Book Posting 9

Richardson and his crew go into the Bungo Starit one last time after a few months and have a boring patrol, except listening to a Tokyo radio station, until the end of their patrol. They come upon a convoy that consisted of 3 tankers, 4 cruisers, and 3 destroyers. Lots of ships for one sub to handle, but they decide to attack the convoy even though Bungo Pete is in the convoy. So, in order to do the most damage in as little time as possible, Richardson has his crew get the .5 inch gun and the .50 caliber machine guns set up on the deck (this is also including torpedoes in the bow and aft rooms). When they get out of the fire-fight by diving, they have sunk 2 tankers, all of the cruisers, and 2 of the destroyers, not sinking Bungo Pete. After they return to Pearl Harbor, they find out from military intelligence that Bungo Pete had thought there were more than 1 submarine attacking them, which makes the entire crew of the Walrus laugh. Richardson was injured during the attack though and is reassigned to a tech team to find out why some of the torpedoes are defective and dont detonate or hit the target sometimes. His first mate takes command of the Walrus and gets assigned to Australia to attack bases in the islands in the southern Pacific.

Book Posting 8

On his first patrol, the Walrus has an uneventful patrol until near the end of their patrol, they spot a convoy of ships; 2 supply ships, 2 frigates, and 1 destroyer. Richardson decides to attck them head on going for the tankers first and then for the destroyer. When Richardson gets to he destroyer however, he finds that he misjudged his distance and has to dive deep to miss hitting the ship. When he comes back from a silent run (silent run means 0-2 knots of movement to avoid being heard), he finds the destroyer right on top of them and ready to depth-charge them. The Walrus receives a lethal dose of depth-charging and almost hitting the destroyer but pulls through with only a few exterior problems. They now must head back to Midway and then back to Pearl Harbor to restock provisions and restock torpedoes since they fired the rest at the convoy. Richardson later finds out that the destroyer is a submarine-hunter called Bungo-Pete and they were the ones who destroyed Richardson's last sub, the Octopus.

Heroes in a Box

Congressional Medal of Honor
CARLTON W. BARRETT
Rank and organization: Private, U.S. Army, 18th Infantry, 1st Infantry Division. Place and date: Near St. Laurent-sur-Mer, France, 6 June 1944. Entered service at: Albany, New York. Born: Fulton, New York. G.O. No.: 78, 2 October 1944.
On the morning of D-Day Pvt. Barrett, landing in the face of extremely heavy enemy fire, was forced to wade ashore through neck-deep water. Disregarding the personal danger, he returned to the surf again and again to assist his floundering comrades and save them from drowning.
Refusing to remain pinned down by the intense barrage of small-arms and mortar fire poured at the landing points, Pvt. Barrett, working with fierce determination, saved many lives by carrying casualties to an evacuation boat lying offshore.
In addition to his assigned mission as guide, he carried dispatches the length of the fire-swept beach; he assisted the wounded; he calmed the shocked; he arose as a leader in the stress of the occasion. His coolness and his dauntless daring courage while constantly risking his life during a period of many hours had an inestimable effect on his comrades and is in keeping with the highest traditions of the U.S. Army.

Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.
Winston Churchill (speaking about the Royal Air Force)

Book Posting 7

On his way to Pearl Harbor, Richardson and his crew in their new sub, the Walrus, encounter a german sub on patrol in the Carribean and barely manage to evade their foe to make it to the Panama canal. There, they practice manuveurs and learn that the damage at Pearl Harbor is terrible and that the US is trying to salvage ships for the upcoming battle at Miday Island. When Richardson and his crew arrive at Pearl Harbor, the devestation stuns them. Turns out, the US was able to cripple the Japanese offensive at Midway and the USS Enterprise is the last major aircraft carrier in the US pacific fleet (thought to be out of commission due to severe damage at Midway) and is now the symbol of the navy. Richardson gets a slight upgrade to add a bit of stealth and a better surface radar for night fighting. He receives his orders to patrol the Bungo strait off of Japan and heads for Midway.

