Today's Best Military Writing: The Finest Articles on the Past, Present, and Future of the U.S. Military (review)

One of the nation's best known aviation historians, Walter J. Boyne, set a high goal for his choice of the best articles on the U. S. military of the past, present, and future. Such an idiosyncratic effort naturally stirs up discontent, not only from those whose articles were not chosen but also by others who disagree as to the significance of the topic of this or that particular article; the editor's definition of good writing; his emphasis on this or that subject or era; and even as to whether or not a particular article is about the U. S. military.

Boyne limited his choice to articles that appeared between 1999 and 2003. They range in periods from the Mexican War to the Afghanistan War, with those dealing with Homeland Security probing beyond the present as writers speculated about possible future scenarios. There are articles ranging from the experience of an American warship on station off Africa to catch slave ships, Winfield Scott's Mexico City campaign, and a cursory summary of the use of artillery in post–Civil War Indian campaigns, to a technical treatise on the threat of cruise missiles armed with biological agents, a less technical article on biological warfare in general, the pressing need to defend citizens against terrorists and criminal gangs, and lessons learned from Operation Enduring Freedom.

The range of topics is equally broad as authors examine the mission of the Marine Defense Battalion from 1898 to 1941, the impact of the AEF on French morale in World War I, the attack on Pearl Harbor, the carrier Hornet in World War II, two Army chaplains and the Nazi War criminals at Nuremberg, the extraordinary experience of an Army platoon leader in the Korean War, an analysis of the No Gun Ri controversy, the development of the F-15, as well as two more articles on Homeland Security—one on the Coast Guard mission and the other on general issues involved in Homeland Security. Other articles concern combat search and rescue procedures and the 2002 "Rodeo" in which crews of Air Mobility Command tankers and transports competed in demonstrations of their skill in carrying out their missions.

Articles about the machinations of the American Ambassador to France in Lindbergh's landing in Paris and the association of British POWs and Auschwitz inmates working together in an I. G. Farben plant during the last two years of World War II are well researched and interesting, but one questions their relevance to the U.S. military.

Given my interest, I found Robert A. Doughty's article on the AEF and French morale, Martin Blumenson's account of Lieutenant Robert C. Kingston's expedition to the Yalu, and John S. Brown's balanced analysis of the No Gun Ri controversy the most interesting.