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Joy Waldron

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The USS Arizona Hardcover – November 15, 2001

by Joy Waldron Jasper (Author), James P. Delgado (Author), Jim Adams (Author)

4.4 33 ratings

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"Remember the Arizona!" was the battle cry of American sailors stationed in the Pacific during World War II. The mighty warship, which was bombed at Pearl Harbor by the Japanese on December 7, 1941, became and remains to this day a symbol and rallying point for America's sudden entrance into war.

Here, using eyewitness accounts of the bombing and the sinking, the authors narrate the compelling history of the USS Arizona before, during, and after the attack, and describe the Arizona Memorial's legacy today. This engrossing book includes sixteen pages of photographs and extensive interviews with sailors who survived Imperial Japan's attack. The USS Arizona, published on December 7, 2001, the sixtieth anniversary of the surprise attack, is the only full-length book on the great ship and its beautiful resting place.

Print length

288 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Truman Talley Books
Publication date

November 15, 2001
Dimensions

5.96 x 1.03 x 9.56 inches
ISBN-10

0312286902
ISBN-13

978-0312286903
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Coming out in time for the 60th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, this book tells the full story of the battleship Arizona, arguably one of America's most well-known ships. Of the ship's crew that fateful December 7, 1941, 1,177 died when the ship exploded following a fatal bomb hit that detonated the ship's ammunition magazines (crew names are all included in a grim appendix). Only 289 survived, and that number gets fewer each year. The authors have all dived on the wreck; Adams, the cultural resources manager at the Arizona Memorial for several years, is the son of an Arizona survivor. Jasper, Delgado and Adams trace the history of the Arizona, from her launching in 1915, through her extensive cruises in the Atlantic and Pacific, to the chaos after Japanese airplanes sounded the death knell of America's battleship fleet. Extensive interviews with 10 survivors of the Japanese attack are the core, and given how few survivors remain, it is a plethora. They were stationed in different parts of the ship, so provide a comprehensive view of the ship's final hours. While many previous books dwelled on technical data and argued about how the ship exploded, this book provides the human story of the tragedy in a most compelling way. 16 pages of photos not seen by PW.

From School Library Journal

Adult/High School-A sensitive and respectful portrait of the battleship Arizona in peacetime, in war, and as a "symbol of American loss and American courage." The introduction relates how each author was drawn to the ship's story. Jasper is an investigative journalist who devoted nearly a decade to locating and interviewing Arizona survivors; Delgado is a maritime archaeologist; and Adams, a retired U.S. Marine, son of an Arizona survivor, and an accomplished diver affiliated with the National Park Service's stewardship of the memorial. The battleship's history is traced from the 1914 keel laying in the Brooklyn Navy Yard through the fateful events of December 7, 1941, continues with the establishment of the memorial in 1962, and concludes with present-day underwater monitoring of the site to assess corrosion and structural stability. Key chapters draw on remembrances of survivors to sketch the routines of shipboard life in Pearl Harbor before the attack. GQ drills, inspections, gunnery practice, holystoning the teakwood deck, camaraderie among turret crew members, and more are all recalled by the men who were then 18- to 20-year-old sailors from hometowns across America. The generation-defining events of December 7th are told with restrained emotion as each man narrates his tale of survival on a day when 1177 of his shipmates perished. The authors' intent to acknowledge the many levels of heroism on that day and to preserve the heritage are finely achieved.
Lynn Nutwell, Fairfax City Regional Library, VA
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

In this timely tribute to America's now-second greatest domestic tragedy, the authors come to their task from three different perspectives--Jasper is a journalist, James P. Delgado is an archaeologist, and Jim Adams is the son of a survivor of the USS Arizona and for several years the cultural resources manager of the Arizona Memorial. The result is an investigative treasure of interviews that provides eyewitness accounts of the bombing that happened six decades ago. The authors were also part of a select group of individuals allowed to dive down to the ruins of the ship, an experience they describe as feeling "like an intrusion, a violation of privacy." The interviews offer many poignant moments, such as when one crew member describes the last weekend before the December 7 attack as so routine that he and his mates had no clue that anything was about to happen: "We were as happy as larks." A well-related tribute to a ship "that never died, and of the men who never forgot." Allen Weakland
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

"A memorable book about ground zero on the day America entered World War II." --Walter Cronkite

"Superbly researched, brilliantly written, The USS Arizona is a moving portrayal of a towering tragedy filled with the drama and courage of ordinary men." --Clive Cussler

"The moment that will never leave my mind is when I walked up on the Navy landing and saw the Arizona. The Japanese were overhead, the Arizona was down and burning, the Nevada was under way, and I stood there and watched her go aground. The Oklahoma was upside down. I still see it." --Ralph D. Byard, Chief Commissary Steward

"We looked outside and saw the planes going by. Then they rang the general alarm. I went up to the crow's nest on the after mast. They were strafing and bombing...I was scared. Everybody was scared. Anybody said they weren't scared were crazy." --Vernon J. Olsen, Seaman 1st Class

"I stuck my head in [the gallery deck] and it was full of gas...I couldn't breathe. I couldn't see anybody, but I heard them hollering all down below. The were screaming and pounding. Cursing. And the noise of bombs was deafening. Bang! Bang! Boom! Bang! The ship would just jerk and toss every time a bomb hit." --James P. Foster, Seaman 1st Class

About the Author

Joy Waldron Jasper is an investigative journalist and a magazine feature writer. She is the coauthor of The Lighthouses of Delaware Bay and River and is currently researching her next book. She lives in western Massachusetts.

