went under, as they were both being carried away in the tide. This high character and confidence his men felt here, followed Chester Nimitz through all his commands.
In WWI, he served as Chief of Staff to Admiral Samuel S. Robinson, commander of the U.S. Submarine Forces. Because of his rank, he soon found himself in the surface fleet and he continued to climb.
When Nimitz arrived on the still smoldering Pearl Harbor to take over command of the Pacific Fleet, the CinCPac staff that had served under Admiral Kimmel nervously presumed the ever-efficient Nimitz to hand them transfer orders. Instead, he said, “I did not come here to mete out punishment. I know what you men are expecting me to say. I should be honored to have the entire staff stay with me and work until victory is ours.”
He proved he could pick out top commanders by choosing Spruance to take over Halsey’s ailing Task Force. and Comdr. Eugene Fluckey, also an ex-skipper of the submarine Barb, for his personal aide. From there we know of the exploits of Admiral Chester W. Nimitz during WWII.
For a man who had no more than the average youth’s advantages, I believe we can all agree he had done quite well. Fleet Admiral Nimitz passed away 20 February 1966, 4 days before his 81st birthday.
This magazine was supplied by Jeanne Salaco, blog “everyone has a story to tell”. Thank you once again, Jeanne!
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Military Humor –
submarine magic – CLICK ON TO ENLARGE AND READ
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Farewell Salutes –
Richard Berky – Bluffton, OH; US Army, WWII, ETO
William O. Chase – Sacramento, CA; US Army, Korea
Honor Gracefully
John E. Deist III – Sterling, KS; US Army, Iraq, Sgt. Major (Ret. 21 y.), Bronze Star
Frank A. Kulow Jr. – Bailey, CO; US Coast Guard, WWII
Wrilshxer Mendoza – CA; US Air Force, Afghanistan, 82nd Airborne Division, (Ret. 22 y.)
I.G. Nelson – Plymouth, IA; US Army Air Corps, Japanese Occupation, 11th Airborne Division
Robert Oxman – Natick, MA; US Army Air Corps, WWII
Amelia Pagel – Temple, TX; Civilian, WWII, Lackland Air Force Base, aircraft repair
Robert T. Shultz – Arlington, VA; US Navy, Vietnam, Annapolis Class of ’50, Cmdr. (Ret. 26 y.), Bronze Star
Jack G. Thomas – Kalispell, MT; US Navy, Vietnam, fighter pilot / NV National Guard, Colonel
Marguerite Wood – NJ; Women’s Royal Naval Service, WWII
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MONDAY?! Uh-oh, are they looking at me now?
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Last Year of the Pacific War in Art
I hope you all enjoy this pictorial post. 1945 was a pivotal year for the world.
“Battle of Luzon” by: Yorozujiro Terauchi, 1945
Mandalay, Burma, by: David Pentland, Feb. ’45
Pacific Glory” by: Nicholas Trudgian
‘The Great Tokyo Air Raid’ by: Hashimoto, 10 March ’45, age 7
Raid on China Coast, By: Roy Grinnell April ’45
‘Indochina Prisoners of War’ by: Donald Friend
‘Ready Room’ by: Tom Lea
“Victoria, Labuan Island” Borneo, July ’45 by: William E. Pigeon
“Surrender Flight”, Mike Hagel
‘Milk Run to Kyushu’ by: Jack Fellows
“USS Missouri Signing” by: Standish Backus, 2 Sept. ’45
Responsibility, But For What? Kyoto Street by: Barse Miller. Army WWII, 28 Sept. ’45
‘Japan Surrender’ by: Howard Brodie (veteran of 3 wars, Bronze Star)
Resources –
IHRA: for their blog and their books and prints
Jack Fellows website
Howard Brodie sketches
“WWII” by: James Jones
“WWII: A Tribute in Art and Literature” by: David Colbert
For the art of Nicholas Trudgian http://www.brooksart.com/Pacificglory.html
Roy Grinnell
https://www.roygrinnellart.com/ Barse Miller
http://www.artnet.com/artists/barse-miller/
CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE AND VIEW THE DETAIL.
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Military Naval Humor –
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Farewell Salutes –
Joshua Abbott – Fulton, MS; Mississippi National Guard, Chief Warrant Officer 4, Co D/2/151st Lakota Evacuation Unit, test pilot, KWS
Bruce W. Bunce – Pavilion, NY; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, 11th Airborne Division
Patricia Ann Champion (104) – Victoria, CAN; RC Air Force, WWII, parachute rigger / military nurse
Norman “Keith” Dewey – Moscow, ID; US Army Air Corps, WWII, ETO, B-17 tail gunner, 94thBG/8th Air Force
David Drake – Dubuque, IA; US Army, Vietnam, 11th Armored Calvary / science fiction author
Robert McReynolds – La Plata, MO; US Army, Korea, 188th Regiment
John O’Neill – Rochester, NY; US Army, WWII, ETO, 299th Engineer Combat Battalion
John P. Panigutti – Fairfield, CT; US Army, Vietnam, Sgt., Green Beret
Donald L. Purrier – Mansfield, MA; US Army, 11th Airborne Division
Bryan A. Zemek – Oxford, MS; Mississippi National Guard, Chief Warrant Officer 4, A Co/1/149th Aviation Regiment, AH-64 Delta Apache instructor, KWS
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Seriously? It’s Monday already?
