Andrew C. A. Jampoler

Alaska's Aleutian Islands provide the crews of ships and aircraft a severe operational environment that tests equipment and human alike. "Adak: The Rescue of Alpha Foxtrot 586" is an Aleutian survival story framed in the midst of the Cold War--indeed, only the lure of money or military necessity would bring humans to the Aleutians maelstrom.

Written by Andrew Jampoler, a retired U.S. Navy P-3 pilot, patrol squadron and naval air station commander, "Adak" was published by the Naval Institute Press in 2011. A slim volume at 240 pages in my Kindle edition, the book has a total of 12 numbered chapters with an introduction and an epilogue. The book is organized chronologically, although Jampoler jumps back and forth to provide background information that is not contemporary with the book's narrative. Jampoler organizes the book in a unique fashion--he uses the "findings of fact" that appear in the board of inquiry report on the incident. These boards are convened for major events that result in the loss of an aircraft/ship and/or loss of life. The author builds the facts of the book on this basic framework.

The author's background ensures the authenticity of the story. Jampoler provides details that only one who has flown missions such as the one Crew 6 flies could discuss. As in other tales of survival, the pace of the narrative quickens as the in-flight emergency progresses. Time is the most important element to the survival of of the downed airmen, and the narrative captures that spirit of urgency. The story is a cautionary tale about the fragility of technology and humanity. Alpha Foxtrot 586, the mission call sign of a P-3B Orion of Patrol Squadron, went down in stormy seas west of Shemya Island in August 1978 due to the failure of a small component in one of the aircraft's four propellers. That mechanical failure was compounded by the failures of the flight engineer and the aircraft commander to follow emergency procedures. Both men paid for their mistakes with their lives. Three additional crew members died from exposure after the ditching, one when rescue was in sight. Most importantly, though, ten crewmembers did survive.

The survival of the ten was due to a miracle in international relations during the Cold War. Alpha Foxtrot 586 overflew a Soviet fishing vessel during the mission and ditched in the Bering Sea not far from it. It took a great deal of effort and good will to coordinate the rescue of an American aircrew participating in what would be considered an unfriendly activity torwards the Soviet Union. The biggest surprise of the book is how well the aircrew is treated by their Soviet rescuers.

This book was a great read for me. Having served on Adak early in my Navy career, I connected immediately with Jampoler's story, and the positive ending is a plus, despite the sadness in the loss of five good sailors.… (mehr)

Andrew Jampoler is a retired naval aviator, he spent over 20 years in active duty in the US Navy. After his retirement he became a full time researcher and writer, mainly about naval history. He is the author of seven books.
Most people think that America’s first pivot in Asia started after the Second World War,but Jampoler in Embassy To The Eastern Courts America’s Secret First Pivot Toward Asia 1832-37 argues America’s first pivot in Asia began during the early 1800s during the presidency of Andrew Jackson. During the Napoleonic War it was difficult for American merchant ships to have trade with Europe. The Congress asked Andrew Jackson for the solution, he chose an unqualified and unskilled Edmund Roberts to become a diplomat to Asia. Jackson chose an unqualified person because major European powers such as England, France, Spain and Dutch presented in Asia for commerce and he wanted to keep this mission as secret as possible.
Edmund Roberts had two voyages in Asia, the first one during 1832-1834 with USS Peacock and USS Boxer and the second voyage during 1835-1837 with USS Peacock and USS Enterprise. Most of Robert’s diplomatic missions were successful and he managed to improve United States trade with Asia. Also, few such as his mission to Cochina China (Vietnam) under emperor Minh Mang did not end well. Mang’s empire was isolated, there were cultural differences between Roberts and the emperor, so he asked him to leave his dominion. Roberts spent a few days at Macao, he was preparing to have a diplomatic mission to Japan, he got sick and died in Macau.
I really enjoyed this book, it is very easy to follow, I definitely recommend this book to any naval or US history enthusiast.… (mehr)

In the aftermath of the assassination of President Lincoln, the military moved quickly to capture the conspirators. The search centered on Mary Surratt’s boarding house at 541 H Street. Eight conspirators were quickly arrested; one (John Wilkes Booth himself) was shot and killed attempting to escape, and one, John Surratt, Mary’s son, disappeared. Of the eight, four (including Mrs. Surratt) were hanged; the other four received prison sentences of varying duration.

