Army Air Corps Research Articles

F. Mason Sones Jr.: The Serendipitous Discovery of Coronary Angiography and Its Lasting Impact on Cardiology.

F. Mason Sones Jr. (1918-1985) was a pioneering cardiologist whose groundbreaking work revolutionized the field of cardiology. His accidental discovery of coronary angiography in 1958 at the Cleveland Clinic provided physicians with the first clear visualization of coronary arteries in living patients, paving the way for the development of coronary artery bypass surgery and interventional cardiology. This review article explores F. Mason Sones Jr.'s life and career, and his lasting impact on the field of cardiology. Born in Noxapater, MS, in 1918, F. Mason Sones Jr.attended Western Maryland College (Westminster, MD) and the University of Maryland School of Medicine (Baltimore, MD) before completing his internship and residency at the University Hospital (Baltimore, MD) and Henry Ford Hospital (Detroit, MI), respectively. After serving in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II, F. Mason Sones Jr.joined the Cleveland Clinic (Cleveland, OH), in 1950, as the head of pediatric cardiology, where he combined his expertise in cardiac catheterization with his interest in congenital heart disease. F. Mason Sones Jr.'s serendipitous discovery of coronary angiography occurred during a routine cardiac catheterization procedure when he inadvertently injected contrast dye directly into the right coronary artery. Realizing that smaller amounts of dye could safely opacify the coronary arteries, F. Mason Sones Jr. refined and standardized the technique of selective coronary angiography, collaborating with engineers to improve X-ray imaging and establishing protocols that remain the standard of care today. F. Mason Sones Jr.'s work provided the foundation for the development of coronary artery bypass surgery by Dr. René Favaloro and the birth of interventional cardiology, as pioneered by Dr. Andreas Gruentzig. As the director of cardiovascular disease at the Cleveland Clinic (1966-1975), F. Mason Sones Jr. mentored and inspired a generation of cardiologists, cementing his legacy as a visionary leader in the field. Throughout his career, F. Mason Sones Jr. received numerous awards and honors, including the American Medical Association's Scientific Achievement Award and the Gairdner Foundation International Award. He co-founded and served as the first president of the Society for Cardiac Angiography (now SCAI), an organization dedicated to advancing the field of interventional cardiology. This review article pays tribute to F. Mason Sones Jr.'s enduring contributions to the field of cardiology, highlighting his role as a pioneer, innovator, and mentor. His legacy continues to inspire and guide generations of cardiologists in their pursuit of improving patient care and pushing the boundaries of cardiovascular medicine.

Summary of Failure Conditions Recorded in Selected Helicopters Operated by Army Air Corps

This paper has been drawn up for the Air Operations Group and the Technical Maintenance Group of the 56th Air Force Base in Inowrocław (Poland). Its primary purpose is to compare the frequency of failure conditions and their impact on the safety of flights performed on Mi-24 and W-3PL helicopters. Special attention has been paid to the values of flight parameters recorded and any anomalies identified. The data were analyzed using the "Objective Record Analysis" software, with two aspects taken into consideration. The first aspect – failure conditions which do not affect flight safety, i.e. when the crew exceeded the permissible flight parameters for a given exercise, an interference took place, a calculation error occurred in the system or the equipment became uncalibrated. A total of 534 failure states were singled out, with 18% of them caused by the human factor. The remaining 82% occurred due to interference and errors in the recording system or due to an incorrect flight parameter recording process (with this factor remaining beyond the control of the flight crew or maintenance personnel). The second aspect focused on failure conditions having an impact on flight safety, i.e. when the crew exceeded the aircraft's operating envelope or damage to the aircraft's systems and components occurred. 1,075 states have been recorded, with safety violations caused by exceeding the aircraft’s operating limits accounting for 5% of them. Damage to aircraft systems and components was the root cause of the 95% of the failures (with emergency landings required in 6 cases). It was shown that 80% of the failure conditions studied occurred on the Mi-24, with the number of missions performed on this particular type being nearly twice as high as on the W-3PL. Analysis of the years to which the available data was related (2012-2016) has led to the conclusion that the number of flights performed and the number of failure conditions was on an increase. However, the share of failure conditions in the total number of flights decreased. Authors 1 and 2 serve in the 56th Air Force Base and were granted permission to access and publish the data presented in this paper.

