Marvel at this Navy Superhero: Don Winslow

Review by Bill Doughty

Thank goodness for Naval Institute Press and Dead Reckoning! They have revived the nearly forgotten comic book hero from the 30s, 40s and 50s in "The Best of Don Winslow of the Navy, A Collection of High-Seas Stories from Comics' Most Daring Sailor," edited by Craig Yoe (Dead Reckoning, 2018).

Super clean, incorruptible, invincible, multi-talented and always-serious avenger Don Winslow goes on adventures against Nazis, crime lords, pirates, The Scorpion (and his sidekick "Rubberface"), Long Hair (with his elaborate combover pompadour and mullet), and the notorious Singapore Sal:

"The wily wench known as Singapore Sal is as slippery as an electric eel and twice as shocking! Don't miss her next encounter with Don Winslow!"

My favorite evil criminal, though, is The Snake, who appears to be nine feet tall but weigh 90 pounds, built like Lowly Worm and capable of bending like a pipe cleaner.

Don Winslow, usually with his Robin-like sidekick, Red Pennington, and most often in a button-down service dress uniform tackles a sea monster, climbs Mt. Everest, fights corruption, clears mines, defeats kidnappers, locks up spies, and takes on a tribe of giant super-model-like cannibalistic Amazon women:

"They say that woman is the weaker sex, but when Don Winslow and Red Pennington wind up on Amazon Island, they find it's quite a different story ... and this is it!"

Of course, how Winslow defeats the cannibals, who are about to make a meal out of Red Pennington, is cringeworthy in its chauvinism yet revealing of the time. I won't ruin it for you but it has to do with vanity being able to bring down anyone in power.

Winslow with fists seemingly made of iron (and asbestos) can fight his way out of fires, armed enemy fighters, and even against a polar bear:

"The ominous perils of the spine-chilling Arctic outstretch icy talons to trap Don Winslow in an epic struggle against the elements in the Arctic Expedition!"

Don Winslow was the creation of Lt. Cmdr. Frank Victor Martinek, USNR, a former FBI agent and executive at Standard Oil and a national director and chairman of publicity for the Navy League of the United States, an organization set up by President Theodore Roosevelt.



One hundred years ago, 1918, Martinek, who had been stationed in Washington D.C. decoding encrypted messages, was promoted to command the intelligence division of the U.S. Asiatic Fleet in Siberia, helping Russia, then an ally of the United States.

After reading a Popeye comic strip in a newspaper, Martinek wanted to create a serious and action-oriented character involved in intelligence work to help with Navy's recruitment efforts. His character Don Winslow would eventually serve in both the Navy and Coast Guard, and apparently in all type commands; flying aircraft, operating submarines and driving boats and ships. Winslow appeared in comics, compilation books and in movie serials. Will he once more attract the attention of Hollywood?

At the beginning of this carefully curated compilation Yoe offers a fascinating history of the Fawcett-, Detective- (DC), and Marvel-inspired/influenced Don Winslow of the Navy.

"From time to time the Lt. Commander [Martinek] would also claim that he consciously created Don Winslow to warn of the growing threat of war, to, in his words, 'arouse America to the danger that threatened us from the Aleutians to the China sea.' In 1919, Martinek had begun writing a series of articles for the Chicago Daily News warning of Japan's desire for world domination, but his musings were ignored or written off. On another occasion, he added, 'Unless selfishness, greed, and intolerance – living by the code of I, me, and mine – are destroyed and replaced by mutual understanding, faith, and fraternal helpfulness, there will continue to be wars and America must be prepared for any eventuality.' He claimed he saw the comic strip as a better way to get his message across. 'Besides its entertainment value, the illustrated story, or so-called comic strip, can serve as a medium for distributing messages of vital importance to all of us,' Martinek said."

Martinek and a team of artists and collaborators created a hero with core values who until now was lost in the dim light of the last century.

But, as Yoe says, "Here we are at long last, ready to rectify the mistake that left Don Winslow a forgotten hero! Valor, righteousness, the intelligence, the unwavering patriotism, and selflessness of the ideal Navy man." 

According to Gary Thompson, Dead Reckoning's Assistant Acquisitions Editor and Graphic Novel Lead, "This is one of the first books to come out from Dead Reckoning, the new graphic novel imprint from the Naval Institute Press. We publish fiction and nonfiction with a  special focus on military history, history, and stories of the high seas. For years we have worked to develop this imprint to bring a unique voice to the graphic novel market, and to give creators a home for stories they have long thought were unwanted. With this book and the others coming out in our debut catalog, I believe we are taking the right steps to achieve that goal."

