The Quiet Hero: My Father’s WWII Story Still Matters Today
When I first sat down to preserve my father’s memoir, I Was Just a Radioman, I didn’t imagine it would resonate beyond our family. He wasn’t a general or a decorated war hero. He didn’t storm beaches or command fleets. He was a Navy radioman—quiet, observant, and deeply humble. And yet, his story has become one of the most powerful reminders I’ve encountered of what it means to serve.
In a world that often celebrates the loudest voices, my father’s was soft but steady. He didn’t seek recognition. He simply did his job—transmitting messages, maintaining equipment, and listening through the static.
Through his recollections, I discovered something profound: history isn’t just shaped by those in command. It’s built on the backs of ordinary people doing extraordinary things in silence.
His memoir isn’t just a timeline of events. It’s a window into the emotional texture of wartime life: the camaraderie, the fear, the boredom, and the quiet moments of reflection between missions. It’s about the humanity behind the uniform. And in today’s fast-paced, social media, soundbite-driven culture, I believe we need stories like his more than ever.
When we remember the quiet heroes, we remember the full truth of history. We honor the nuance, the sacrifice, and the resilience of those who didn’t ask to be remembered—but deserve to be.
If you’ve ever loved someone who served, or wondered what war looks like from the margins—not the headlines—I invite you to read I Was Just a Radioman. It’s not just my father’s story. It’s a tribute to every unsung voice that helped shape our world, who fought against the wrongs happening in the world and gave us the freedom we have today.
👉
I made a promise to my father, that I'd do what I could and find a way through my writings to make sure the world wouldn't forget those who sacrificed their lives for the world's freedom. I knew people would dismiss history. I had no idea they'd forget how vast the devastation was or how vile the world had become.
I hope I've managed to keep that promise to him through storytelling, strategy, and heart—is exactly how legacies endure.
I Was Just a Radioman isn’t just a memoir; it’s a living tribute to the quiet courage that shaped history.
I'm not just trying to sell you a book. My ultimate goal is to preserve a voice that might otherwise be lost in the noise of modern life. And with everything going on in the world, stories like my father’s remind us what real service, humility, and resilience look like.
Pearl Harbor survivor, Black Cat radioman, and decorated WW 2 veteran. ARM H. P. Lawrence, tells the true story of the fight against the Japanese in this compilation of his memoirs.
One of only a handful of non-Native American code-talkers, H. P. Lawrence became a member of an elite fighting force, the Black Cats. Flying in their nocturnal missions, the Cats claws were sharp and their aim deadly.
From devastation to victory, the story of these brave men−the deadly, mysterious, and illusive Black Cats is a journey into the past where nightmares came true and hatred reigned. A time in history we should never, ever forget.
The day which will live in infamy…was just the beginning.
Grab your copy today.
Available in
Ebook Paperback LARGE PRINT Audible and Hardcover
From his words to paper. No fluff, just plain talk from Radioman H P Lawrence, WW2 decorated veteran, Black Cat, and Pearl Harbor survivor.
Grab your copy today.
Reviewed by Charles H. Bogart (NavyHistory.org)
This self-published monograph was compiled by Ms. Ackerson to preserve the family history of Aviation Chief Radioman Henry Lawrence's service in World War II. The audience at which the book is directed is family and friends. Henry Lawrence, in June 1940 at the age of seventeen, joined the U.S. Navy Reserve unit at Newport, Rhode Island. On 12 May 1941, he was called to active duty and sent to Aviation Radio School at NAS Sand Point outside of Seattle, Washington. On 19 November 1941, he arrived in Hawaii as an Aviation Radioman and was assigned to VP 22 located on Ford Island. VP 22 at this time was flying PBY-5 Catalina flying boats.
Chief Lawrence's tale of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor is told in six pages, which add little to what has already been written about the 7 December 1941 Japanese attack on Ford Island. His service in the Pacific Theater from 1943 to 1945 was as a radioman on board PBY-5 Catalinas of VPB 71. His service in VPB 71 is told through a series of vignettes that focus on the carrying out of nocturnal patrols in the waters of the Southwest Pacific and off the coast of Formosa. These flights, Black Cat Missions, were carried out by flying at 1,000 feet above the sea, searching for Japanese merchant ships to attack. These vignettes are full of nuggets of information about U.S. Navy Black Cat operations during World War II.
Chief Lawrence's account of his service in World War II ends with The war's over! I will thank Colonel Paul Tibbets, his Enola Gay, and celebrate August 14th for the rest of my life. Once discharged from the Navy, Chief Lawrence spent the next 18-years in the Naval Reserves.
This book is an interesting read, but I suspect that only the hard-core World War II naval aviation aficionado will place this book in his library.
No comments:
Post a Comment