Longitudinal Changes in the Body Mass Index of British Army Pilots.

INTRODUCTION: Aircraft are manufactured according to design parameters that must account for the size and physical characteristics of the pilot. While cockpit dimensions, seats, restraints, and related components do not change substantially over the airframe lifecycle, it is conceivable that the occupant may, even if initially well-suited. This investigation focused on longitudinal body mass index (BMI) changes within a cohort of British Army Air Corps pilots.METHODS: The study was a retrospective examination of electronic medical record data to assess longitudinal change within a representative cohort of Army pilots. Voluntary subjects were assigned unique subject numbers matched with individual electronic medical record data. Subject's age, service length, height, weight, and BMI were extracted from routine historical aviation medical exams.RESULTS: Among 106 British Army Air Corps pilots, the mean age was 35.3 yr (SD = 7.4) with average length of service as a pilot of 9.0 yr (SD = 5.2). Within the observed cohort, the mean change in individual weight over time was an increase of 4.6 kg (SD = 7.3). Height remained relatively stable with a mean increase of 0.6 cm (SD = 1.9). Given the increase in weight, BMI was noted to increase longitudinally with a mean of 1.3 kg · m-2 (SD = 2.4).DISCUSSION: British Army pilots experience increases in BMI over time much like the general population. Results of this study serve to inform future policy related to the body composition of aviation applicants, the retention of previously qualified pilots, and the safety concerns of crashworthiness design specifications.Porter WD, Wilde GD, Jeffery NP, Walters PL, Eke AJ, Bushby AJR, Adams MS, Gaydos SJ. Longitudinal changes in the body mass index of British Army pilots. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2024; 95(2):118-122.

Retrospective Analysis of Medical Attrition for Pilot Applicants to the British Army Air Corps.

INTRODUCTION: Management of aeromedical risk is essential for flight safety. Given the many operator stressors for pilots, militaries maintain a vested interest in selecting aircrew applicants who meet rigorous initial medical standards. Very little published literature exists regarding the extent of medical disqualifications or precluding conditions for initial candidates.METHODS: For the British Army, pilot selection is a phased, multistep process that includes Phase I medical screening followed by a comprehensive Phase II medical exam. De-identified summary data were retrospectively reviewed for medical fitness and disqualifying categories for the 5-yr period of 2018-2022, inclusive. For those ultimately deemed unfit for aviation service, etiology was grouped into general categories.RESULTS: Approximately one-third (30.2%) of candidates were disqualified at Phase I initial medical screening with leading categories of attrition due to respiratory etiology, especially a history of asthma or reactive airway disease, followed by ophthalmology. For the Phase II medical exam cohort, 21.0% were medically disqualified with most attrition from anthropometry and ophthalmology. There were no statistical differences in disqualifications for gender or pathway of entry (civilian vs. serving personnel).DISCUSSION: Major categories of medical attrition were similar to that of other nations, yet the published literature in this area is surprisingly tenuous. Given the desire for evidence-based medical selection standards, it is important for regular review of processes and standards such that the risks of known physiological challenges are judiciously weighed with the benefits of a large, diverse pool of selection as well as force structure and recruitment demand.Adams MS, Goldie CE, Gaydos SJ. Retrospective analysis of medical attrition for pilot applicants to the British Army Air Corps. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2023; 94(12):939-943.

Controversial Victory: The “Tanker War” Against Japan, 1942–1944

Abstract In the immediate aftermath of the Second World War, the Army Air Corps (soon to be Air Force) provoked controversy by criticizing the Navy’s “tanker war” against Japanese oil, stating that Japan’s collapse might have occurred months if not years sooner had a coordinated submarine campaign against tankers been conducted. For years, submariners pointed to a host of problems as to why enemy oil tankers were not targeted effectively until later in the war, including prewar doctrine, faulty torpedoes and lack of intelligence. The reality – classified until the early 1980s – was that intelligence on the Japanese was so sparse that only through a highly classified signal intelligence effort was enough information derived to target enemy oil. This article will examine the developing and maturing link between signal intelligence and submarines using primary sources declassified in the 1980s. The research will demonstrate that there was no single answer to targeting enemy oil tankers, but only through intense analysis and coordination among multiple Services and agencies were the submarines able to launch their devasting offensive against Japanese oil tankers in late 1943.

