rapidfire In Review
Berlin 1961: Kennedy, Khrushchev, and the Most Dangerous Place on Earth. By Frederick Kempe. G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2011. $29.95. ISBN 978-0-399- 15729-5.
Warrior-Family Support I
n conjunction with the National Defense In- dustrial Association, MOAA is cosponsoring the 2012 Warrior-Family Symposium, “Saluting Their
Sacrifi ce: A Decade of Challenges and Triumphs for Our Wounded Heroes and Their Families,” Sept. 13 at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington, D.C. The program features stories, told by wounded war- riors and their family members and caregivers, recounting recovery and transition. Topics such as medical-disability benefi ts, care coordination, family-caregiver support, and employment-transition services will be discussed. To register, visit
www.moaa.org/wfs.
TRICAREUPDA+E
Many servicemembers face a stigma when de- ciding whether to seek care for mental health needs. Much of this stigma is based on myth, not reality. Myth: Getting mental health care hurts your career. Reality: Seeking mental health care ensures you get the appropriate care from trained profession- als to keep your career on track. Mental health counseling alone is not a reason to revoke or deny a security clearance. Myth: Needing mental health care shows weakness. Reality: It takes real strength and courage to admit
you have a problem and seek help. PTSD, anxiety, de- pression, and other psychological conditions require medical care. Visit
www.realwarriors.net for more information.
The Cuban Missile Crisis brought the U.S. and the Soviet
Union close to war in 1962, but it was the Berlin Crisis in 1961 that created the Berlin Wall and nearly triggered World War III, according to historian and author Frederick Kempe. This meticulously detailed history reveals the dangerously uneven brinkmanship played by the coldly calculating Soviet and East German communists led by Nikita Khrushchev and Walter Ulbricht and the fumbling western allies led by the naive and unprepared new American president, John F. Kennedy. Kempe thoroughly de- scribes all the diplomatic, political, and military con- siderations of a nuclear confrontation over “the most dangerous place on earth,” from the botched Vienna Summit to the pub- lic and private negotiations and the back-channel com-
28 MILITARY OFFICER AUGUST 2012
munication between Bobby Kennedy and a notorious Russian spy. The result was a Soviet triumph over the West and 28 years of Ber- lin’s Cold War oppression.
George Washington’s First War: His Early Military Adventures. By David A. Clary. Simon & Schuster, 2011. $27. ISBN 978-1-4391-8110-2.
George Washing- ton (1732- 99) was neither born into the mili-
tary nor trained as a mili- tary man, but he learned his military skills through the hard lessons of defeat in the French and Indian War, according to author David Clary. This biography of
Washington focuses on his early years as a very young colonel with the Virginia militia, highlighting his inexperience in military af- fairs and as a leader. Clary portrays Washington’s youthful exuberance and naiveté as well as his ambi- tious pursuit of a martial reputation necessary for a Tidewater gentleman and his constant dissatisfaction with pay and rank. This is a superb ac- count of the man who later would become a general and a president. — William D. Bushnell
PHOTO: COURTESY NATIONAL DEFENSE INDUSTRIAL ASSOCIATION
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