McRaven's Relative Superiority / Six Principles

Review by Bill Doughty

Adm. (ret.) William H. McRaven believes in six special warfare principles of success. His theory of special operations, based on the six principles, can achieve "relative superiority" in combat.

Forty years ago – 1978 – McRaven became a Navy SEAL. He achieved a pinnacle as a special operations warrior as commander of the United States Special Operations Command in August 8, 2011. That year he oversaw Operation Neptune's Spear that captured and killed Osamu bin Laden. 

Fifteen years before that operation McRaven wrote "Spec Ops: Case Studies in Special Operations Warfare, Theory and Practice" (Presidio Press, 1995).

The book uses six World War II case studies and two events in the 70s, written with clarity, detail and suspense, Tom Clancy-like, to illustrate how and why the theory of special ops works. Small teams, following the six principles, can prevail despite fortifications, in the face of greater numbers, and despite the inevitable hardships and challenges facing attackers.

"The theory states that special operations forces are able to achieve relative superiority over the enemy if they prepare a special plan, which is carefully concealed, repeatedly and realistically rehearsed, and executed with surprise, speed and purpose. Once relative superiority is achieved, the attacking force is no longer at a disadvantage and has the initiative to exploit the enemy's defenses and secure victory. Although gaining relative superiority does not guarantee success, no special operation can succeed without it. Consequently, by demonstrating how special operations forces achieve relative superiority, the theory can help explain the success or failure of a mission."

McRaven channels thinkers and theorists like Herman Kahn, B.H. Liddell Hart and especially Carl von Clausewitz. Frictions, as described by Clausewitz, can be minimized if a team applies McRaven's six principles: simplicity, security, repetition, surprise, speed and purpose.

• Simplicity: Less is more. Limit objectives. Incorporate intelligence and be agile and open to innovation.
• Security: Conceal timing and details/methods of the operation.
• Repetition: "Routine hones those tactical skills to a degree that allows quick reaction to a threat..."
• Surprise: Deception causes confusion. Timing needs to be carefully planned to take maximum advantage of the enemy's vulnerabilities. 
• Speed: Relative superiority is achieved in the first few minutes of an operation. Time is measured in seconds and minutes.
• Purpose: "Purpose is understanding and then executing the prime objective of the mission regardless of emerging obstacles or opportunities." Two aspects of purpose: It's clearly defined (focused) and there's personal commitment by all participants.

A German DFS 230 glider, used in special operations in World War II.

"The case studies span time and nationality and are not subject to trends in military thought or practice," writes McRaven. The principles are organized in three phases: planning, preparation and execution.

In the execution phase he takes us inside British X-craft midget submarines, aboard German WWII giant glider planes and into dictator Idi Amin's Uganda.

The Raid on Entebbe and the attack on Germany's battleship Tirpitz, are edge-of-the-seat highlights in this book that demonstrates the need for reasoning and critical thinking.

We read about Adm. John S. McCain II being notified of a raid on Son Tay POW camp on Nov. 21, 1970, during the Vietnam War. One hundred and sixteen aircraft participated in the attempt to rescue POWs thought to be at the camp just west of Hanoi. U.S. Navy ships of Carrier Task Force 77 provided a textbook diversionary raid:

"It is estimated that twenty SAMs (Surface to Air Missiles) were fired at the force, but no casualties were sustained. It was later reported that 'the density of the Navy operations in the Gulf of Tonkin [during the Son Tay raid] was the most extensive Navy night operation of the SEA [Southeast Asia] conflict.'"

Yoni Netanyahu, hero of Entebbe rescue.

Israel's bold extraction of more than 100 hostages, led by brave Lt. Col. Jonathan Netanyahu, is considered the "best example yet of how the principles of special operations are used to achieve relative superiority," McRaven concludes. The account is dramatic:

"One of the Israelis, Amir, was the first man into the terminal. He penetrated through the second door of the main hall. inside was a large, well-lit room where all the hostages were lying on the floor. A terrorist, who had been lying on the other side of the door, fired a burst from his Kalashnikov but miraculously missed Amir. Amir returned fire. His rounds sliced through the door and killed the terrorist instantly. As trained, Amir turned right and cleared his side of the room. Behind Amir came another commando, who turned left and picked up coverage on the other side of the room. As the second commando entered, he saw two terrorists lying on the floor to his left, their rifles trained on Amir. Immediately he fired and both terrorists were killed."

A British captain aboard an austere X-craft mini submarine.