Comparing and Contrasting Two White Leaders of the Tuskegee Airmen: Colonels Noel Parrish and Robert Selway

Comparing and Contrasting Two White Leaders of the Tuskegee Airmen: Colonels Noel Parrish and Robert Selway Daniel Haulman (bio) The tuskegee airmen included the first african american pilots in American military service, but the group also included others who served alongside them, in their units or at their bases, between 1941 and 1949. Some of those personnel, including the commanders of some of the Tuskegee Airmen bases and units, were white. The most important of these were Colonel Noel F. Parrish and Colonel Robert R. Selway. During most of World War II, Parrish commanded the Tuskegee Army Air Field, located in Tuskegee, Alabama, where the first Black pilots in the United States Army trained to fly. Selway once commanded both of the only two Tuskegee Airmen flying groups, the 332nd Fighter Group and the 477th Bombardment Group. In the scholarly literature focused on the Tuskegee Airmen, Colonel Parrish has generally been considered a hero, while Selway has assumed the role of a villain.1 While there are good reasons for such an assessment, it is an oversimplification of the character and career of each man. The hero was not without [End Page 225] flaws, nor the villain without virtues, and what they had in common cannot be forgotten. Black military personnel served in the armed forces of the United States since the Revolutionary War, but despite playing important roles, their positions were typically in the lowest ranks, and they were usually placed under the leadership of white officers. Before World War II, the War Department did not allow African Americans to train or serve as pilots. Army leadership believed that Black recruits were inferior and lacked the ability to fly advanced military aircraft in combat, a sentiment expressed most notably in a 1925 Army War College report.2 When President Franklin D. Roosevelt ran for a third term for president in 1940, he promised to train Black pilots in the Army Air Corps, and he fulfilled his promise.3 In March 1941, the War Department activated the first African American flying unit, the 99th Pursuit Squadron (later the 99th Fighter Squadron) at Chanute Field, Illinois, under a white commander.4 The Army had already announced that the unit’s pilots would be trained at Tuskegee. Just as the conflict opened possibilities for Black pilots, World War II also marked a change in opportunities for Black leadership within the military; in fact, because of the Tuskegee Airmen, Black officers came to command not only groups and squadrons, but also bases. There had been few Black officers in the Army, and only a handful had attended the United States Military Academy at West Point. Training Black military pilots would vastly increase the number of Black officers, since pilots were typically officers, receiving their commissions as they graduated from advanced flight training. The Army did [End Page 226] not want Black officers in command of white enlisted men and therefore insisted that the training of the Black military pilots, and the unit to which they would be assigned, would be segregated. The 99th Fighter Squadron would eventually have Black commanders, but the squadron itself would have no white personnel. And more generally, many military leaders were skeptical of the abilities of Tuskegee pilots; Army leaders did not envision that Black flying units, groups or squadrons, would ever be sent into combat overseas. Tuskegee was chosen as the flight training area for a number of reasons. The Tuskegee Institute was already training African American pilots in the Civilian Pilot Training Program, and it had a reputation as one of the most famous and prestigious of Black institutions of higher learning. Tuskegee was also in an area in the South that had more days of good flying weather than potential sites farther north. And, because Alabama and Tuskegee were strictly segregated, the segregated nature of the training program would fit the climate with little danger of resistance; certainly, Tuskegee was not close to an urban area like Chicago or Detroit that leaders felt to be racially volatile.5 The African American flight training, like that for white pilots elsewhere, was divided into three phases: primary, basic, and advanced. The...

