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by Christian M. McBurney (Author)
Following the success of World War II Rhode Island, author Christian McBurney returns, with new coauthors Norman Desmarais and Varoujan Karentz, to present extraordinary personal stories of local contributions to the war effort.
From John F. Kennedy's training as a PT boat commander at Melville to George H.W. Bush's training as a pilot at Charlestown, the smallest state played an oversized role preparing navy officers and sailors. Important innovations are credited here too. Radar used on night-flying aircraft was developed at Jamestown's Spraycliff Observatory and tested at Charlestown, and at Davisville, Seabees developed a pontoon aircraft landing field tested on Narragansett Bay. Scituate was home to the nation's most successful spy listening station. After these and more captivating stories are revealed, the final chapter details existing World War II sites across the state readers can visit.
Author Biography
CHRISTIAN MCBURNEY, the primary editor of this book and the editor and publisher of the Online Review of Rhode Island History, has written seven books on Rhode Island and/or Revolutionary War history, including The Rhode Island Campaign: The First French and American Operation of the Revolutionary War and Spies in Revolutionary Rhode Island. For more information on his books and lectures, go to www.christianmcburney.com. NORMAN DESMARAIS is the author of Guide to the American Revolutionary War series (six volumes about the war on land and seven volumes about the war at sea and overseas). He is also the author of the forthcoming book America's First Ally: France in the American Revolutionary War and translator of the journal of Louis François Bertrand Dupont d'Aubevoye de Lauberdière, who was General Rochambeau's nephew and aide-de-camp. During World War II, Norm's father served as a chief petty officer aboard the heavy cruiser USS Tuscaloosa, which sometimes was stationed in Narragansett Bay. VAROUJAN KARENTZ, since his retirement as a military radar/missile systems engineer and corporate officer of a major electronics manufacturer, has written several books, including Beavertail Light Station on Conanicut Island, The Life Savers, Rhode Island's Forgotten Service and Mitchnapert the Citadel: A History of Armenians in Rhode Island. He was a board member of Heritage Harbor Museum and Beavertail Lighthouse Museum, member of Jamestown Historical Society and the recipient of the Rhode Island Antoinette F. Downing Volunteer Award for historic preservation accomplishments.
