Dear Sir:

Just finished reading the March issue of WWII History. It was very factual, especially “Silent Blitzkrieg: The Fall of Eben Emael.” “Bloody Betio: The Assault on Tarawa” and “Maginot’s Line” were excellent in text and photographs. The only text I found wanting was the Ordnance column on the Hedgehog by A.B. Feuer. According to my information (A.J. Watts), the RO-117 was sunk by DDs Melvin and Wadleigh, RO-111 was sunk by DD Taylor, I-364 by Sea Devil (submarine) I-362 by DE Fleming, RO-47 by DEs McCoy and Reynolds, and finally, I-2 (formerly I-75) was sunk by DD Saufley.

Yours truly,
F.W. Huempfner
Green Bay, Wisconsin

Dear Mr. Huempfner,

According to Mr. Feuer, his source for the information on the submarines sunk by the USS England, other naval vessels, and Allied aircraft was the microfilm archives of the Naval Historical Center in Washington, D.C. This record includes action reports filed by naval officers. We acknowledge that controversy does remain in some instances. As a matter of fact, we have actually seen as many as three different sources relate the demise of the same submarine in three different ways. However, for his purposes and as a result of his extensive research, Mr. Feuer stands by the records of the Naval Historical Center, which is considered to be an authoritative source.

Dear Editor:

I have to compliment you on such a great magazine. The thing that got me started on Word War II was just the sheer magnitude and scale of the war. I first learned about WWII in fifth grade and stuck with it right up to this very point. The store that now supplies your magazine didn’t when the first issue came out, so I have missed out on all the stuff previously. I did pick up the March issue and now I’m hooked. I just joined the Army so I can serve my country just the way many did in WWII. Please let me know if there is a way I can get the first issue of your magazine.

Justin Erickson
Grangeville, Idaho

Thanks for the nice words, Justin, and best of luck to you in the Army. Our premier issue is still available by calling our subscription customer service department at 800-219-1187. If you are outside the United States, you can write to: WWII History, P.O. Box 1644, Williamsport, PA 17703.

Dear Editor:

I have enjoyed both issues of your new magazine and look forward to your next printing in May. I hope you will be able to feature articles on the service of the Polish Armed Forces during the war in Europe, from the first shot in September of 1939 until the Battle of Berlin in 1945.

Cordially,
Alan J. Gasior
Trenton, New Jersey

Dear Editor:

As an original subscriber to WWII History, I would like to commend you on the quality of the issues so far. They have been informative and very well researched and written. There are, however, some inaccuracies in your March 2002 issue. On page 14 you have a picture caption stating that this is General Wingate, and the British officer is not General Wingate. As well on page 37 your caption states a burning Sten gun carrier, of which there is no such thing. It is, however, a Bren gun carrier. I would suggest that you proofread the the photo captions more carefully to match the accuracy and quality of the magazine.

Thanks.
Gordon Wegert
via e-mail

Dear Mr. Wegert,

We’ve taken another long, hard look at the photo in question and decided to stick by our guns. Some photos of the eccentric Brigadier Wingate sans beard have been seen, and that jaw line is pretty unique. We have also reviewed the details of the officer’s uniform, and these appear to support our contention.

Dear Sirs:

Please cancel my subscription to WWII History and refund the balance of my subscription price. I was intensely disappointed in your Pearl Harbor issue. Your main story on the subject was a work of fiction of no historical interest. Imagination has no place in scholarship. You gave no space to the little-known items such as the defective ammunition on the light cruiser Phoenix which blew up in her gun barrels, making them useless, or the fact that the Japanese used American naval gun shells (made obsolete when we went to 16-inch guns) bought from U.S. scrap metal dealers and made into very effective armor-piercing bombs, one of which blew up the Arizona. No details of their knowledge of where to strike the U.S. battleships so as to blow up their ammunition storage, no details on the machine gunning of American pilots as they rushed out of their barracks by a Japanese in a “milk delivery truck.” There has not been confirmation that the Japanese had tapped into the underwater cable to Hawaii as you stated. The whole thing seems to be a whitewash of FDR’s documented detailed knowledge of, and provocation of, the Japanese attack, and his concealing of this knowledge from the commanders in Hawaii in order to get America (85 percent noninterventionist) into the war against Hitler and so save Russia. These are documented facts from unimpeachable sources. If your first issue can’t be trusted, I’m not interested in any more. Cancel my subscription.

Robert A. Remington
Bradenton, Florida

Dear Mr. Remington,

While we respect your point of view, ours was an attempt to entertain our readers with another perspective on what “might have been.” In recent years, several entertaining books on similar subjects have been published. These provide food for thought and mental exercise for the reader. Ours was in no way an attempt to alter or distort the true story of Pearl Harbor. We hope you understand and will reconsider your decision.

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