미국 공군의 독립과정 연구: 역사적 신제도주의 관점으로

미국의 항공력은 군사력 육성권, 군사력 운용권, 군사전략 결정권이란 자주권 확보 과정을 거치며 1947년 국가안전보장법의 제정과 함께 육군으로부터 독립하였다. 그 과정에서 육군항공지원대(USAAS: United States Army Air Service)는 육군항공단(USAAC: United States Army Air Corps), 육군항공대(USAAF: United States Army Air Force), 미국 공군(USAF: United States Air Force)으로 ‘조직의 개편’이 이루어졌고, ‘사령관의 권한범위’ 측면에서는 항공력을 조달하고 육성하는 권한에서, 본토 내 항공력을 통합적으로 운용하는 권한, 나아가 전 지구적으로 항공력을 운용할 수 있는 권한을 얻게 되었다.<BR>본 논문의 목적은 새로운 군의 형성 요인을 설명하기 위해 ‘미국 공군의 독립’을 역사적 신제도주의 관점으로 분석하는 것으로, 두 가지 함의를 제공한다. 먼저, 새로운 군의 형성을 위해선 ‘시장적 맥락’, ‘제도적 맥락’, ‘기폭 사건’의 세 가지 조건을 만족해야 한다. 이에 따라 해당 군과 관련된 방산업계의 호황이 필요하고, 할당받는 예산의 비율이 타 조직에 비해 우월해야 할 것이다. 또한, 기존과는 다른 새로운 개념의 무기와 새로운 임무 및 교리가 등장해야 할 것이다. 마지막으로 내·외부적으로 국가 지도자의 의지에 직접적 영향을 줄 기폭사건이 필요할 것이다. 이러한 이론적 틀은 미국 공군뿐만이 아닌 기존의 군으로부터 독립한 다른 많은 사례들을 설명할 분석의 도구로 사용될 수 있으며, 2019년 독립한 미국 우주군의 사례에도 적용될 수 있다는 점에서 의의를 갖는다.

Introduction

Roman Conrad Pucinski was born into the Polish American community in Buffalo, New York, in 1919. Moving to Chicago as a child, he grew up in the Polish Downtown neighborhood before enrolling in Northwestern University in nearby Evanston in 1938. After graduating in 1941 he served in the US Army Air Corps during World War II, during which he was the lead bombardier on the first B-29 mission to Tokyo. Following the war, he attended John Marshall Law School in Chicago from 1945 to 1949 while simultaneously pursuing a journalistic career with the Chicago Times, later to become the Chicago Sun-Times. As a reporter, he covered city hall, which one observer described as “a plum assignment that included covering the city's Byzantine politics and a host of characters, many crooked but nearly all colorful.”1Pucinski's first appearance on the national stage came in 1952 when he took a leave of absence from his position with the newspaper to accept an assignment as chief investigator for a special committee of Congress formed to investigate the mass murder of Polish officers and officials by the Soviets during World War II, a topic of singular interest to him given his Polish ancestry and ties to the ethnic community. Not only did the Katyń investigation vault Pucinski's name into national prominence, it also solidified his position in the Polish ethnic community that would form the basis of his political support in his rise to national influence. The 11th Congressional District in Illinois, from which Pucinski gained election to the House of Representatives as a Democrat in 1959, has been characterized as “the ultimate ethnic American district.” The 1970 census revealed that nearly half of its 454,329 residents had been born outside the United States.2Pucinski's fourteen years in Congress (1959–73) spanned some of the most turbulent and transformative times in postwar America with him taking a leading part in a host of important initiatives. Likewise, after leaving Congress he served for eighteen years (1973–91) as a Chicago alderman at a time when the city was also undergoing significant, economic, ethnic, and political change. Not only did he take a leading part in addressing the resulting issues, he also engaged as a leader in the local and national Polish American community. Seldom has a person been presented with opportunities to make substantial contributions within an ethnic community, on a citywide level, and on the national level and risen to the occasion in each instance.In this special issue of Polish American Studies, we begin with an original primary source prepared for this issue, a memoir of Roman Pucinski's daughter, who shares her recollections of her father, his work in the Polish community, and his feelings and motivations during his career in Congress and as alderman. Since Pucinski's well-developed sense of Polishness (Polskość) was formed early in life, we next move to an article on his mother, Lidia Pucińska, herself a prominent Chicago radio figure and ethnic leader, contributed by historian Joanna Wojdon, who conducted extensive research in the Pucińska Papers in the Polish Museum of America in Chicago.Pucinski's Congressional years marked a turning point in many important domestic concerns in which he was intimately involved. His leadership in these is examined by James S. Pula, while his interactions with the Polish American community, both during his congressional and subsequent years, is the topic of an interview with Richard Owsiany, who worked closely with him in the Polish American Congress and on various community projects. In the closing article, Dominic A. Pacyga delves into the world of Chicago politics to examine Pucinski's role during the critical changes the city underwent while he served as alderman. We hope that this special issue will shed light on an important figure in Polonia who also wielded considerable influence in local and national politics.We wish to thank the editor, Anna Jaroszyńska-Kirchmann, and the members of the editorial board for their support in this project, as well as Richard Owsiany and the Polish Museum of America for permission to use photographs from the museum collections.