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The World of Sci-Fi
Alex Schomburg artwork
The first Golden Age of Science Fiction—often recognized in the United States as the period from 1938 to 1946—was an era during which the science fiction genre gained wide public attention and many classic science fiction stories were published. In the history of science fiction, the Golden Age follows the “pulp era” of the 1920s and 1930s, and precedes New Wave science fiction of the 1960s and 1970s. The 1950s are a transitional period in this scheme.
One leading influence on the creation of the Golden age was John W. Campbell, who became legendary in the genre as an editor and publisher of science fiction magazines, including Astounding Science Fiction, to the point where Isaac Asimov stated that “…in the 1940s, (Campbell) dominated the field to the point where to many seemed all of science fiction.” Under Campbell’s editorship, science fiction developed more realism and psychological depth to characterization. The focus shifted from the gizmo itself to the characters using the gizmo.
Captain Midnight
Most fans agree that the Golden Age began around 1938-39. The July 1939 issue of Astounding Science Fiction is frequently cited as the precise start of the Golden Age. It contains the first published story by A. E. van Vogt (the first part of The Voyage of the Space Beagle) and first appearance of Isaac Asimov (“Trends”) in “Astounding”. (Isaac Asimov was first published a few months earlier in the March edition of Amazing Stories.) Science fiction writer John C. Wright said of Van Vogt’s story, “This one started it all.” The August issue of the same magazine contained the first published story by Robert A. Heinlein (“Life-Line”).
‘Amazing Stories’, April 1926, vol. 1, number 1.
There are other views on when the Golden Age occurred. Robert Silverberg in a 2010 essay argues that the true Golden Age was the 1950s, saying that “Golden Age” of the 1940s was a kind of “false dawn.” “Until the decade of the fifties,” Silverberg writes, “there was essentially no market for science fiction books at all”; the audience supported only a few special interest small presses. The 1950s saw “a spectacular outpouring of stories and novels that quickly surpassed both in quantity and quality the considerable achievement of the Campbellian golden age.”
Schomburg, “Mission to the Moon”
Many of the most enduring science fiction tropes were established in Golden Age literature. Space opera came to prominence with the works of E. E. “Doc” Smith; Isaac Asimov established the canonical Three Laws of Robotics beginning with the 1941 short story “Runaround”; the same period saw the writing of genre classics such as the Asimov’s Foundation and Smith’s Lensman series. Another frequent characteristic of Golden Age science fiction is the celebration of scientific achievement and the sense of wonder; Asimov’s short story “Nightfall” exemplifies this, as in a single night a planet’s civilization is overwhelmed by the revelation of the vastness of the universe. Robert A. Heinlein’s 1950s novels, such as The Puppet Masters, Double Star, and Starship Troopers, express the libertarian ideology that runs through much of Golden Age science fiction.
1942 poster
The Golden Age also saw the re-emergence of the religious or spiritual themes—central to so much proto-science fiction before the pulp era—that Hugo Gernsback had tried to eliminate in his vision of “scientifiction”. Among the most significant such Golden Age narratives are Bradbury’s The Martian Chronicles, Clarke’s Childhood’s End, Blish’s A Case of Conscience, and Miller’s A Canticle for Leibowitz.
As a phenomenon that affected the psyches of a great many adolescents during World War II and the ensuing Cold War, science fiction’s Golden Age has left a lasting impression upon society. The beginning of the Golden Age coincided with the first Worldcon in 1939 and, especially for its most involved fans, science fiction was becoming a powerful social force. The genre, particularly during its Golden Age, had significant, if somewhat indirect, effects upon leaders in the military, information technology, Hollywood and science itself, especially biotechnology and the pharmaceutical industry.
1950’s “The Day the Earth Stood Still”
Information sources: Sci-fi Outpost; Futurism.media; Wikipedia; Null Entrohy.
The idea for this post was contributed by Lavinia Ross of Salmon Brook Farms. Please visit with her and Rick down on the farm…
Click on images to enlarge.
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Military Humor –
Our own Super-men
Start young and learn from their mistakes!
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Farewell Salutes –
Troy E. Bartley – Alton, IL; US Army, Kuwait, Lt. Colonel, 3rd Medical Command/1st Theater Sustainment Command, Dietitian
Joseph Bear – Hedding, NJ; US Army Air Corps, WWII, B-25 mechanic
Final Mission
Sterling Cale (102) – Honolulu, HI; US Navy, WWII, Pearl Harbor survivor, Purple Heart
Edward Carroll – Orderville, UT; US Navy, WWII, aircraft mechanic, Pearl Harbor survivor
John Dixon – Charlotte, NC; USMC, WWII
Richard R. Hinshaw – Boulder, CO; US Army, 11th Airborne Division
Warren E. Kraft Jr. – Racine, WI; US Army, Korea, Sgt., 187th RCT
Edward Pascale – Monson, NH; US Army, 188th Infantry Regiment
Charles W. Stendig – Brooklyn, NY; US Army Air Corps, WWII, paratrooper
Manuel C. Zenick – Hudson, NY, US Navy
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WAIT…ARE YOU TELLING ME THAT IT’S MONDAY???
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Pacific Paratrooper 
