Editorial Reviews (From Amazon.com)

Product Description
Eugene Fluckey was one of the great naval heroes of World War II. His exploits as captain of the submarine USS Barb revolutionized undersea warfare and laid the groundwork for the nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine fleet that today is the primary deterrent and capability of the United States against nuclear attack. Now a retired rear admiral living in Annapolis, Maryland [he passed away, June 28, 2007: ED], he is the most decorated living American, having earned numerous presidential, congressional, and military honors, including the Medal of Honor and four Navy Crosses. In the war against Japan, Fluckey fired the first ballistic missiles from a submarine, sank more tonnage than any other U.S. submarine skipper; including an aircraft carrier, a cruiser, a destroyer, and blew up a train after landing submariners-turned-saboteurs on mainland Japan in 1945. The title of this biography is the legendary submariner s nickname, "Galloping Ghost, " a reference to the hit-and-run tactics that left his enemies baffled about the direction of his attacks.

Here is the admiral's story, told with the exclusive access to Admiral Fluckey's personal papers and based on interviews with him, his family, Barb shipmates, official Navy documents, and the recollections of his contemporaries. The author, Carl LaVO, who spent years researching the subject, offers not only a dramatic, action-filled account of Fluckey's wartime experiences, but also a lively description of his life before and after that captures the infectious optimism contributing to his many successes.

LaVO describes meeting the ninety-year-old retired admiral: With a full shock of hair, trim build, natty clothes, and buoyant demeanor, Fluckey looked much younger and still displayed his characteristic dry wit, despite the fact that Alzheimer's disease had robbed him of many memories. When asked about a long-forgotten episode of his life, the admiral replied with a twinkle in his eyes and hearty laugh, I don t know. You tell me. LaVO took up his challenge and with this book presents Admiral Fluckey's full biography.

About the Author
Carl LaVO, a graduate of the University of Florida at Gainesville, is the author of Slade Cutter: Submarine Warrior and Back from the Deep: The Strange Story of the Sister Subs Squalus and Sculpin, both published by the Naval Institute Press. He has also written many articles for the Institute's two magazines, Proceedings and Naval History, and a variety of general-interest periodicals. His television appearances include the History Channel series Silent Service and Man, Moment and Machine.

An award-winning journalist, LaVO is assistant managing editor of the Courier Times in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, where he lives with his wife Mary Anne. He is an experienced scuba diver and has explored many of the water-filled caverns and subterranean rivers of Florida, exceeding depths of two hundred feet. A childhood interest in the atomic submarine Nautilus and the book Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea by Jules Verne gave him a lifelong curiosity about the Silent Service and undersea exploration.

The Galloping Ghost of the China Coast, by Carl LaVO is available @