It is almost too much to hope that our own border can be protected by American troops. - Washington Post, 15 April 1915
This short, 100 page monograph was published by the US Army's Combat Studies Institute that is located at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. The Army has made it available at no cost here on PDF format. As the title indicates, this work is mainly a historical review of the US military on the border from 1829 to the present. The bulk of the narrative covers the period from the Mexican-American War to the 1920s. The author makes clear that the change from frontier to border did not occur until well into the twentieth century.
The book begins with the first peaceful and amicable meeting between American and Mexican troops on the Santa Fe Trail in 1829. It continues with a lucid and well-constructed account of the Mexican-American War. It concludes with a brief account of the military's recent support efforts on the border to interdict drugs.
The bulk of the narrative deals with the cross border violence that was endemic from the 1840s until after the First World War. During much of the nineteenth century, one of the US Army's main efforts on the frontier were attempts to stop Indian raiders who used Mexican territory as sanctuary. The opposite was also true with Indians in American territory crossing over into Mexico to launch raids. With the final suppression of Geronimo's band in 1886, this mission was complete.
Most of the book deals with the US Army's attempt to deal with violence that spilled north due to Mexico's chronic political instability and lawlessness. One thing made clear in this work is that only forceful action by the US military has ever prompted the governments in Mexico City to take action against their own criminal border-crossing element.
[Porfirio] Diaz was mortified and discomfited by the continual American [military] border crossings [in hot pursuit of bandits]. Fearing further damage to his political standing, Diaz was force to act. The Mexican President sent one of his best generals to the border and ordered his army to take aggressive action against raiders and criminal elements in Mexico. By the close of 1878, raids from Mexico into the United States had been greatly reduced. (pg. 53).
With the death of Diaz in 1911, Mexico was again plunged into political chaos. The violence quickly spread north of the border with an able assist by a meddling President Woodrow Wilson. The vicious attack upon Columbus, New Mexico by Pancho Villa in March 1916 led to General John Pershing's famous Punitive Expedition deep into Mexico. Villa made good his escape. By the 1920s peace had return to the border region. It was during this period that the Army turned over border patrol duties to civilian law enforcement agencies.
Since the 1960s, lawlessness, violence and massive illegal invasion has become the norm again on America's southern border. As with terrorism, the "law enforcement" model has largely failed. One major reason for both failures is the refusal of Washington to acknowledge the nature of the problem. The main source of the massive border problem is both the Mexican government's and American elite's contempt for American national sovereignty and rights. For example, while the media obsesses about alleged Russian influence on the last election, the government of Mexico openly interferes in American politics - including during the election. And nobody cares; it is reported as business as usual.
Take the time to read this short work in order to gain a more complete understanding of America's current border crisis.
I'm deeply thankful that Bob Drury and Tom Clavin have thoroughly researched and told the story of the crew of Lucky 666: The Impossible Mission. Old 666 was a B-17 Flying Fortress belonging to the 43rd Bomb Group, Fifth Air Force stationed at Port Moresby, New Guinea. Her name is from her assigned tail number 41-2666. On 16 June 1943 her "eager beavers" of "misfits and screwoffs" flew an epic mission and became the most decorated crew in American history. The pilot Captain Jay Zeamer received the Medal of Honor. The bombardier Lieutenant Joseph Sarnoski posthumously received the Medal of Honor.
For their valor on that June 1943 flight over Buka and Bougainville, J.T. Britton, William Vaughan, Herbert "Pudge" Pugh, Forrest Dillman, Johnnie Able, Ruby Johnston, and George Kendrick were each awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, the nation's second-highest military commendation for heroism in armed conflict. This gave Old 666's crew the distinction of becoming, as it still remains, the most highly decorated combat aircrew in the history of American military service. (p. 301) [Most of the "eager beavers" also received the Purple Heart.]
Their mission was the longest running dogfight in the history of the US Air Force. For nearly forty minutes the lone B-17 fought off over twenty Japanese fighters that were using coordinated tactics for head-on attacks.
Their photo-reconnaissance mission provided critical intelligence on the beach conditions of Empress Augusta Bay on the island of Bougainville in the northern Solomon Islands. As the authors relate at the last minute prior to taking off, mission orders changed to include the Japanese air field on Buka Island just north of Bougainville. This addition made Old 666's task a virtual suicide mission. Jay Zeamer ask his crew if they wanted to risk the Buka detour before making the run to Bougainville. To the man, they said "yes."
Buka Air Field
The mission would have been for naught if the photos were not returned to base. The three hour ordeal of the seriously wounded pilots and crew getting the shot-up and heavily damaged bomber back to New Guinea is in itself an epic of skill, bravery and perseverance. Needless to say, the mission has been well documented. It's unlikely that any new information will surface on what happened that day. This book's greatest contribution is researching and telling the controversial back story on Old 666's mission. For example, it is true that when Jay Zeamer was flying his Medal of Honor mission that he had never been officially checked out to pilot a B-17. It is true that George Kendrick discovered Old 666 in the 43rd Group's boneyard awaiting stripping for parts. The plane had a "cursed" reputation of always getting shot up and nobody wanted to fly it. Jay Zeamer did collect his own crew of renegades who he molded into one of the best crews in the Fifth Air Force. For volunteering for every rough recon mission, they acquired the name "the eager beavers." They rebuilt the B-17 and simply "appropriated" it for their own use. Zeamer arrived in the South Pacific in March 1942 with the 22nd Bomb Group that flew B-26 Marauders. The authors have verified the story that Zeamer was transferred out of the 22nd for sleeping during a bombing run! The authors also provide fascinating background on both Zeamer's and Sarnoski's childhood and early life before the war.
The book provides the strategic picture on the mission and why it was so important for the American offensive in the South Pacific. In this section there are a few errors that will irritate the Pacific War nerd. But, these mistakes are not really germane to the main narrative on the mission. I highly recommend this well written and researched work for anyone interested in World War II, aviation or a story of amazing heroism.