“Real war ammunition:” Artists for Victory, the National War Poster Competition, and the Hostile Imagination on the United States World War II Home Front

“Real war ammunition:” Artists for Victory, the National War Poster Competition, and the Hostile Imagination on the United States World War II Home Front

Lloyd L. Falk

Lloyd L. Falk, 101, died March 8 in Henrico, Virginia. “Dr. Lloyd L. Falk of was a member of ACS for 75 years. He served in the US Army Air Corps during World War II in England and France as a meteorologist on President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s staff, helping determine the D-Day invasion. Lloyd worked 32 years for DuPont. He testified before Congress on water pollution control and was at President Lyndon Johnson’s signing of the Clean Water Act in 1965.”—Laurie Falk Coulter, daughter Most recent title: Principal consultant, DuPont Education: BS, chemistry, 1941, and PhD, environmental science, 1949, Rutgers University Survivors: Daughter, Laurie Falk Coulter; sons, David and Gary; four grandchildren; three step-grandchildren; two step-great-grandchildren To recognize your late loved one or colleague, submit obituary information at cenm.ag/obits .

Paul G. Sears

Paul G. Sears, 96, died Sept. 12 in Lexington, Kentucky. “Paul, a World War II veteran, served in the US Army Air Corps as a tail gunner on a B-17, which was shot down; he was a prisoner of war for 19 months. After the war, he completed his degrees and performed research for 2 years at Monsanto. He then joined the University of Kentucky faculty and became widely recognized for his research on nonaqueous solvents. He taught at all levels, influencing the lives of more than 7,000 students, and received several great-teacher awards. He was inducted into the College of Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame in 2013 and was the faculty representative on the board of trustees for 9 years.”—Steven W. Yates, friend and colleague Most recent title: Professor emeritus and academic affairs adviser to the president, University of Kentucky Education: BS, industrial chemistry, 1950, and PhD, physical

733 From the Trenches of War to the Bedside of Civilians: Joseph E. Murray MD FACS and the Contributions of Military Surgeons to Advances in Burn Care

Abstract Introduction Significant advances in medical and surgical care have often originated from our experience caring for those wounded on the battlefield. The year of the ABA’s 52nd annual meeting marks the 30th anniversary of the selection of Joseph E. Murray MD FACS as recipient of the 1990 Nobel Prize in Medicine. Methods In his autobiography Surgery of the Soul: Reflections on a Curious Career, Dr. Murray credits a 22 year old US Army aviator named Charles Woods with guiding him into an emerging field of transplantation surgery. On December 23, 1944, Woods sustained burns over 70% of his body in an accident during takeoff while teaching another pilot at his Army Air Corps base in India. Woods survived and eventually was transferred back to the US where came under of the care of a young 25 year old surgeon named Joseph Murray. Results Like many young surgeons of his era, Dr. Murray joined the military service during WWII. Dr. Murray had just completed his internship at Peter Bent Brigham in Boston in September 1944 when he was assigned to Valley Forge General Hospital in Phoenixville, PA. Valley Forge was one of eight regional US Army hospitals created during WWII dedicated to plastic surgery and burn care. It was during his care for soldiers wounded in battle at this time in his early formative years that Dr. Murray developed his curiosity regarding tissue transplantation. Following military service, he completed his surgical training in Boston and New York City, and returned to the Brigham in July 1951. His military service caring for burn victims instilled a passion and curiosity regarding transplantation of human tissue. This culminated in his leading a team to perform the first human kidney transplantation on December 23, 1954...exactly 10 years to the day after the airplane crash that injured Charlie Woods. Conclusions Recognizing his dedication and accomplishments in the field of transplantation surgery, the Nobel selection committee awarded Dr. Murray thirty-six years later it’s Prize in Medicine. Applicability of Research to Practice Dr. Murray’s legacy which began during his care of soldiers during WWII offers an inspiration to all those caring for patients who have sustained burn injuries.

