How Long Will It Take Stephen Ambrose to Correct His Mistakes?
Stephen Ambrose, D-Day June 6, 1944: The Climactic Battle of World War II (page 198)
In the winter of 1999 I undertook to document the WWII service of my late father for a family history. Dad had been a member of an elite unit of the US Army Air Force, the Airborne Troop Carrier, which was specially trained for the insertion, re-supply and medical evacuation of Army Airborne units behind enemy lines.
He was a member of the 440th Troop Carrier Group, 9th Troop Carrier Command in the European Theater of WWII. I was fortunate that some members of the 440th maintained an association for reunion purposes and made contact with them. Through the association and later through historians of the Troop Carrier in Holland, I made a wide range of contacts with Troop Carrier veterans and became knowledgeable about their history.
It was during this time that I read Stephen E. Ambrose's D-Day June 6, 1944: The Climactic Battle of World War II. Frankly, I was baffled that the Ambrose account was so contrary to the official histories of these units. I found errors in the book as well as many undocumented statements. My own experience as a Marine Corps Airlift Planner taught me that all of the popular accounts of OPERATION NEPTUNE, the airborne assault at Normandy, were seriously flawed. They lacked analysis of critical elements of the airlift/airborne operation.
I found out through my various contacts in the Troop Carrier community that the veterans had been writing Dr. Ambrose since 1995 about errors in his book. So I wrote to Ambrose hoping to get a meaningful response to the veterans' allegations. This act plunged me into thousands of hours of research. What follows is a summation of a number of letters that I was privileged to read that refute Ambrose's claim that he always corrects errors in his books. The full text of these letters is available to any writer or historian who may be interested in pursuing this issue further.
LETTERS TO AMBROSE
Letter from Donald Orcutt
Date: February 16, 1995
Bio: Mr. Orcutt, a former US Army Air Force flight instructor, was a Flight Leader of the 440th Troop Carrier Group. He participated in the airborne invasion of Normandy, June 6, 1944.
Complaint: In his letter Mr. Orcutt disputes Ambrose's claim that the pilots were untrained. Additionally he cites several factual errors in the Ambrose account regarding operational details of the mission including, drop speed, air speed, drop altitude and combat formation lighting of the aircraft. He cites a 101st Airborne summation of the 440th TCG on Drop Zone D which reads in part,"Credit should be given to the 440th and 441st Groups of Troop Carrier Command. Using radar only, and no lights because of tenuous position, forty-seven aircraft delivered their personnel to the intended DZ[drop zone]."
He provides Ambrose with a detailed description of what it is like navigate under cloudy weather conditions. He sums up his letter with this,"One other thought comes to mind in the matter of ill-trained pilots: Do you believe that General Eisenhower would have entrusted delivery of 16,000 of his elite parachute infantry to DZs in Normandy, at night, on such a crucial mission on D-Day, to a rag-tag assembly of pilots who had 'not been trained for night flying, or flak or bad weather'? You have inadvertently or willfully, impugned the military judgment of General Eisenhower. (I leave the choice of modifying adverbs to you.).'"
Ambrose Response: Mr. Orcutt states that Ambrose "penned me a short note of acknowledgement and said my letter would be included in his archive."
Letter from Michael N. Ingrisano
Date: March 16, 1999
Bio: Mr. Ingrisano was a combat Troop Carrier radio operator with the 37th Squadron, 316th Troop Carrier group and author of, Valor Without Arms: A History of the 316th Troop Carrier Group 1942 - 1945. He participated in the airborne invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944.
Complaint: Mr. Ingrisano disputed factual details and characterizations. In discussing training prior to and the invasion of Normandy he cites personal experience as well as,"Airborne Operations in WWII, European Theater, USAF Historical Study No. 97" by Dr. John Warren and other official records of his Group. He also provides Ambrose with background as it relates to the general Troop Carrier mission. At the end of his letter Mr. Ingrisano requested a copy of an Ambrose citation, the 82nd Airborne Debriefing Conference, August 13, 1944.
Ambrose Response: None.
Letter from Randy Hils
Date: February 2, 2000
Bio: Mr. Hils is the son of Troop Carrier veteran SSGT. Ralph J. Hils of the 98th Squadron of the 440th TCG.
Complaint: I conveyed to Dr. Ambrose that I had read D-Day and that I was aware there were a lot of Troop Carrier veterans upset by the broad generalizations, oversimplifications, mischaracterizations and factual errors contained in the book. I told him that I was aware that he had the correct information for sometime and asked him if he was a big enough man to admit the errors and correct them or was he something else. I offered to provide Dr. Ambrose with an up to date list of Troop Carrier associations and suggested he write a letter of apology and revise the book.
Ambrose Response: On February 9 his son, Hugh Ambrose, stated that my letter never reached his father,"because it is beneath him." He indicated that his father is"a man of great character" and that he had donated money to good causes and the D-Day museum. He said,"For you to impugn his motives or dedication is an insult." Regarding the charges I had made he replied in part, that the book"was written from facts. Those facts came from the military records as well as from GIs who went ashore. Those are strong sources." He further advised the veterans to record their oral histories at his web site and concluded,"Stephen Ambrose is concerned with the truth. Give him facts--not insults--and he will change his story."
Letter from Randy Hils
Date: February 9, 2000
Complaint: I sent another one page email in response to Hugh Ambrose's note, pointing out that Orcutt and Ingrisano had already given Dr. Ambrose the facts. I provided these veterans' telephone numbers as well as their email addresses.
Ambrose Response: None.
