This adventure novel takes you along on the voyage of a small amphibious ship of the U. S. Navy during World War II as it struggles from Little Creek, Virginia, to the Southwest Pacific theatre of the war. It chronicles the successes, failures, loves, and fears of the civilians turned naval officers as well as the other crew members of one little-known ship, Landing Ship Medium (LSM) 460.5. In addition, the book pays homage to the "Mustang" officers, who were the key to success in the LSM progam during the war.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
About the Author
Griffin Garnett, a practicing attorney, has been interested in journalism and writing his entire life. In college, he wrote for "The Richmond News Leader" as well as "The Washington Times Herald". For ten years he co-wrote and produced his Bar Association's annual Gridiron production. Already the author of two suspense novels, he is now completing a third.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
This preface to the second printing of the second edition of The Sandscrapers has been updated since the first printing of the edition.
The Sandscrapers is an adventure novel dealing primarily with a small segment of the amphibious forces of the U.S. Navy during World War II. The volume narrates the loves, intrigues, adventures, successes, failures, life and death of certain crew members aboard a small ship in the little-known and unheralded "Landing Ship Medium (LSM) Program." The story begins at the Charleston, South Carolina Navy Yard, moves on to the Little Creek Amphibious Base at Norfolk, Virginia, and from there through the southwest Pacific theatre of war. The novel ends in the metropolitan area of Washington, D.C. Though the identified ship, its nomenclature, and its crew are fictional, the class of ship was factual.
The storyline and its chronological happenings are based on fictional events as well as on events known or researched by the author, a civilian lawyer turned Naval officer, serving on an LSM during World War II.
The men who served as crews aboard this class of ship were civilian volunteers turned Navy and had little knowledge of the grand schemes for the war in the Pacific. After leaving the continental United States, their prime source of news and information came by way of the Armed Forces Radio and rumor.
The book also highlights, through one character, the "Mustang" Naval officers and their contribution to the success of this small segment of the U.S. Navy during World War II.
There were 554 of this unique class of ship commissioned during the war, 60 of which were converted to LSMRs (Rocket Ships). Most saw enemy action in the Pacific theatre of the war. Some saw duty in the Korea War and three LSMRs were on duty in the Viet Nam War. There remain several of this class of ship in the navies of those countries allied to the United States during World War II. For the period of the last fifteen years, not a one remained intact in the United States Navy. Since the printing of the first limited edition of this volume, the USS LSM-LSMR Association, spearheaded by its energetic president, Richard Schatz, executed a letter of intent with the Greek government to obtain the return to the United States of an equipped LSM transferred years ago to the Greek Navy. Schatz and the Association have been barreling at flank speed, for over three years, to find a permanent U.S. Home for the former USS LSM 45. After several false starts, they have succeeded. The ship was transferred from the Greek Navy to the Association. It has survived the perilous tow across the Atlantic Ocean and up the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers. On November 23, 1998, the former USS LSM 45 arrived at Omaha, Nebraska.
In the spring of 2000, it will be permanently located at the United States Naval Museum, Freedom Park, a national landmark in Omaha.
Many Association members have volunteered and are volunteering their time and talent to refurbishing and bringing the ship to specifications for public display.
After appropriate dedication, the ship will be on view at the museum as a national memorial to the men who served in the amphibious forces of the United States Navy, the LSM program in particular, during World War II, the Korean Conflict and the Vietnam War.
Many thanks to Dick Schatz and the hard working members of the USS LSM-LSMR Association who brought this dream to fruition.
Griffin T. Garnett October, 1999
To you who constitute the major force of Internet viewers and subscribers, the author of The Sandscrapers has written a riveting, fast-paced World War II action novel of intriguing characters; their humor, compassion, courage, faults, sacrifices and constant commitment, sometimes subconsciously, to an ideal - that you and each of you have the opportunity to live a more promising future than they then faced.
Many of the characters are typical of your parents, your grandparents, your older relatives, or your friends, the elderly couple next door, still a force for good in this nation.
All of them are members of what one modern author identifies as "The Greatest Generation."
Read The Sandscrapers - a novel you will remember - forever!
To those of you of "The Greatest Generation" who will read this novel, it will cause a surge of memories to surface, many hidden or dormant for so long.
G.T.G.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great W W II book! - "Taboo Avenged" is a great sequel, too.,
By Marcy (Norfolk, Virginia) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Sandscrapers (Paperback)
'The Sandscrapers' - A Forgotten Navy'The Sandscrapers' is a novel about a World War II naval officer and the ship he commands from Norfolk, Virginia through the Panama Canal, and all through the south pacific. The storylines (and all the events) are so realistic, the book must be based on actual events. I have not read a novel that tells about this sector of the navy. Maybe that is why the title is 'A Forgotten Navy'. The book is so intriguing that not only a World War II history buff would enjoy the book, but anyone interested in a good story. I highly recommend 'The Sandscrapers'.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
a remarkable read!,
By
This review is from: The Sandscrapers (Paperback)
The life & times of the men & wives of a forgotten amphibious force of landing vessels serving in the Pacific during WWII.Within the covers of this unassuming, modest saga, you will meet brave & true ordinary men as they serve their country in extra-ordinary times. You will read of their recruitment & maneuvers, their frustrations & heroism, their terrors & poetry. You will see patriotism in action, gruff & ready, tender & determined. THE SANDSCRAPERS is a unique addition to any military library!
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A naval adventure novel set on the high seas,
By Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Sandscrapers (Paperback)
Nominated for the Third Annual Library of Virginia Fiction Award, Griffin Garnett's The Sandscrapers is a naval adventure novel set on the high seas, aboard the "Landing Ship Medium Program." Set in the southwest Pacific during the deadly days of World War II, The Sandscrapers is a story of heroism, struggle, sacrifice, and endurance, exciting, involving, and highly recommended reading from first page to last.
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