Love in the Time of Dementia

Love in the Time of Dementia

Paul H. Cheek

Paul H. Cheek, 98, died on May 2, 2017, in Elon, N.C. “Paul served in the U.S. Army Air Corps from 1942 to 1945 in Europe. He then joined the faculty at Elon College (now Elon University) teaching chemistry for 36 years until 1986, at times chairing the physical sciences department. In 2014, he was honored for his outstanding dedication to Elon students with a portrait in the university’s McMichael Science Center. He was a 50-year member of ACS. He was the husband of professor Ruth Lloyd Cheek. Paul will be remembered for his gentle wit and humble nature. As a lifelong learner, he generously shared his interests in classical music, guitar, wildflowers, birds, and composting. The natural world and its protection were important to him, and he lived his life accordingly.”—Graham T. Cheek, son Most recent title: L. L. Vaughn Professor Emeritus of Chemistry, Elon University Education: B.S., chemistry,

On Love and War: Reflections on the Abuse of Technical Rationality

On Love and War:Reflections on the Abuse of Technical Rationality Michael S. Sherwin O.P. "Militat omnis amans." —Ovid, Amores 1.9 "El amor y la guerra son una misma cosa." —Miguel de Cervantes, Don Quijote de la Mancha 2.3.21 "Militat omnis amans: Every lover battles, and Cupid holds his fort; Atticus, believe me, every lover battles. The age that's good for war, is also right for love."1 Ovid expresses an ancient insight when he describes the affinities between love and war (artistically represented in song already by Homer and later in the many classical and Renaissance images of the attraction between Ares and Aphrodite, between Mars, the god of war, and Venus, the goddess of love).2 Cervantes expresses [End Page 259] this even more succinctly when he has Quixote exclaim, in defense of a young lover's behavior in winning the hand of his beloved: "love and war are one and the same thing."3 In both quotations, the poets are affirming that the ways of love are like the ways of war. If this is the case, might the study of one help us better understand the other, especially in the American context? The ways of love and the ways of war: a striking feature of the last fifty years is that Americans are becoming less and less successful at both. During these past fifty years, our wars have rarely attained the stated goals for which they were undertaken and have wreaked cultural, economic, environmental, and human havoc on friend and foe alike.4 The American way of love has fared no better. The marriage rate in the United States is now at an all-time low, while the divorce rate, although down from its record levels, is still troublingly high (around 45% of all US marriages now end in divorce).5 Cohabitation [End Page 260] has not proved to be a panacea, either: only about thirteen percent of those couples stay together.6 Perhaps the most disturbing statistics concern the growth of American solitude: over the last half century the number of Americans living alone has doubled, with almost a third of our country living alone.7 And when it comes to raising children, if in 1960 less than 10 percent of our children were raised in single parent homes, that number has now reached a staggering 34 percent: one third of our children.8 Clearly, Americans are having difficulty pursuing the ways of love and family life. Thus, in the pages that follow, I will offer some reflections on the American way of war and suggest how they might help us better understand the current limitations in the American way of love. I wish to do so by focusing on one war in particular, the Vietnam war, and to suggest that the way we fought that war also has important things to teach us about the way we make love. Perhaps the easiest way to illustrate the point I wish to make is by focusing on the example of one particularly influential actor in that war, because of how well he illustrates the issue I wish to address: the abuse of technical rationality to solve human problems. The person in question is Robert McNamara, who was secretary of defense during the Kennedy and Johnson administrations.9 [End Page 261] Although it would be tempting to give a detailed biography of Secretary McNamara, these facts will suffice: when President-elect Kennedy tapped him to serve in his cabinet in the autumn of 1960, Robert McNamara was already a distinguished public figure, He began his professional career as the youngest and highest paid assistant professor at Harvard Business School. Then, during the Second World War, he played a key role in the Army Air Corps' Office of Statistical Control, applying systems analysis technics developed at Harvard to help the Air Corps efficiently bomb its targets in both Europe and Japan. Upon returning from the war, he was part of an elite group of Statistical Control veterans hired by Ford Motor Company to help turn the ailing company around. They were known as the Whiz Kids. Within fourteen years, McNamara was president...