Loaded with maps, diagrams, photos (including collected by the author), and crisp prose, this book is a highly recommended textbook on strategy for military leaders. 

Early in "Spec Ops" he makes a key point about sustaining relative superiority. "The ability to sustain relative superiority frequently requires the intervention of courage, intellect, boldness and perseverance, or what Clausewitz calls the moral factors."

McRaven shows how the lessons of history apply to strategy and tactics to educate future generations.

After his distinguished career, Adm. McRaven served from 2015 to 2018 as the chancellor of The University of Texas System. He is the author of "Make Your Bed," featured last year on Navy Reads.

'F-Word' Questions

Review by Bill Doughty

Our answers to ten questions can provide "reassurance or a warning we dare not ignore," says Madeleine Albright, author of "Fascism: A Warning" (Harper Collins, 2018).

Albright tracks the ebb and flow of fascism, "the F-word" she says, through history – taking root in modern times in the fertile period of discontent and upheaval between the two World Wars in the 1920s and 30s. 

Italian Mussolini arose in the Fasces movement, born nearly 100 years ago and modeled after concepts from the Roman Empire. Their symbol was a "fasces," a tight bundle of sticks with an eagle-headed scepter tied with an axe, an implement carried by Roman consuls. Germany's Hitler and Mussolini, at first, marched in lockstep.

Albright, an immigrant from Czechoslovakia who became U.S. Secretary of State, shows that fascism can come from either the right or the left. She identifies North Korea as an completely outright-fascist nation.

Another F-word: Fear

Fear is fascism's oxygen. "Fear is why fascism's emotional reach can extend to all levels of society," Albright says.

The America First movement in the late 1930s, founded in fear, culminated with the formation of the America First Committee in 1940. AFC "brought together pacifists, isolationists and Nazi sympathizers to fight against the country's prospective entry into World War II," she writes. "Four days after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor Hitler declared war on the United States the AFC soon disbanded."

Chaplin as Hitler; Oakie as Mussolini in "The Dictator."

Albright gives poignant history of modern fascism, largely but not exclusively from a European perspective. We "meet" Mussolini and Hitler, and we come face to face with Venezuela's Chavez, North Korea's Kim Jong-il (who Albright met 20 years ago), Hungary's Orbán, Turkey's Erdogan, Duterte of the Philippines, and Russia's Putin, a man she describes as "small and pale, so cold as to be almost reptilian."

One way to fight fear and fascism is with fun, making fun of falsehoods by a cult of personality. That's what Charlie Chaplain did in the 1930s, helping Americans understand the flaws in Hitler's and Mussolini's vision and resulting idolatry of their followers.

Fight for Freedom

She also introduces us to heroes of freedom and true representational government who were willing to fight racism and fascism.

Nobel Peace Prize winner Mandela

Consider South Africa's Nelson Mandela.

"(In 1962) Nelson Mandela began serving twenty-seven years, the prime of his life, in prison. His crime was to oppose the racist oppressors who had secured a monopoly on power and privilege in his country. The courageous dissident had a profound cause for grievance, a legitimate reason for bitterness, and thousands of days behind bars to cultivate hate. Instead he chose to spend time learning about the people who had put him in jail – the Afrikaners. He studied their language, history, resentments and fears. When the long-awaited day came and he was finally released, Mandela not only understood those who had thrown him into prison; he was able to communicate with them, find common ground with them, and – most astonishingly – lead them. As president, Mandela pushed back against the many in his party to wanted immediate justice for the multitude of wrongs done to members of the anti-apartheid movement. He appointed a Truth and Reconciliation Commission that received testimony from all sides. Unlike so many, he found the trappings of high office eminently resistible and refused to stand for a second term."

We also meet a founder of an independent Czechoslovakia, Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, a believer in constitutional democracy 100 years ago. Albright writes:

"In 1918, Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk was sworn in as president of an independent Czechoslovakia. With his erect bearing, old-world manners, modern outlook, and fearless commitment to democratic principles – including feminism and pluralism – Masaryk commanded a global reputation, despite the modest dimensions of the nation he led. Due to his age, his health declined even as the threat from the Third Reich grew – in the 1930s, no fully democratic nation was more endangered. His response, when asked to explain what was at stake: 'Democracy is not a form of state, it is not just something that is embodied in a constitution; democracy is a view of life, it requires a belief in human beings, in humanity ... I have already said that democracy is a discussion. But the real discussion is possible only if people trust each other and if they try fairly to find the truth.'" For all its shortcomings, there is no other form of government to which such words apply. It is up to us to remedy democracy's faults when and wherever we can, but never to forget the underlying strengths. Up to us, as well, to realize that democracy has enemies who do not advertise that fact."