Andrew Jampoler’s book traces the life of John Surratt, focusing on his initial escape. Jampoler takes an interesting approach; there really isn’t that much information on Surratt’s life, so the book is a series of digressions. Surratt initially fled to Canada, so there’s a digression about Canadian/American relations during the Civil War. Then Surratt sailed across the Atlantic, landing in Liverpool, so there’s digressions about Atlantic travel and about the history of Liverpool. He then made his way to Rome and enlisted in the Papal Zouaves, so there’s a digression about the Papal States, the Reunification of Italy, and the history of Zouave units. He was discovered again and fled from a Zouave jail (through the sewer) and made his way to Alexandria, so there’s a digression about Alexandria (including a discussion of Lawrence Durrell’s Alexandria Quartet). He was finally returned to the US and a trial, so there’s a long section about that, including the personalities of the prosecution and defense teams. The trial hinged on the prosecution’s argument that Surratt was in Washington DC on the day of the assassination; Surratt claimed he was in Elmira NY, scouting out the prison camp there on behalf of the Confederacy. Since Surratt had been identified in Elmira and had signed a hotel register, the prosecution and defense both produced one of the favorite lines of evidence for murder mysteries – detailed railway timetables and route maps attempting to prove that it was possible for Surratt to be in Elmira on April 13th and in Washington on April 14th (prosecution) or that it wasn’t (defense). The defense was convincing enough for a hung jury, attempts for a new trial foundered in the disorganized Justice Department during the Johnson impeachment, and Surratt was released. He embarked on a short-lived lecture tour, had a brief career as a schoolteacher, then spent the rest of his life working for a Baltimore steam packet line.

The “digressions” make the book; Jampoler is fluent and readable. The scholarship is impressive, including such things as Surratt’s physical description when he joined the Zouaves and the international shipping registry code number of the ship he took to Liverpool. Extensively footnoted and a thorough bibliography. Good illustrations, including the haunting picture of the four executed conspirators hanging – hoods over their heads, and Mrs. Surratt’s skirt strapped in two places so it wouldn’t fly up and embarrass her as the trap fell. Jampoler notes that the fact that the conspirators were tried by the military rather than a civilian court set a precedent for the later trials of Nazi spies and Taliban prisoners. (As near as I can tell, the argument was that the conspirators were “unlawful combatants” rather than “assassins”; if John Wilkes Booth had been wearing a Confederate uniform when he shot Abraham Lincoln, I don’t know how it would have worked out).… (mehr)

I never thought I'd read a book with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder.

The Amphitrite wreck was a major story in 1833: A shipment of female convicts, bound for Australia, went aground off Boulogne in the English Channel, with every one of the more than a hundred women on board dying. Only three crewmen survived. And, chances are, most of the deaths could have been avoided.

It was all over the papers. It became a big enough story that a song came out of it, "The Wreck of the Amphitrite," which was printed many times and even was found being sung by a traditional singer in West Virginia in 1917. A book about the wreck would be welcome.

Note that phrase: "about the wreck." This is not a book about the Amphitrite wreck. It's a bunch of tangents about whatever shiny object attracts author Jampoler's attention. Example: Pages 170-172 are about the novels of Patrick O'Brien, including extensive quotations. Why talk about O'Brien? Because one of O'Brien's books describes the battle of the U.S.S. Constitution and H.M.S. Java. Why talk about that battle? Because the second-in-command of the Java was Henry Ducie Chads. Why talk about Chads? Because he was responsible for the inquiry into the wreck of the Amphitrite.

Is the investigation relevant to the story? Sure. Is the history of Admiral Chads relevant? Probably. Is the story of the Java relevant? Slightly. Is O'Brien relevant? Only to Jampoler's psychiatric case file.

A few digressions like that can make a book more interesting, inviting us to look into other subjects. But, in the case of this book, they are constant -- almost endless. As a wild guess, three-fourths of the book is about something other than its alleged topic. After about twenty pages of that, I resorted to skimming; I just couldn't take it any more. I'm here to read about the Amphitrite, not the sex life of Prince Hermann Pückler-Muskau! (Yes, really; that part is around page 160.) Ugh.

I'm sure I missed part of the Amphitrite's story as I tried to, er, navigate around all those Shoals of Irrelevancy. But at least the parts of the book I read were all relevant. If you can read more of it than I did, all I can say is, you're much more attracted to shiny objects than I am.… (mehr)