Letter from Ingrisano
Date: February 10, 2000
Complaint: Ingrisano pointed out to Hugh Ambrose the difference between fact and oral history, primary and secondary sources and how they related to the errors in the Ambrose book. He wrote,"As it now reads,"D-Day" wrongly misstates and demeans the [Troop Carriers'] honorable service. We are thrilled a dialogue has finally been started with the Ambrose historians. Please help us bring this chapter to a rightful conclusion." Ingrisano included a copy of his March 1999 letter.
Ambrose Response: On February 10, 2000 an Ambrose assistant named Donna requested a copy of the March 1999 letter by Ingrisano. She stated that Ambrose was out of the office until the following week but would give him the letter upon his return.
Letter from Ingrisano
Date: March 10, 2000
Complaint: After waiting a month with no response Ingrisano wrote Ambrose again, reminding him of the previous communications. Again he asked for a dialogue on the issues.
Ambrose Response: On March 13, 2000 Ambrose's office asked again for another copy of Ingrisano's 1999 letter and related that Ambrose was very busy but may respond soon. On March 14, 2000 Ambrose's office acknowledged receiving a third copy of the March 1999 letter. Ambrose himself wrote:
Thank you for your letter. I respect your position. Unfortunately, I cannot re-examine the information I used to write my book, nor compare and contrast it with what you have sent. I have signed several book contracts and must apply myself to researching them. The only thing I can do at this point is to send your letters to me to the Eisenhower Center, where some young historian will find them and use them.
I am of course deeply troubled that you, a veteran, have some criticisms of my work. Without the opportunity to delve deeper into the issue with you and your friends have raised, I can only say that I have done my best to acknowledge the debt this country and the world owes to you and all our veterans
Letter from William M. Prindible
Bio: Aircraft Commander 316th TCG on June 6, 1944. Awarded 2 Air Medals, 6 Battle Stars in the European campaign and one Presidential Unit Citation for Normandy
Date: March 10, 2000
Complaint: Mr. Prindible pointed out that"only the people flying and operating those aircraft were qualified to comment in detail on such things as airspeed, altitude and attitude of the aircraft. Anything else is pure speculation and should be treated as such." He noted that he and his co-pilot encountered great difficulty getting his extremely overloaded C-47 into the air, maintaining position in the formation, and slowing the unstable aircraft to the drop speed without stalling."It took all the skill and brute strength of those 19 and 20 year old pilots to save that aircraft so it could deliver it's gun crew to the drop zone." He expressed the hope that there might be some way to correct the terrible wrong that had been done to the combat crews of the Troop Carrier.
Ambrose Response: None.
THE STORY CONTINUES
There were many other letters from veterans: Lewis Johnston, Robert Callahan, Raymond Lowman. Ambrose never responded. But then on June 2, 2000, the Tallahassee Democrat ran an editorial by Bill Berlow describing the six year effort by the Troop Carrier veterans and family members to get corrections from Ambrose. Conciliatory in tone, the editorial asked Ambrose to offer a"simple acknowledgement" of their concerns at the opening of the D-Day Museum the following week. Within hours of my sending the article to the Ambrose office, Ambrose left a message on Troop Carrier historian Lewis Johnston's answering machine: "I intend to correct any misapprehensions the Troop Carrier pilots feel that I have perpetrated. And I am on my knees, I really am. I try to do my best. But I will correct it, I promise." Mr. Johnston returned the call and left a message saying he wanted to get in touch with Ambrose. He also sent an email. Ambrose was never heard from again.
The following year, on September 8, 2001, Michael Ingrisano and his wife Nancy attended an event at the National Book Festival in Washington, D.C. at which Mr. Ambrose was appearing. They taped a brief encounter with him. This is an excerpt:
Nancy:Mr. Ambrose, there [are] generations of Americans who are going to read that book, and who are going to believe what you wrote is true and it's totally false…
Official: He's got to go, gotta go.
Ambrose I just…
Nancy He has to make corrections…
Ambrose I..I promise you, I…I'll make it up..
Nancy …I mean the Troop Carrier veterans are asking you..
Ambrose I know they are…
Nancy You have to review documentation…
Ambrose I know they are, they get after me just like you're doing right now. And there's nothing I can do about it.
Nancy There is. Even Smithsonian books have errata sheets in them. You need to issue an errata sheet. Historical books put out by the Smithsonian Institution are in libraries with errata sheets. You can do a service for future generations by making corrections.
Ambrose All right, - write to me, tell me to do that and I'll do that.
Nancy Mr. Ambrose. I will. My name is Nancy Ingrisano. You can expect a letter from me. And…
Ambrose I know I can.
Nancy The Troop Carrier veterans will look forward to your response.
A little later Nancy again ran into Ambrose and asked him to have his staff watch for her letter because he promised to work with the Troop Carrier veterans to make corrections. He took a business card, placed it in his shirt pocket, and nodded in the affirmative.
Two days later the Ingrisano's sent a note to Ambrose reminding him of the meeting and his commitment Ambrose never responded. Other letters from veterans followed. He never responded to them either.
This is the summary of the Troop Carrier correspondence with Stephen Ambrose and his organization. In the January 15, 2002 Philadelphia Inquirer article,"Ambrose Under Fire On Another Front - Vets" by Carlin Romano, Ambrose said, "I've been surprised by the ferocity of [the vets'] attack." Hugh Ambrose explained that "on occasion" his father responds to attacks, but"we receive letters from people that are so angry that we do not respond. The troop carriers are one example in particular. This is not a discussion, it's a diatribe."
The letters in my possession are the words of honorable men seeking redress as gentlemen. For the Ambrose organization to characterize these letters as a"diatribe" or insinuate that they ever offered serious discussion, is simply false. I call on Stephen Ambrose to find the courage to either document his allegations against the Troop Carrier Airmen or apologize to those he has defamed.