Читать книгу A Magnificent Fight: Marines in the Battle for Wake Island - Robert Cressman - Страница 7
Оглавление[Sidebar (page 3):]
Major Paul A. Putnam, a “model of strong nerves and the will to fight,” is pictured at right in the autumn of 1941. One of his men, Second Lieutenant David Kliewer, praised Putnam’s “cool judgment, his courage, and his consideration for everyone [that] forged an aviation unit that fought behind him to the end.” Putnam had become commanding officer of VMF-211 on 17 November 1941 at Ewa, after having served as executive officer. Designated a naval aviator in 1929, he had flown almost every type of Marine plane from a Ford Tri-motor to a Grumman F4F-3. He had distinguished himself in Nicaragua in 1931. One officer who had flown with him there considered him “calm, quiet, soft-spoken … a determined sort of fellow.” He was awarded a Navy Cross for his heroism at Wake.
