Book Signing - The Pacific Pt. 2

Yesterday I wrote about my morning at The Mighty Texas Dog Walk in my post, Book Signing - The Pacific Pt. 1. I left all of you hanging with me "speeding" (a relative term in a Prius) to Fredericksburg to get to The Pacific book signing event with author Hugh Ambrose. I really didn't want to be late because military people are well...they are sticklers for time! I figured there would be a lot of military people or military families there so I really didn't want to upset anyone or have anyone pointing at me like I was being disrespectful.

My drive to Fredericksburg was thankfully, uneventful. The rain cleared up and the Central Texas Hill Country showed it's beauty. Despite my stress, I actually enjoyed the ride out there, and I was actually able to make it on time! I walked very briskly into the National Museum of the Pacific War (The Nimitz Museum) with my prepurchased copy of The Pacific and was directed to the room the event was being held. I was one of the last people to get there so I got one of the last seats in the back rows of the room. The event was held in the George W. Bush Gallery West Exhibit Hall, a temporary exhibit gallery (that was featuring Face to Face Exhibit--a series of busts of WWII veterans). I was lucky when I got there because Hugh Ambrose had not yet arrived--his plane was delayed (in what I'm assuming was San Antonio), so I actually got there just in time. I had the opportunity to speak to a few people who had read the book and had also read the other books that the HBO series, The Pacific, was based on. The book that got the most praise was Eugene B. Sledge's war memoir, With the Old Breed. One man in particular talked about how good Hugh Ambrose's book was and also had high praise for Sledge's book. It made me even more excited to be at the event. I hadn't had time to read the book before the event so I felt REALLY unprepared, but still really honored to be able to attend.

Mr. Hugh Ambrose arrived not long after I took my seat, and he began talking about his experience in researching his book. I am going to paraphrase some of the things he talked about (I don't have any direct quotes--just notes from the day):

• His love for history and war history came from his father, Stephen Ambrose, who would take him around to different historical sites and would tell him stories as a boy.
• His research career began as an graduate assistant for his father (he was his father's TA while he was in graduate school).
• Hugh Ambrose started research on The Pacific in 2000 which resulted not only in the publishing of the companion book but also a documentary titled Price for Peace.
• He felt that storytelling was more important than just exposition and noted that Bruce McKenna liked Robert Leckie's book, Helmet for My Pillow (one of the memoirs used to produce the HBO series of The Pacific) because it connected Robert Leckie and Eugene Sledge's story--in the television series and Hugh Ambrose's The Pacific, the two do meet and exchange words).
• When Ambrose read Eugene Sledge's letters from the war, he felt there was a story to be told in addition to Sledge's book, With the Old Breed. He also said that Sledge's book was arguably one of the best memoirs of WWII.
• Ambrose also featured Lt. Austin C. "Shifty" Shofner in the book who was imprisoned in a POW camp in the Phillipines during the war. He planned the only successful American team escape from a Japanese POW camp (see Times-Gazette article mentioning this). Shofner's story was not included in the television series.
• The other soldier featured in the book that was not in the television series was Ensign Vernon "Mike" Micheel who was a Navy pilot in the war. He flew in the Battle of Midway and numerous other missions during the war (see Jax Air News article). Because the Pacific War was largely fought on island in the Pacific Ocean, Ambrose felt a Navy story should be prominently featured in the book to give a more complete picture of the war. 
• He also said that knowing what the Japanese would have done in WWII had they won was essential to winning the war and referenced the Rape of Nanjing.
• He also said while he was researching Sgt. John Basilone (one of the five men featured in the book), he found that most of the stories about him were wrong. One in particular was a story about him losing his shoes and running around barefoot through battle on Guadalcanal were not true. 
• He also told some stories about being involved as a consultant on the production of the HBO series and talked about what pains the entire production crew took to recreate accurate sets of the battles.

Overall, I really enjoyed the book signing. There were probably over 100 people there. Since I was in the back of the hall, I was one of the last people in line and Mr. Ambrose allowed me to take a picture of him. He even showed interest in my blog which I thought was really nice! I felt really honored that he took a few moments to talk to me despite my being horribly unprepared to ask him questions.

