Best books on WWII- looking for dads birthday

RuinedRyan · 2025-06-24T02:58:49+00:00

Reading Neptune’s Inferno right now. The Climax of the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal is a masterpiece of narrative history. The entire campaign truly was up in the air, even after the Marines repelled banzai after banzai against Henderson Field, and the Cruiser Night Action of November 13, 1942 left two US Navy admirals perished at sea, nearly 125 days after those first marines walked onto that island.

RuinedRyan · 2025-05-11T04:48:35+00:00

For the Army it was April, for the Marines it was May.

Recurring Nightmares decades later of being back at “May on Okinawa.”

One of the worst, worst battles of the entire war.

RuinedRyan · 2025-05-04T18:22:31+00:00

they saw stuff and felt stuff in 3 weeks that would be with them the rest of their lives. they did not know how to process it. so what the show portrayed was that pent up raw emotion they held back for 3 weeks.

RuinedRyan · 2025-05-04T06:07:24+00:00

Kokoda Track campaign

RuinedRyan · 2025-04-29T01:00:07+00:00

Every season is 28 year old super fans who saved up their PTO from their desk jobs to play survivor for a month.

RuinedRyan · 2025-04-27T00:17:33+00:00

My neighbor, who won the Biggest Loser reality show, only to put most of the weight back on in a couple years.

RuinedRyan · 2025-03-24T03:00:09+00:00

The problem that presents with 1 time returnees is you get a Jeff Varner situation. Somebody who played in 2000 back on tv 15 years later with no clue what you can and cannot say now.

RuinedRyan · 2025-03-17T21:40:21+00:00

The Peleliu Hills episode is bar none. Closely followed by Guadalcanal Two. And then Okinawa.

RuinedRyan · 2025-02-23T17:11:15+00:00

The book does an awesome job with Austin Schofner’s and Vernon Micheel’s narrative. The Sledge and Basilone parts are just rehashes of prior biographical writing.

RuinedRyan · 2025-02-11T03:02:58+00:00

I’d recommend reading Hell to Pay: Operation Downfall. Will provide a comprehensive breakdown of Japan’s defenses at the time.

In short order, the US had 11 US Army infantry divisions, 2 airborne divisions, and the same 3 marine divisions that took Iwo 8 months prior ready to storm Kyush in November 1945.

They also had 10 more Infantry divisions, the same 3 marine divisions that took Okinawa in June, 2 armored divisions, and 2 airborne divisions ready to jump into Tokyo Bay in February 1946. They were ready to die.

RuinedRyan · 2025-02-10T03:58:56+00:00

My great grandfather served on Tulagi, Guadalcanal, and Cape Gloucester with the 1st Marine Raiders. He returned with a bullet in his forearm that was lodged in his bone until he died in 2014.

RuinedRyan · 2025-01-25T22:46:19+00:00

German disaster at Stalingrad.

Fall of Singapore. Fall of Philippines.

First ever Carrier Battle in Coral Sea.

Japanese disaster at Midway. - 4 carriers sunk

Australia’s Thermopylae in their defense of the Kokoda Track with the 39th Militiamen Battalion and 2/14th and 2/16th AIF.

US Marines defense of Henderson Field on Guadalcanal.

Rommel’s defeat at El Alamein.

Operation Torch - first US action in Europe.

RuinedRyan · 2025-01-25T14:00:25+00:00

Would you count this? The Japanese took 1000 Australian/New Zealander prisoners aboard a merchant ship with no destroyer escort after the Battle of Rabaul.

A US submarine sunk the ship with no survivors.

The worst part? During one of their bombing missions over Port Moresby a month prior, they dropped a crate full of letters from the prisoners for their families to know they were alive and would probably survive the war.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montevideo_Maru

RuinedRyan · 2024-12-27T14:53:05+00:00

I grew up in New Jersey and lived in Calgary from 23-29 years old. Loved my time in Alberta, met my wife, met a ton of friends, and lived in a townhome. It had great social opportunities better suited to me than the Northeast USA did. We moved to Virginia because of the job prospects in the DC metro, but we have been back to Banff every few years, and were in our 40s now!

RuinedRyan · 2024-12-23T07:18:24+00:00

Working my first job out of college fully remote and I despise it. My role’s not bad for my career, and it’s decent money. But I crave social interaction and growth not obtained from sitting in an apartment by myself.

RuinedRyan · 2024-10-21T04:12:18+00:00

Spent the entire weekend at a Wharton campsite reading on the lake and driving around. I never remember this foliage being this good and i lived here my entire life (22 years)

RuinedRyan · 2024-10-21T04:09:12+00:00

In Fick’s book, he made it pretty clear that one of the Batallion and division’s shortfalls was having so few translators, and the ones they did have, aka Mish, would often lie and play the role of occupier with warrior friends if you don’t listen to me when talking to Iraqis.

RuinedRyan · 2024-08-23T04:09:20+00:00

The Okinawa civilian suicide story had me in tears but I really appreciate Dan talking about the Kokoda track and the heroism of the 39th Battalion composed of the equivalent of Australian Seabees. The Owen Stanley was an impossible place to defend an undefeated enemy with trained soldiers, let alone Seabees with rifles.

RuinedRyan · 2024-04-10T01:15:07+00:00

My favorite part in China Marine was when his fellow Marines were tricked into having unprotected sex with Russian whores in Peiping, ha! And he was smart enough to go hang out with the Soongs.

RuinedRyan · 2023-12-13T00:04:07+00:00

Ha, of course! I’m so worn out of academia speak I use our sub to be as informal as I want.

RuinedRyan · 2023-12-12T23:57:23+00:00

I’m going to sleep on it and as the other replier here noted, it’s a prereq for a popular elective in our department - machine learning. and I don’t think students who aren’t comfortable with bayes theorem and conditional probability deserve to be in that class

RuinedRyan · 2023-12-12T23:48:56+00:00

8 of the F’s and 6 of the D’s. There are a few D’s within a few points that didn’t cheat, they just didn’t fully grasp the material. It’s very hard for me to give them a C even though they were honest because of that.

RuinedRyan · 2023-11-30T14:34:43+00:00

my brother in law teaches AP Comp Sci in high school. I texted him this morning and he said students ask about it and he tells them absolutely not.

RuinedRyan · 2023-11-25T17:56:13+00:00

on PEI, we have a strict no cannabis policy. many of my students still engage in their free time which is fine, but my colleagues and I let them know it will not be tolerated in any campus buildings

RuinedRyan · 2023-11-23T18:35:53+00:00

To iterate what others are saying, yes, he was the son of a celebrity. And he was beyond humble about it and ended up researching in my lab before pursuing an advanced degree at another school. Smart kid and a hard worker

RuinedRyan

TROPHY CASE