Tom Burke: Don’t know much about history? Better start reading

By Tom Burke / Herald Columnist

My mother used to say I’d read the back of a cereal box if nothing else was handy, and without the now-mandatory nutritional information there was plenty to read about Tony the Tiger or Snap, Crackle and Pop.

And it was true. I read a lot.

I remember discovering the “Landmark” books in elementary school, a series of more than 200 tomes focusing on American history. I read most of ‘em as they provided a pretty good grounding in history with authors including C.S. Forester, John Toland, Alistair MacLean, Don Whitehead, Pearl S. Buck, Robert Leckie, Howard K. Smith, Ted Lawson and William L. Shirer.

I can also remember the elementary school librarian opening the “teachers shelves” for me and how I ran home to tell my Mom about it. (My first book there, on the librarian’s recommendation, was “Aku-Aku,” adventurer Thor Heyerdahl’s exploration and explanation of Easter Island’s “mysterious” carved-stone monoliths, the moai.

In high school it was mostly curriculum stuff ala Shakespeare and Samuelson (economics). And it was the same at the Merchant Marine Academy with books on celestial navigation and cargo handling, Nathanial Bowditch’s “The American Practical Navigator,” and the “Convention on the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea.”

In my “middle years” I focused on the American War for Independence (we were RevWar reenactors for many years), boat handling and cruising (we owned sailboats), home repair (ugh!), and English mysteries (Dorothy Sayers and Lord Peter Whimsey, are still my favorite).

These days I find myself reading current events and political commentary while finding myself drawn to some of the less-well-known theaters of World War II, such as the British in Burma and the Allies in Italy).

But what’s really, really caught my attention is a not-very-mainstream-monthly by the U.S. Naval Institute: Proceedings Magazine, The Independent Forum for the Sea Service Since 1873.

This isn’t naval history, although they do publish a true naval history magazine as well as a broad spectrum of military-related books; rather this publication looks forward, identifying what actual sailors and marines think are the defense challenges this nation faces. It’s masthead reads:

“The U.S. Naval Institute is a private, self-supporting, not-for-profit professional society that publishes Proceedings as part of the open forum it maintains for the Sea Services.” (U.S. Navy, the U.S. Marine Corps, the Merchant Navy, and U.S. Coast Guard).

Now, why has this caught my attention?

Three reasons:

• Its broad scope defines what’s important to the Sea Services as they strive to fulfill their mission of defending America, with topics ranging from “Lessons from the Norwegian Coast Guard,” to “Red Sea Attacks Dominated the Indian Ocean Region in 2023;” to “Naval Integration in the Western Pacific.” (Stuff never, ever, never found anywhere else.)

• It specifically provides those out at the sharp end of the spear the opportunity to cogently discuss and practically advocate, without going through official channels or hewing to a party line, all the big picture strategies as-well-as the operational nuances of defending us against our enemies.

• It’s incredibly thoughtful and precise and I am awed and surprised by the number of advanced degrees and high levels of more-than-professional education the contributors to this magazine have. These are real-deal sailors, marines, and Coasties and their credentials are not just from the Naval War College, but masters from Tufts, doctorates from Yale, and advanced degrees from Johns Hopkins, Texas A&M, Georgetown, University of Iowa, Harvard, etc.

My two takeaways from reading “Proceedings:”

• Delivering the right might, at the right time, and in the right place – and winning — is incredibly complex. Beyond complex, actually; it’s the nuts and bolts of how the military works and articles span the spectrum from how the current military compensation system needs change to 2,030 macro-logistics in the Western Pacific. (And when one begins to understand that complexity, it’s really scary to consider the likes of decsion-makers like Marjorie Taylor Green and Tommy Tuberville and feel safe.)

• The most alarming and constant thread running through every issue of “Proceedings” is the threat posed by Communist China, its navy, air force, and 4-million-member army. If you want to know what keeps sailors awake at night, it’s figuring out how to meet China’s military challenge.

(And somehow, I am reminded of how visionary military minds of the 1930s warned about the threat of imperial Japan, how their warnings were largely dismissed, and how America was caught short on Dec. 7, 1941 and for the next two years fought uphill in the Pacific as well as in Europe.

So then, gentle reader, I ask, “What are you reading?”

Something, I hope. (At least the back of cereal boxes?)

Watching “Dancing with the Stars” or “Real Housewives of Mar-a-Largo” ain’t gonna do ya much good come November and election day.

And while dragon riding via Rebecca Yarros’s “Fourth Wing” or “Funny Story” by Emily Henry might be entertaining, I prefer nonfiction: perhaps “The Backyard Bird Chronicles,” by Amy Tan or “Prequel: An American Fight Against Fascism,” by Rachel Maddow.

Unfortunately, even today, 21 percent of adults in the U.S. are illiterate; and 54 percent of adults have a literacy below sixth-grade level. Which is not a great stat for an educated electorate.

So I ask everyone, please, read. Turn off the TV for an hour a day and pick up a paper, or a book, or a magazine (such as Proceedings) and you’ll make a better decision come Nov. 5.

Or, maybe, discover why Frosted Flakes are “Grrrrrrrreat!”

Slava Ukraini.

Tom Burke’s email address is t.burke.column@gmail.com.