Book Posting 6

Another book I am reading is Run Silent Run Deep by Edward L. Beach. The book begins with a captain who has just gotten promoted from a ship called the Octopus, which he served as Lieutenant to the captain, is given his officers and a crew and another, old, World War I U-boat named S-18 that was scrapped because of engine problems. Their job is to fix her up and get her in working condition again. World War II has started by now but Pearl Harbor hasn’t happened yet. After Richardson (the captain) and his crew finish up on S-18, they find out they were just fixing it up for the Polish to use it in their fleet against the Nazis. This disappoints them. Until they find out they are going to war in a newer sub named the Walrus since its past 1942 and the US is now completely involved in WWII. They now sail for Pearl Harbor.

Book Posting 5

As Roran and the rest of his company move south towards Surda, they come across a town with a huge legion (almost 5 times the amount of soldiers the Varden had at the time) barricaded in it. Roran’s commander charges in with his men and loses more than half of them to crossbow fire before they reach the enemy soldiers. Roran, however, stations his archers on top of buildings for cover and range while he and his foot soldiers attack the Empires soldiers from behind a barricade so that only a few enemy soldiers could get to them at a time. Roran ends up killing almost 200 soldiers by himself and doesn’t lose any of his company in the process. His commander is very angry (and wounded) that Roran did not follow him the way he was supposed to and loses his command for the time being which almost causes a rebellion from the other soldiers against Roran’s commander. As a result, the men obey and Roran gets flogged for insubordination against the will of all the other commanders.

Book Posting 4

Another part of the book Brisingr is Roran’s story after the Battle of the Burning Plains. Roran is Eragon’s cousin who has grown up with him since before they could remember. In the beginning, Roran is with Eragon and is trying to locate his fiancé Katrina, who is being held captive at the Ra’Zac’s lair of Helgrind. He helps Earagon defeat the Ra’Zac and rescues Katrina. After they get back to the Varden, he is given a post as a second-in-command position so that he can prove that he can lead soldiers. He then sets off on a series of caravan raids which turn out less successful due to the fact that some of the soldiers are oblivious to pain due to magic. His commander is injured in action and Roran is assigned to another commander who is very brash and values honor above life. On their way to help reinforce the Surdan countryside, they come across some trouble however.

Book Posting 3

I am almost done with Brisingr, but this will not be my last post. It continues with Eragon seeing a true memory of his father and learns why he didn’t want to reveal himself to Eragon. Surprisingly enough, the memory is from Saphira (although she isn’t his father, he gave the memory to her for safekeeping). So Saphira has known who his real father was for quite some time. After meeting with his teachers, Eragon goes to see the bladesmith for the Riders back before the Forsworn took over. She has taken an oath that she would never forge another sword for a Rider. However, she agrees to help Eragon forge his own sword, but lacks a special material she calls brightsteel which comes from meteorites that have landed in Du Weldenvarden. Eragon then pays a visit to the Minoan Tree which was said to have a weapon for him but has never yielded any results. Eragon is able to convince the Minoan Tree to reveal some brightsteel that he can use to forge his own sword. The bladesmith agrees to help Earagon forge his sword within the boundries of her oath, otherwise, she would die. It usually takes several days to forge but they did it in one night so that Eragon could leave the next day. Plus, when Eragon names his sword, he discovers its true name, Brisingr.

Book Post 2

Brisingr continues with Eragon getting attacked in the dwarf’s city of Tronjheim by assassins of a dwarf clan that is sworn to hate the Riders for eternity. This causes a turn of events in the speed of the election process for the new dwarf king. Orik does his best to win the other clans votes so that he may become king. Orik is the nephew of the last king of the dwarves and is also leader of his clan. After another day, Orik is chosen as the new king of the dwarves. After the coronation, Saphira (Eragon’s Dragon), repairs the dwarves most valuable, and biggest, jewel called the star rose. Following their visit to Tronjheim, Eragon and Saphira head north to Du Weldenvarden, the home of the elves. By now, the Varden are attacking the empire from the south while the elves are attacking from the north. After Eragon reaches his teachers home, he learns a great secret. For those of you who have read Eldest, you learned that Morzan of the Forsworn was Eragon’s father. He isn’t. Although I will not tell you, some of you might be able to guess who it is.