James P. Delgado is a noted underwater archaeologist and historian who has dived on many wrecks, including the USS Arizona and Admiral Yamamoto's flagship, Nagato. He is the executive director of the Vancouver Maritime Museum and lives in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Jim Adams, following a career in the Marine Corps, joined the National Park Service and became the cultural resources manager at the USS Arizona Memorial. Presently assigned to Biscayne National Park in Florida, he is writing a biography about his late father, the journalist Val Adams, who survived the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Truman Talley Books; First Edition (November 15, 2001)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 288 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0312286902
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0312286903
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 9.1 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.96 x 1.03 x 9.56 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #257,494 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #472 in Naval Military History
- #2,261 in World War II History (Books)
- #3,016 in U.S. State & Local History

Customer Reviews:
4.4 33 ratings

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Joy Waldron

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Joy Waldron was born in Boston and raised in the countryside of Medfield, Massachusetts. In her 'twenties she went West with her family and lived for three decades in Santa Fe, New Mexico. While there she raised three children, finished college with a bachelor's in English and Modern Languages, and landscaped a half-dozen homes. She has worked as public information officer for New Mexico state agencies (3), singer-guitarist, genealogist, journalist, editor, and book author. Her nonfiction World War II books have been published by St. Martin's Press and Caliber-Penguin Books.

Joy is a francophile who learned French in Belgium and Niger, West Africa. A two-year stint in Niamey, Niger's capital, changed her life forever, for amid the Djerma tribespeople she found a compassion and camaraderie often lacking in Western cultures. A truck accident in the bush caused an emergency evacuation for surgery in Madrid, Spain, further reinforcing the sense of life's fragility.

Her forebears left England during the time of Queen Elizabeth I and fled to Leyden, Holland, after which time they eventually settled Nieuw Amsterdam (New York). She is also descended from Mayflower passengers and early settlers of Boston, Dedham, Bridgewater and Medfield. She is equally proud of her Irish ancestors who fled the Irish famine and settled in Dorchester, Mass. and her Irish-Scots great-grandparents who left a life on the River Clyde in Glasgow to strike out for the New World.

In addition to historical nonfiction, Joy Waldron also writes fiction thrillers and poetry. She is currently working on a nonfiction tale of one family's feud in Arkansas in the Reconstruction era after the Civil War. She splits time between New Mexico and the Southwest of France.

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4.4 out of 5

33 global ratings

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James II

I know of many members of the USS Arizona Navy Band through my dad, who knew them all.

Reviewed in the United States on November 25, 2020

Verified Purchase

Dad was on the USS Tennessee, in front of USS Arizona. USS Tennessee Navy Band was about to play morning colors when the USS Arizona was hit. He was about as close as one could get and not be on the USS Arizona. Molly Kent's book "Arizona's Last Band" is another good one. Her brother Clyde Williams went down with the USS Arizona band. Dad knew him well.

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Military History Navy Man

Joy Jasper paints a vivid picture

Reviewed in the United States on March 19, 2011

Verified Purchase

Joy Jasper brings the individuals she has interviewded and details life on board the USS Arizona to life in words that paint a picture as if you were standing there. The people and events seem to come to life. She describes on board living, work details, gun turret life and action aboard this proud ship. Nothing is dry and boring about this vivid account of the USS Arizona and Pearl Harbor.

Reviewed in the United States on February 26, 2020

Verified Purchase

Fantastic book on a great ship and crew on a tragic day.

Reviewed in the United States on June 15, 2019

Verified Purchase

I was enjoying the book and then read that the Arizona Band had played in the Battle of Music on December 6. The Band DID NOT play on that night. The Arizona Band had friends in the Tennessee Band, which WAS playing December 6. Both bands had graduated from the Navy School of Music. The Arizona Band was already in the semi-finals. The band also DIDN'T SLEEP IN on December 7. They were lined up to play The Star Spangled Banner, but never got the chance. Air Defense and General Quarters was called and the band members went to their battle station, which was to man the ammunition hoists in Turret No.2. To say that the band SLEPT IN that morning is a terrible disservice to the men of the Arizona Band, who brought their fellow shipmates good music that was liked very much. The ONLY band which played The Star Spangled Banner December 7 was the Nevada Band. I didn't enjoy the book as much after reading that mistake. I went back and edited my review of this book. At the end there were so many mistakes made I put 2 stars for it. If anyone is interested in the Arizona band, read the book "USS Arizona's Last Band" by Molly Kent. Her brother was in the band and it goes into alot of detail.

4 people found this helpful

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Apalca Man

Good treatment of a difficult subject

Reviewed in the United States on January 24, 2015

Verified Purchase

Good treatment of a difficult subject. Good depth. I have to the memorial more than once, but I learned some things from this book that I had not known

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Amazon Customer

This is a present for my 16 year old great grandson to go along with the ship model I ...

Reviewed in the United States on November 23, 2015

Verified Purchase

This is a present for my 16 year old great grandson to go along with the ship model I also got him.

Reviewed in the United States on March 29, 2015

Verified Purchase

The USS Arizona is quite interesting and informative in dealing what transpired on 12/7/1941. It tells the details from those that were there. Also very sad in a way.

One person found this helpful

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DLMerritt2

A Great book on the U.S.S. Arizona

Reviewed in the United States on May 17, 2014

Verified Purchase

If you want to know more about the U.S.S. Arizona during the attack and after this is a great book for that.

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