Peter Mersky
Author of The Naval Air War in Vietnam
About the Author
Peter B. Mersky is well known for his military aviation books, for some hundred magazine articles, and for hundreds of book reviews on U.S. Navy and Marine Corps aviation. A lifelong aviation enthusiast, he served sixteen years as the assistant editor, then editor, for Approach magazine, the Navy's show more aviation safety publication. He is a retired officer in the U.S. Naval Reserve, and he has held close ties to naval aviation for more than thirty years. Mersky is also a series editor for Brassey's Aviation Classics series. He lives in Alexandria, Virginia show less
Image credit: Peter B. Mersky [credit: U.S. Marine Corps]
Works by Peter Mersky
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Birthdate
- 1945-06-04
- Gender
- male
- Education
- Rhode Island School of Design
- Occupations
- military historian
editor
illustrator - Organizations
- United States Navy
United States Naval Reserve - Short biography
- Peter B. Mersky is a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design with a baccalaureate degree in illustration. He was commissioned through the Navy's Aviation Officer Candidate School in May 1968. Following active duty, he remained in the Naval Reserve and served two tours as an air intelligence officer with Light Photographic Squadron 306, one of the Navy's last F-8 Crusader squadrons. He is the assistant editor of Approach, the Navy's aviation safety magazine, published by the Naval Safety Center in Norfolk, Virginia. Commander Mersky has written or coauthored several books on Navy and Marine Corps aviation, including The Naval Air War in Vietnam (with Norman Polmar), U.S. Marine Corps Aviation, 1912--Present, Vought F-8 Crusader, and A History of Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 321. He has written many magazine articles for American and British publications, and he also writes a regular book review column for Naval Aviation News.
Source: Time of the Aces: Marine Pilots in the Solomons, 1942-1944, published 1993, page 41. - Nationality
- USA
- Associated Place (for map)
- USA
Members
Reviews
Having owned this book for a very long time, the question has to be whether, being over twenty years old, this work is still worth reading. On the whole, I'd say it is, as at this point it counts as primary source material, seeing as Mersky is a contemporary to the men he is writing about, and was a U.S. Navy combat pilot himself. He certainly does not stint on all the personal and operational detail he can cram into 98 pages. In 1999 Mersky would have, along with Barrett Tillman, been show more considered "Mr. Naval Aviation" when it came to writing.
That said, there are little notes throughout the book that indicate a deep bitterness towards the outcome of America's war in Vietnam, as when Mersky vents about the bombing halt called by Lyndon B. Johnson, or his obvious disdain towards the anti-war protest movement in the United States. At the time of publication, Mersky certainly regarded the war as militarily winnable, which suggests to me a certain strategic naivete. Keep that in mind if you choose to read this work, which IS still useful otherwise. show less
That said, there are little notes throughout the book that indicate a deep bitterness towards the outcome of America's war in Vietnam, as when Mersky vents about the bombing halt called by Lyndon B. Johnson, or his obvious disdain towards the anti-war protest movement in the United States. At the time of publication, Mersky certainly regarded the war as militarily winnable, which suggests to me a certain strategic naivete. Keep that in mind if you choose to read this work, which IS still useful otherwise. show less
Good snap shot look at the last of the US Gunfighters against the quick and nimble MiG-17 over Vietnam.
This was an excellent short read.
This booklet is one of the 25 in the "Marines in World War II Commemorative Series", published by the U.S. Marine Corps. As the title indicates, this booklet is about the Marine Corps pilots during the World War II operations in the Solomon Islands, between 1942 and 1944. It is well illustrated. There is a good map of the Solomons, New Britain, New Ireland, etc. There should be something that shows where The Solomons are in relation to Australia and the rest show more of the world. There is no table of contents nor any index. There is a good bibliography in Sources, at the end.
Sidebars:
-- ' CUB One' at Guadalcanal
-- The Aircraft in the Conflict
-- Marine Corps Aviators Who Received the Medal of Honor in World War II
-- Brigadier General Roy S. Geiger, USMC
-- Comparative Table for the Main Types pf Fighters (an extensive table covering two aircraft for each of the U.S. Navy, U.S. Army Air Force, Japanese Navy and Japanese Army aircraft)
-- Japanese Pilots in the Solomons Air War
-- Researching the Aces' Scores
-- USMC Aces During the Period August 1942-April 1944
Some minor issues:
-- The data about Lt. Col. Bauer's Medal of Honor confuses me. On page 14, it states 'for service from May to November 1942'. On page 18, it states 'posthumously for his flight on 16 October'.
-- The data about 1st Lt. Walsh's Medal of Honor confuses me. (It's obvious I'm prone to that state.) On page 14, it states 'for action on 15 and 30 August 1943'. On page 23, the caption for the picture states 'for a mission on 30 August 1943'.
-- Is the Japanese pilot's name Sasai (picture caption on page 31 and text on page 32) or Sadai (picture caption on page 33)? Or are they different pilots? Sakai on page 32 is a totally different pilot.
Read from November 22 to 23, 2010. show less
This booklet is one of the 25 in the "Marines in World War II Commemorative Series", published by the U.S. Marine Corps. As the title indicates, this booklet is about the Marine Corps pilots during the World War II operations in the Solomon Islands, between 1942 and 1944. It is well illustrated. There is a good map of the Solomons, New Britain, New Ireland, etc. There should be something that shows where The Solomons are in relation to Australia and the rest show more of the world. There is no table of contents nor any index. There is a good bibliography in Sources, at the end.
Sidebars:
-- ' CUB One' at Guadalcanal
-- The Aircraft in the Conflict
-- Marine Corps Aviators Who Received the Medal of Honor in World War II
-- Brigadier General Roy S. Geiger, USMC
-- Comparative Table for the Main Types pf Fighters (an extensive table covering two aircraft for each of the U.S. Navy, U.S. Army Air Force, Japanese Navy and Japanese Army aircraft)
-- Japanese Pilots in the Solomons Air War
-- Researching the Aces' Scores
-- USMC Aces During the Period August 1942-April 1944
Some minor issues:
-- The data about Lt. Col. Bauer's Medal of Honor confuses me. On page 14, it states 'for service from May to November 1942'. On page 18, it states 'posthumously for his flight on 16 October'.
-- The data about 1st Lt. Walsh's Medal of Honor confuses me. (It's obvious I'm prone to that state.) On page 14, it states 'for action on 15 and 30 August 1943'. On page 23, the caption for the picture states 'for a mission on 30 August 1943'.
-- Is the Japanese pilot's name Sasai (picture caption on page 31 and text on page 32) or Sadai (picture caption on page 33)? Or are they different pilots? Sakai on page 32 is a totally different pilot.
Read from November 22 to 23, 2010. show less
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