La femme de ménage voit tout

Freida McFadden

Description

Tells the service history of the "Lucky Chuck," which earned six battle stars during WWII

"Offers a cascade of authentic information and 'flavor' on going to sea that I recognize as quite authentic from my own experiences, and gives rare insights into wartime naval service of a ship type not usually covered in the spate of 'war as I knew it' memoir. The shipboard routine reveals itself in gritty and authentic prose."--Kenneth W. Estes, author of Marine Officer's Guide

"Fills a marked gap in our knowledge of the period; namely an up close and personal view of the brave men and gallant ships handling the various D-Days."--William O. Oldson, director, Institute on World War II and the Human Experience, Florida State University

In November 1942, the amphibious transport ship USS Charles Carroll carried troops from Norfolk to invade North Africa. In 1945 it was transferred to the Pacific for the invasion of Okinawa. In between, the "Lucky Chuck," as the ship was fondly known, participated in the invasions of Sicily, Salerno, Normandy, and southern France.

Kenneth Goldman's father, Lt. Robert W. Goldman, USNR, was aboard ship for five of her six battle operations. As a junior officer (he eventually became the ship's navigator), he held a high security clearance and saved a large portion of the documents to which he was privy. These invasion maps, photographs, ship's plans of the day, convoy position orders, enemy force assessments, and more form the backbone of Attack Transport.

Yet Goldman graciously keeps his father out of center stage in telling the "life" of a ship that participated in almost all of the major U.S. amphibious assaults in the European Theater. Using weathered diaries and letters from other crew members, along with their memories of service, he captures the humor, boredom, combat fears, and capers on liberty that give this view from the lower deck a charm that operational histories do not have.

Kenneth H. Goldman is a screenwriter, sculptor, and model maker who lives in southern California.

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