THE BIG E: THE STORY OF THE USS ENTERPRISE
Book Details + Condition: Random House (New York). First Edition, 1962. Hardcover with dust jacket. 489 pages with Index. Illustrated with photographs. Inscribed and signed on the first blank page / ffep, it reads: "To Captain McKellar and the Navy Senate Liaison office from a loyal alumnus. Edward P. Stafford." The book is a memorial to the USS Enterprise, the aircraft carrier that contributed more than any other single warship to the naval victory in the Pacific. The Big E participated in nearly every major engagement of the war against Japan and earned a total of twenty battle stars. The Halsey-Doolittle Raid; the Battles of Midway, Santa Cruz, Guadalcanal, the Philippine Sea, and Leyte Gulf; and the invasions of Iwo Jima and Okinawa are all faithfully recorded from the viewpoint of the men who served her. Author Commander Edward P. Stafford, a naval aviator, focuses on the exploits of the famous ship's air groups, capturing the reality of their encounters. Chapters include:
- Peace
- War
- Guarding the Islands
- Into the South Seas
- Coral Sea Cruise
- Pearl and a Mission to the South
- The Eastern Solomons
- Espiritu, Noumea and Chicago
- Makin and the Marshalls
- Penetration to Palau
- A Month in the Marianas
- Foray to the Philippines
- Hunters in the Dark
- Return to Japan
- And much more.
Firm binding; light shelf wear to boards; interior is clean and free of markings, save author's inscription to the ffep. Original dust jacket shows normal shelf wear, with some fading to spine and chipping to edges and corners; it retains the original price. All books are carefully packed, and shipped in boxes.
