Recent works by alumni and faculty

Recalling MacArthur’s dramatic escape

One of the most dramatic episodes in the history of World War II occurred on the night of March 11-12, 1942. The four remaining PT boats in the Philippines moved through minefields and past a Japanese blockade to take Gen. Douglas MacArthur, his family, and staff from Corregidor to Cagayan, where he then flew by airplane to Australia to develop plans for the Pacific war effort. MacArthur was to escape via a submarine on the first part of the journey, but the famously theatrical general decided to go by PT boat.

    George W. Smith ’63 (CLAS) recounts the details of this drama in MacArthur’s Escape (Zenith Press), his third World War II book. Smith, a Vietnam veteran and former sportswriter at the Hartford Courant, tells the dramatic story of the dangerous events surrounding the fall of the Philippine Islands through the experiences of U.S. Navy Lt. John “Wild Man” Bulkeley, commander of a small fleet of PT boats that made up Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 3 in early 1942. Bulkeley was the model for the character played by Robert Montgomery in the film about PT boats, They Were Expendable.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s pledge to British Prime Minister Winston Churchill to focus the U.S. war effort on Europe resulted in short supplies, equipment and troops to battle the Japanese advance in the Pacific theater.

 “The Pacific section was told to hang on until they could get some help,” says Smith, who majored in history while at UConn. “Roosevelt said the reason they couldn’t re-supply there was the Japanese blockade. MacArthur said he would show them. It nearly cost his life and that of his wife and small son.”

With only two surviving members of the PT boat squad available for interviews, Smith worked with private papers and other documents, particularly those left by Bulkeley, who retired from the Navy as a vice admiral.

“Very few people had bothered to look into them,” Smith says of what he found in the documents and his effort to uncover all the details of the story. “In writing a book, you want to be careful about the legacy of the people you are writing about. I work very hard on that.”

Smith’s previous books include The Siege at Hue, about one of the biggest battles of the Vietnam War.
— Kenneth Best

True to Life: Why Truth Matters
Michael P. Lynch (The MIT Press)

For centuries philosophers have theorized about the concept of truth. Michael P. Lynch, UConn professor of philosophy, delves into the heart of the current debate: the definition of truth and its pragmatic value in our society. Using philosophy and historical and current events, True To Life asserts truth is vital in politics and personal life. The possession, or lack, of truth can be powerful and dangerous.

Lynch’s philosophy states that truth is objective, that it is good to believe what is true, and worthy of inquiry and being valued for its own sake.

Tangible Strategies for Intangible Assets
John Berry ’83 (CLAS), (McGraw-Hill)

In today’s corporate world, tangible assets such as property and products account for only 50 percent of a business’s value. To understand its worth, the value of the business’s intangible assets—brands, customers, employees, technology and intellectual property—must be taken into consideration.

John Berry offers tools for businesses to identify and organize their intangible assets. He explains how to measure these assets and methods for obtaining a higher financial potential in a changing era of business. Tangible Strategies for Intangible Assets uses examples such as Microsoft to portray how some of the market’s leaders are optimizing their own intangible assets.

The Thief and the Beanstalk
P.W. Catanese ’83 (CLAS), (Aladdin Paperbacks)

The first novel by P.W. Catanese, known during his undergraduate days as the author of “Bedlam Hall,” the Daily Campus’s first daily cartoon strip, puts a spin on the children’s classic, “Jack and the Beanstalk,” with a continuation of the story. The Thief and the Beanstalk continues the tale with Nick, a young orphan who climbs the beanstalk in hopes of adventure and treasure. During his escapade, Nick finds himself in many precarious situations including being chased by a gang of thieves and hiding from hungry ogres. The adventure concludes in Jack’s fortress where Nick shares his story.

— Erin Wenzler ’06 (CLAS)