I have to admit that I am currently reading The Pacific and I haven't quite finished yet. I did watch the series and am rewatching it to go along with the book. The book is fairly dense, but I like it because I like the details. I am also watching some of the extras that are available to watch on HBO.com and YouTube (The Pacific: Anatomy of a War features a short Hugh Ambrose interview clip). I hope to be done reading the book in the next week or two and have a review posted soon thereafter. What I have read and seen, I really appreciate. I think it really honors the men and women that serve in our military, and I am thankful for that. 

Thank you Mr. Ambrose, for my first autograph ever!

Book Signing - The Pacific Pt. 1

Before I get into my post about Hugh Ambrose's book signing for The Pacific, I most definitely want to tell you about how I spent the day before his appearance at the Nimitz Museum. It was one of the best days I've ever had in the 10+ years I've lived in Central Texas.

April 17, 2010 began with the Mighty Texas Dog Walk. The walk benefits Texas Service Dogs and is held every year in Central Austin. This year the goal was to beat the world record which was held by England whose event totaled 10,762 dogs. How could Austin possibly beat that number?!! I wondered myself when I registered for the event at a local Petsmart just a few days before it was going to be held. My bib number was 2003 and my friend Karen's was 4897. In addition to those low numbers, it was supposed to pour rain for most of the day so I was sure that turnout wouldn't be very high. I packed my dog Max into the car at 6:30 am and we drove the 30+ minutes to Downtown Austin to find a parking space. We were definitely one of the early birds, but there were vendors that were handing out lots of goodies for the dogs right before the starting line.

I met up with Karen and her dog Mhina and a little after 8:00 we raided the vendor tables for free dog treats, reusable shopping bags, coupons, and then started the three mile trek through downtown. Austin is very dog friendly, and it was so great to just see all the people walking with their dogs. We even saw a family walking with their eight Chihuahuas in a stroller! Eight! I couldn't believe it! As we crossed the starting line, the MC actually called out my dog and asked what he was. I proudly told him that Max was a whippet (I didn't tell him that he was a crazy whippet...which he TOTALLY IS), but I felt special for his being noticed. Max and Mhina were both really well behaved and they walked like champs. Karen and I got to visit throughout the walk which was pretty leisurely because people and dogs always want to socialize. There were volunteers in the road at water stations that gave the dogs and people water. Best of all, the weather was awesome! It was nice and overcast which kept it cool, but it didn't rain at all while we were walking. After we finished, we picked up more goodies from the tables and then walked to my car. I gave Karen and Mhina a ride to their car and right when she got into her car it started pouring rain! We really lucked out! Max was exhausted (he normally doesn't really get up until about 1:00 pm), and I drove him to my friend's apartment so she could watch him for the rest of the day while I drove to Fredericksburg for the book signing.

I didn't hear whether or not the walk broke the world record for most dogs walked, but I did read on the Texas Service Dogs May Newsletter which said that we did in fact beat the world record with a total of 11,256 dogs walked! My dog, Max is a world record holder! How exciting is that?!!

My dog Max

I didn't have a lot of time to visit with my friend or even eat lunch because I planned extremely poorly and realized that Fredericksburg was an hour and a half drive from her apartment. I panicked a little because I had been looking forward to the Hugh Ambrose signing for over a month. I had faithfully watched the first few episodes of The Pacific on HBO after having waited eight years for Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks to make it (they made Band of Brothers in 2001 which is one of my favorite films/series of all time). 

I didn't want to miss it or look like a total chump walking in late to a book signing (which most likely included many veterans or family members of veterans) so I hopped into my car and sped to Fredericksburg (ok police officers--I didn't really speed much because I drive a Prius) hoping that I would make it in time.


...Did I make it? Come back tomorrow to find out!


In the meantime, look at my pictures from the event and check out my friend Karen's entry about it at her blog, Arborescence.