Three Minutes Off Okinawa By Roy S. Andersen (339 pages, photos, drawings, maps) Reviewer:  Bernie Ditter Overall Rating: Four Stars: Highly recommended. An excellent book. I realize that there must be a limit to the number of books that are described as a must read, but this book certainly falls into the category. The author has not just cobbled together a summary of the memories of shipmates, but presents the reader with such a complete account of events leading to the destruction of one ship that it is difficult to separate them. This book is a primer on destroyers, their crews, the war in the Pacific and the perspective from the Japanese counterparts, a mini history of the Japanese culture to help explain the Kamikazes, the use of the atomic bomb, the introduction of the GI Bill and Harry Truman's end of segregation in the military and civil service. There are texts of  citations for medals and awards to crew members and chapter notes and a bibliography that will provide resource material to add to your reading list. And, if that is not enough there is a glossary of terms that will have anyone talking like a sailor in minutes. However, what is not lost in this presentation is the shocking disappearance below the ocean's surface in less than three minutes of a US warship, the wounding of thirty-three and the killing of seventy-nine. The true heroes in this book as with any book about war are those men who were on board and sustained the daily attacks and ultimate destruction of the USS Mannert S. Abele. Three Minutes Off Okinawa By:  Roy S. Andersen (340 pages, photos, drawings, maps) Reviewed by: James Healy Three Stars: Recommended. A solid effort It was a later time and another war. Sailors just out of boot camp were contemplating their assignments. "I got a destroyer" gleefully shouts one very young sailor. Another turns and says, "You know they can sink in two minutes!" Not certain the green sailor was making a specific reference, but if he were, he many have had the USS MANNERT L. ABELE (DD-733) in mind. This Sumner-class destroyer has the dubious distinction of being the only US Navy ship sunk by a Baka (Okha) - a rocket propelled manned bomb. By itself the Baka might not have succeeded, but only a minute before the ABELE had been hit by a Zeke Kamikaze plane. Two minutes after the Baka hit, the ship was gone. At the time, author Roy S. Andersen Ph.D. was a Lt. (jg) and a member of the special fighter direction team assigned to the ship for horrific radar picket duty around Okinawa. Dr. Andersen has recreated the action in great detail including diagrams of both hits. But beyond describing the terrible day of combat, the author has produced a book with broader appeal to readers by adding details on the weapons and life on a destroyer. He also presents the enemy's thinking behind their decision to defend Okinawa using suicide bombers (not unlike Clint Eastwood's Letters From Iwo Jima detailing the defenders perspective). The author is an Emeritus Professor of Physics and the book's organizational style with extensive footnotes to each chapter betrays his academic credentials. A few minor technical errors in no way detract from this book. Sailors at Okinawa surely gave their all with nearly 5,000 killed in three and a half months of fighting - more than either the army or marines. Was it worth it? Read the book.         Availability: THE JANA PRESS 13 Algonquin Road Worcester MA 01609 508-757-4980 janapress@verizon.net $30.00, including shipping and handling (and sales tax, if applicable).