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(More customer reviews)Navy Mustang: From Seaman to Officer, A Quarter Century in the United States Navy
By Edgar E. DeLong
Review by Lt. David Boisselle, U.S. Navy
"It's not just a job, it's an adventure!" This Navy recruiting tagline aptly describes Ed DeLong's memoir, "Navy Mustang: From Seaman to Officer, A Quarter Century in the United States Navy." DeLong, a retired lieutenant commander and combat veteran of the Iwo Jima and Okinawa landings in World War II, sweeps us into the arc of his life, from running off to join the circus at age 13, to enlisting in the Navy at age 15 (abetted by his parents who helped fudge his age), through his rise "up from the ranks" (thus earning a commission as a "mustang" officer), and numerous adventures in exotic ports of call.
Ed DeLong's unabashed enthusiasm and love for the Navy and its traditions are the reasons I loved this book. His voice harkens back to a day when sailors worked hard and played hard, officers and their spouses made social calls on their commanding officers, and happy hour at the officers club on Friday afternoon was the place to be.
"Navy Mustang" will appeal to readers of military history and those who simply love a good "sea story." DeLong tells many tall tales from his travels around the world. One from North Africa involves DeLong's witnessing the apparent execution of an insubordinate French Foreign Legion soldier by his sergeant. He devotes a fun chapter to his bicycle trip with a shipmate from their naval base in occupied Germany to Zurich, Switzerland in 1950. "I'd like to see how the German people really are," said DeLong to his trip buddy Don Harris. Other stories illuminate the trials and tribulations of military family life: the long separations from loved ones, cross-country household moves, and the people DeLong and his wife Ruth met from Norfolk to San Francisco and the places in between.
The book is somewhat marred by poor editing, mostly punctuation as opposed to the author's grammar. Like any good sea story, however, the narrative may not be perfect, but it never fails to compel you to listen. If you'd like a rollicking, humorous, and even poignant sample of one sailor's adventure "up from the ranks," this book is for you.
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