Fred L Borch

In late 1995 amidst heated debate over the blame placed on Rear Adm. Husband E. Kimmel and Maj. Gen. Walter C. Short for the devastation of the attack on Pearl Harbor and their subsequent demotions, the department of defense ordered its own investigation into the matter. This investigation was the only official inquiry made into the appropriateness of posthumously promoting Kimmel and Short to the ranks they held prior to the attack. As the first investigation to be conducted outside the Army and Navy establishments, it took a fresh look at the controversy.This book reproduces the complete report issued by the investigators with added commentary and an explanation of what it all means by coauthors Fred Borch and Daniel Martinez. Borch was the Army's representative on the team conducting the investigation, and his firsthand knowledge contributes significantly to the analysis presented. Martinez, an acknowledged expert on the attack, gives an important historical perspective to the study. A foreword by Donald Goldstein, part of Gordon Prange's research-writing team for many years, gives further insights in what happened and why on that fateful December day.

From 1946 to 1949, the Dutch prosecuted more than 1000 Japanese soldiers and civilians for war crimes committed during the occupation of the Netherlands East Indies during World War II. They also prosecuted a small number of Dutch citizens for collaborating with their Japanese occupiers. The war crimes committed by the Japanese against military personnel and civilians in the East Indies were horrific, and included mass murder, murder, torture, mistreatment of prisoners of war, and enforced prostitution. Beginning in 1946, the Dutch convened military tribunals in various locations in the East Indies to hear the evidence of these atrocities and imposed sentences ranging from months and years to death; some 25 percent of those convicted were executed for their crimes. The difficulty arising out of gathering evidence and conducting the trials was exacerbated by the on-going guerrilla war between Dutch authorities and Indonesian revolutionaries and in fact the trials ended abruptly in 1949 when 300 years of Dutch colonial rule ended and Indonesia gained its independence. Until the author began examining and analysing the records of trial from these cases, no English language scholar had published a comprehensive study of these war crimes trials. While the author looks at the war crimes prosecutions of the Japanese in detail this book also breaks new ground in exploring the prosecutions of Dutch citizens alleged to have collaborated with their Japanese occupiers. Anyone with a general interest in World War II and the war in the Pacific, or a specific interest in war crimes and international law, will be interested in this book.

More than one million men and women have received the Purple Heart since its creation as an award ""for military merit"" in 1932. This book provides a brief history of the Purple Heart, with a focus on how the decoration's award criteria have evolved over the last 75 years. The book then takes a representative look at Purple Heart recipients from all the services by conflict, starting with the Civil War and concluding with the on-going conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq.

This is the first and only comprehensive history of all decorations and medals that may be awarded to men and women serving in the United States Army and Air Force. The background and design of each medal are examined, as well as award criteria governing each decoration. The book first looks at the Army and Air Force Medals of Honor before continuing with other awards, including the Distinguished Service Cross, Distinguished Service Medal, Air Force Cross, Silver Star, Legion of Merit, Bronze Star Medal and Purple Heart. The histories of more common medals like the Air Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, Army and Air Force Commendation Medals and Army and Air Force Achievement Medals are also included. Photographs of each medal (obverse and reverse) accompany the text, along with selected photographs of recipients and the citations for their awards.