Frustrated Ambition: General Vicente Lim and the Philippine Military Experience, 1910–1944 by Richard B. Meixsel

Reviewed by: Frustrated Ambition: General Vicente Lim and the Philippine Military Experience, 1910–1944 by Richard B. Meixsel Maria Felisa S. Tan RICHARD B. MEIXSEL Frustrated Ambition: General Vicente Lim and the Philippine Military Experience, 1910–1944 Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 2018. 351 pages. Together with Josefa Llanes Escoda and Jose Abad Santos, Vicente Lim is memorialized in the Philippines's 1000-peso banknote. But sadly, no in-depth biography over the past decades has been written about him by any Filipino scholar or historian probably due to the lack of written sources. The closest to a biography there was on Lim was the compilation of his letters to his wife and sons, To Inspire and to Lead (1980), which was published privately by his granddaughter Nieves Lim Ledesma. It is thus commendable that an American military historian, Richard Meixsel, has written a biography on Lim: Frustrated Ambition: General Vicente Lim and the Philippine Military Experience, 1910–1944. The author is an associate professor of history at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia, USA. Meixsel has also written articles on Philippine and US military history, and he is the author of two books, Clark Field and The US Army Air Corps (2002) and Philippine–American Military History, 1902–1942: An Annotated Bibliography (2003). Frustrated Ambition contains eleven chapters that trace Lim's military career and his involvement in every significant military development in the Philippines. Unlike the standard biography where the focus is on a [End Page 407] single person's life, this book juxtaposes Lim's story with the formation of the Philippine Army. The amount of detail on the history of the Philippine Army and the various personalities involved with the institution is both the book's strength and weakness. While the idea of interspersing facets of Lim's story with that of the Philippine Army is an interesting one, it overwhelms the reader with too much information on the Philippine Army, leaving too little on Lim in most chapters. This difficulty can be gleaned for instance in chapter 4, where the author provides a lengthy discussion on the origins of the Philippine military system and then, toward the end of the chapter, merely quotes a lecture that Lim delivered arguing that the Filipinos recruited to the Philippine Army should be military-minded (91). From these eleven chapters, the information pertaining directly to Lim can be summarized as follows: Born on 5 April 1888 in Calamba, Laguna, Lim graduated from the Philippine Normal School and later taught for six months at a public school in Santa Cruz, Laguna. In March 1910 Lim began his military career when he was accepted in the US Military Academy at West Point, New York. He was the first Filipino to graduate from West Point, after which he received his commission as a second lieutenant. After Lim returned to the Philippines in 1914, he joined the Philippine Scouts and was subsequently assigned to Fort San Pedro in Iloilo. During his stay at the fort, Lim disclosed that he was not happy with the way his American commanding officer was treating him, but he neither explained how nor stated the reason why he was treated that way. He reported the American officer's behavior to higher authorities, and the officer was relieved (33). Although membership in the Philippine Scouts represented the peak of one's career for both Filipino officers and American enlisted men, Lim was not satisfied with this achievement; he kept looking for opportunities to expand his military education and experience. In 1916 he was attached to the Philippine Constabulary (PC), then the country's militarized national police. Lim had hoped to head the PC. However, the US War Department turned down Gov.-Gen. Theodore Roosevelt's request for Lim's leadership of the PC not because of his qualifications but probably because of his character (72–73). Lim had a temper, and he lacked tact, allegedly not an easy person to get along with (105). [End Page 408] The National Defense Act of 1920 permitted Filipino Scout officers to attend service schools in the US. Lim took advantage of this opportunity to further improve his military education. From 1926...

