REVIEWS Heroes in Dungarees: the Story of the American Merchant Marine in World War II, by John Bunker (Naval Institute Press , Annapolis MD, 1995, 369pp, illus, notes, biblio, index, ISBN 1-55750093-2; $32.95 hc) In this deeply resea rc hed and a uHeroes in th e nti c testame nt , ~ veteran journalist ~~:!~~~C~~!l~c;:Rn!~ and merchant marine r John B unk er tell s the story of the force that kept suppli es and reinforcements flowin g to the embatt led Allied peoples and armies in WWII. That force was , of co urse, the US merchant marine-a volunteer force of merchant seamen manning the slowmoving, yulnerab le merchant ships upon which depended America 's abi lity to susta in our all ies against the onslaught of the Axis powers, and ultimately to carry the war to the enemy. Mr. Bunker's story, however, does not focus on such matters of high strategy, but on the direct experience of the Axis war against merchant shipping. This battle, rightly characterized by Mr. Bunker as the longest sustained battle of World War II, actually inflicted a higher casualty rate on the civilian volunteers who manned the ships than on the trained US Navy forces assigned to protect them . Mr. Bunker dedicates his book "To the ships and the men who sailed them." And , accordingly, he takes you aboard the ships, where you meet those men . In the process , you learn much about the realities of their lives, and what mi ght be called the folkways of the American seafarer who carried out this critical mi ssion. Take, for instance, this passage on "jamoke" : Fresh coffee was always on tap in the mess room percolator, as well as in the g un crew quarters and saloon. The custom of mid watch coffee was also dear to the hearts of the men below , and every well-found engine room had its percolator, a can of coffee, and a row of cups generally hangi ng somewhere near the l()g desk. It is traditional for the oiler leaving the watch to brew a pot of "jamoke" for the watch coming down . Such homey, true details of life afloat come into stark contrast with the scenes of violence which come up again and again in this book , not for sensationa l THf $TORY OF llU
SEA HISTORY 76, WINTER 1995-96
effect but simply because the si nking of ships and death of shipmates were part of the seamen 's experience in this most terrible of wars , the war agai nst the merchant shipping of the United States in WWII. The author does not make pasteboard heroes of the men whose experience he has diligently sought out and recorded from the perspective of shared experience at sea; he records the corru pt behavior of "sea lawyers" and others who failed their shipmates in the c lutch. What is remarkab le is not that there were occasiona l fai lings among the men, who had never known much compassion or justice as hore in the America of the Depress ion era. What is remarkab le is that these men carried on in cond itions demonstrably more dead ly than those faced by the uniformed servicesand that when their ships were sunk from under them and sh ipmates slaughtered , they signed on to sail agai n, so that veterans of two or three sinkings were not uncommon . Mr. Bunker, veteran of the war at sea himse lf, has given us in this work a testament worthy of these men and thei r still largely unacknow ledged service to their country. PETER STANFORD
Live Oaking: Southern Tim bers fo r 'fall Ships, by Virginia Stee l Wood (Naval Institute Press, Annapolis MD, orig 1981 , reprint 1995, 206pp, ill us, appen, biblio, index, ISBN 1-55750903-6; $32.95 hc) Here is a de lightful and infonnative book. In Live Oaking, Virginia Steele Wood has given flawless research, organized it well, and wri tten abou t the subject in a most informative manner. Originally published in 1981 , this new 1995 edition is a commendab le reprint. The tree known as live oak (Quercus virginiana, a member of the beec h family) is the hardest and most durable wood native to North America. It is found only along the coast from southeastern Virgin ia to the Texas border and a small area on the west end of Cuba. The notable naturalist John Muir considered the live oak "the most magnificent planted tree I have ever seen." A full-grown tree is usually from 40 to 70 feet ta! I and often spans 150 feet or more to shade a half-acre of land. They are graceful semi-evergreens with leathery olive-green leaves. The wood when fi rst cut weighs up to 75 pounds per cubic foot. When dry it weighs 66 pounds
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