Above all, Albright warns against complacency and taking our democracy for granted.

She notes the watershed event for Americans in the previous century as the attack on Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941 forcing the United States into a two-front war. That war ultimately defeated fascism in Imperial Japan and in Germany and Italy. In 2018 all three of these former enemies of liberty are free, prosperous and democratic societies.

Albright provides decades of examples of the rise of despotism that seem to chip away at democratic nations – away from, in her words, "the wisdom of Lincoln or Mandela's largeness of soul." "Lincoln and Mandela fought with monsters; neither became one."

Ten F-word Warnings + Five More

Her ten "right questions" to us are directed to current and potential leaders to identify and fend off fascism as it develops:

• Do they cater to our prejudices by suggesting that we treat people outside our ethnicity, race, creed, or party as unworthy of dignity or respect?
• Do they want us to nurture our anger toward those who we believe have done us wrong, rub raw our grievances, and set our sights on revenge?
• Do they encourage us to have contempt for our governing institutions and the electoral process?
• Do they seek to destroy our faith in essential contributors to democracy such as an independent press and a professional judiciary?
• Do they exploit the symbols of patriotism – the flag, the pledge – in a conscious effort to turn us against one another?
• If defeated at the polls, will they accept the verdict or insist without evidence that they have won?
• Do they go beyond asking for our votes to brag about their ability to solve all problems, put to rest all anxieties, and satisfy every desire?
• Do they solicit our cheers by speaking casually and with pumped up machismo about using violence to blow enemies away?
• Do they echo the attitude of Mussolini: 'The crowd doesn't have to know,' all it has to do is believe and 'submit to being shaped'?
• Or do they invite us to join with them in building and maintaining a healthy center for our societies, a place where rights and duties are apportioned fairly, the social contract is honored, and all have room to dream and grow?

She praises George W. Bush for his even-keeled rejection of fear and hate in the wake of 9/11. We are reminded of the late Sen. John McCain's honorable stance against racist hatred when he politely but firmly corrected a supporter who attempted to slander his opponent, Barack Obama. McCain's concession speech is a much-cited example of grace, humility, honor, courage and commitment to the Constitution.

Albright and McCain discuss the legacy of Czechoslovakia's late President Václev Havel at the Library of Congress in 2014.

Albright said this about McCain in a tribute published by BBC: "I will remember him as one of the most valiant, patriotic and dedicated public servants I've ever met, somebody who understood the honor of serving his country and who served his country with honor." Albright and McCain traveled to her country of birth, Czechoslovakia, in 1990 to monitor fair elections.

Former U.S. Navy POW John McCain; Sen. McCain's strategist Steve Schmidt

McCain's former Republican campaign strategist was Steve Schmidt.

Schmidt sees a simple formula that explains the rise of fascism wherever it occurs, threatening and sometimes ending democracies. 

Would-be strongmen, he says: (1) incite "fervor in a base through constant lying" + (2) scapegoat "minority populations" + (3) allege "conspiracies" + (4) spread "a sense of victimizations among those fervent supporters" + (5) assert "the need to exert heretofore unprecedented power" to protect the victim class from the scapegoated minority.

"Through all of history," Schmidt says, when totalitarianism rises and democracies fall, "you will find those five behaviors." Schmidt warns of leaders who use fear, falsehoods and fake pronouncements that they are above the law. He also warns of attacks on a free press and the rule of law.

Attacks on truth, justice, accountability and the free press are steps on the road to an acceptance of fascism.

How can we fend off fundamental attacks on freedom? By recognizing attempts to influence us with Orwellian attempts at creating hyper-nationalism through fear and feelings over critical thinking and reason.

A Final Word

Scholar and modern philosopher Yuval Noah Harari, author of "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind," "Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow" and "21 Lessons for the 21st Century," gives compelling advice for the Information Age in this TED talk: "Why fascism is so tempting -- and how your data could power it."

From TED Talks: 

"In a profound talk about technology and power, author and historian Yuval Noah Harari explains the important difference between fascism and nationalism – and what the consolidation of our data means for the future of democracy. Appearing as a hologram live from Tel Aviv, Harari warns that the greatest danger that now faces liberal democracy is that the revolution in information technology will make dictatorships more efficient and capable of control. 'The enemies of liberal democracy hack our feelings of fear and hate and vanity, and then use these feelings to polarize and destroy,' Harari says. 'It is the responsibility of all of us to get to know our weaknesses and make sure they don't become weapons.'"