Military Aviation in the Gulf South: A Photographic History by Vincent Caire

Reviewed by: Military Aviation in the Gulf South: A Photographic History by Vincent Caire Heather M. Haley Military Aviation in the Gulf South: A Photographic History. By Vincent Caire. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2016. 128 pp. $39.95. ISBN: 978-0-8071-6411-2. James R. Hansen's 1989 historiographical sketch outlining the state of aviation history drew attention to the lack of engagement with other historical disciplines, including gender, social, and labor histories. Ultimately, Hansen pled with historians to ask intersectional questions that appeal to audiences in "a wider view." By the early-1990s, histories of flight focused almost exclusively on engineering advancements and the military application of flying machines. Hansen noted that, as a result, aviation history had stagnated, "wherein broadly synthetic, contextual, and interdisciplinary studies" would "explore the meaning of a particular field of history in terms of what it means to others."1 In Military Aviation in the Gulf South: A Photographic History Vincent P. Caire responds to Hansen's call for aviation history in the wider view in the most literal sense with his general and celebratory regional history of aviation that stretches across military bases in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and Florida. Divided chronologically across six chapters—beginning with the Army's 1907 initiative to acquire aircraft for military use through contemporary student flight training practices at Randolph Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas—Caire's monograph narrows the focus from broader national military aviation history to that of regional. The author [End Page 165] immediately establishes that this history "is not an attempt to present an encyclopedic, all-inclusive chronicle," but he encourages general appreciation and further academic research (xiii). While Hansen sought to influence an adaptive and evolving academic audience, Caire appeals to aviation "buffs" who focus on the intricate details of specific aircraft, notable pilots, and regional military bases. Hansen confirmed the necessity for such monographs like that of Caire's Military Aviation in the Gulf South because they are invaluable sources of raw information, without which "scholars would have a much harder time finding the precise data" that would "put major trends and evolutionary developments into focus."2 Hansen claims that these books typically "resemble the most esoteric treatises on ornithology" as the content on the flying machines themselves limit the narrative strictly to the fascination with aircraft, pilots, and airfields themselves, but this book does not fall into that trap.3 In addition to its value as an encyclopedic reference, Caire's book bleeds into the subdisciplines of science and technology, military history, and transportation. In relation to Alabama history in particular, Military Aviation in the Gulf South is an invaluable resource for beginning researchers seeking basic information on state and local history as it relates to aviation. Caire briefly chronicles the establishment of the Montgomery Air Intermediate Depot with the Army's purchase of Frank D. Kohn's 100-acre cotton plantation located northwest of Montgomery. In November 1922, the War Department renamed the facility Maxwell Field to honor Natchez, Alabama, native Second Lieutenant William C. Maxwell, who died in the Philippines when he purposefully crashed his aircraft into a flagpole to avoid a group of children at play. Ultimately, the Army Air Corps Tactical School (ACTS) selected Maxwell as the center for development in aerial bombing, tactical operations, and aerial support that would maintain an increasing fleet of large aircraft. [End Page 166] Caire addresses cultural and social changes in military aviation with a brief dedication to the first African American primary flight school at Tuskegee Institute and the first African American advanced training programs at Tuskegee Air Field. The establishment of an equitable, albeit segregated, aviation training program for qualified African American pilot candidates was an integral change in military aviation in 1939. Upon induction into the Air Corps, squadron members were selected for fighter or bomber training where members mastered their skills in piloting, navigation, mechanics, and squadron support. Amidst Jim Crow segregation in Alabama, Caire notes, the Tuskegee Airmen initiated military desegregation by proving their capacity "to fulfill such critical responsibilities" in military aviation (52). Vincent Caire's impressive collection and precise incorporation of photographs nicely complements this encyclopedic military...

John Steinbeck: A Literary Life

John Steinbeck: A Literary Life

Chester McKinney, champion in acoustics

Chester M. McKinney (1920–2017) was born and grew up in Cooper, Texas. Having built radios as a boy, he majored in physics at East Texas State Teachers College, taught high school science back in Cooper, and joined the U.S. Army immediately after Pearl Harbor. As a radar officer in the Army Air Corps, he did course work at Harvard and MIT in radar and electronics, and flew many missions in B-29s over China, India, and the Pacific. After the war he earned M.S. (1947) and Ph.D. (1950) degrees in physics at University of Texas, working primarily in electromagnetics at the University’s Defense Research Laboratory (DRL, later renamed Applied Research Laboratories, ARL). In 1948 he married Linda Hooten. After a short stint at Texas Tech University, he returned to DRL in 1953 and switched from electromagnetics to acoustics, primarily underwater sound, which became his life’s work. After 15 years as ARL Director, Chester retired in 1980. Having joined the Acoustical Society of America (ASA) in 1953, he chaired th...

Finding Thomas Merton

Finding Thomas Merton