p. vii  Foreword

It would require an extra chapter for me to list all the men who have helped me prepare this book. Certain of them, however, have been outstandingly prodigal of their efforts to make it complete and accurate. They have reminded me of important events I had forgotten and have sharpened my account of events dimly remembered; they have supplied names and dates, dispatches and other documents; they have saved me from countless sins of omission and commission; and if, here and there, I have still fallen into pits of ignorance and tactlessness, it is largely because I overrode their advice. These special benefactors include the following former members of my incomparable staffs: Vice Adm. Robert B. Carney, USN, my Chief of Staff in the South Pacific and the Third Fleet; Capt. H. Raymond Thurber, USN, my Operations officer in the South Pacific; Capt. Ralph E. Wilson, USN, my assistant Operations, then Operations, officer in the South Pacific, and my Operations officer in the Third Fleet; Col. Julian P. Brown, USMC, my Intelligence officer on the Enterprise and in the South Pacific; and Comdr. William J. Kitchell, USNR, my flag lieutenant for more than three years during the war.

Other members of my staffs for whose help I am greatly indebted include Capt. Leonard J. Dow, USN, my Communications officer from the outbreak of war until July, 1945; Capt. H. Douglas Moulton, USNR, my flag secretary from six months before the outbreak until August, 1943, and my Air Operations officer from then until November, 1945; Capt. Harold E. Stassen, USNR, my flag secretary from August, 1943, until the termination of the war, with the exception of the time when he was a delegate to the United Nations Conference at San Francisco; and Lt. Herbert C. Carroll, USN, who served on my staff longer than anyone else, from June, 1940, until November, 1945.

 p. viii  I am also indebted to Lt. Comdr. Frederick L. Gwynn, USNR, for his diligence in research; to Mr. Louis H. Bolander, the librarian of the United States Naval Academy, for furnishing me with many details pertinent to my early days in the Navy; to the Public Relations Section of the Navy Department, for supplying many of the photographs and from scrutinizing the manuscript for security; to the undeservedly anonymous authors of "Combat Narratives" (issued by the Office of Naval Intelligence), for details of our early raids and of the South Pacific campaign; to Ship's Clerk John W. Brintzenhoff, USN; Chief Yeoman James W. Sands, USN; Yeoman First Class Albert C. Cedarstrom, USNR; and Yeoman First Class Joseph Bandrofchek, USNR, for preparing the typescript; to Capt. Gene Tunney, USNR, and Mrs. Tunney, for graciously lending me their house at Hobe Sound, Florida, in which delightful atmosphere most of my preliminary work was done; and to The Saturday Evening Post, for kindly permitting me to reprint here such of my story as first appeared in its pages.

And lastly, I have been particularly fortunate in having Lt. Comdr. Joseph Bryan III, USNR, as my collaborator. He is well known as a writer for The Saturday Evening Post, Collier's, The Reader's Digest, and other national magazines, and as the coauthor, with Philip Reed, of Mission beyond Darkness, one of the most gripping books to come out of the war. The public knows less of his splendid war record. As an Air Combat Information officer, he first saw action in the New Guinea campaign. Following a tour of duty on the Massachusetts, he was at New Georgia and Bougainville. Still later, he took part in the Marianas campaign on the Lexington and in the Iwo Jima and Okinawa campaigns on the Yorktown. He has been subjected to countless attacks, both bombing and kamikaze, and he has flown a number of combat missions over enemy territory, from shore bases and from fleet carriers. His well-rounded naval career coupled with his writing ability have made his assistance invaluable to me.

One final note: I assume full responsibility for all opinions I have expressed in this book and for the accuracy of all statements.

William F. Halsey,
Fleet Admiral, USN

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