
No Ordinary Joes
The Extraordinary True Story of Four Submariners in War and Love and Life
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Narrated by:
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Robert Fass
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By:
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Larry Colton
About this listen
Their names were Bob Palmer, Gordy Cox, Tim McCoy, and Chuck Vervalin, and in 1941, when they joined the Navy, they were not trying to prove their patriotism - they were just looking for a job that would provide "three hots and a cot". But on April 22, 1943, the war took a terrible turn for them. While on patrol deep in enemy waters, their submarine, the USS Grenadier, was torpedoed and sent crashing to the ocean floor. Listed as lost in action and given up for dead, all four had in fact miraculously escaped the ship, only to be captured by the Japanese. The four men spent the next two and a half years as POWs, enduring barbaric torture and starvation, unable to communicate with their wives and families. When they were freed, they were forced to find a new kind of resilience as they struggled to resume their lives in a world that seemed to have forgotten them.
In Bob’s case, it would be more than 30 years before he was reunited with the love of his life - the wife who had left him for a well-bred naval officer after he came back from the war.
By turns panoramic and intimate, No Ordinary Joes shows us, through the lives of four "ordinary" men who endured extraordinary circumstances, the tragedy of war and its aftermath, and the restorative power of love.
©2010 Larry Colton (P)2010 TantorListeners also enjoyed...
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- By: Norman Polmar
- Narrated by: Sean Crisden
- Length: 5 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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When she first went to sea in April of 1961, the US nuclear submarine Thresher was the most advanced submarine at sea, built specifically to hunt and kill Soviet submarines. In The Death of the USS Thresher, renowned naval and intelligence consultant Norman Polmar recounts the dramatic circumstances surrounding her implosion, which killed all 129 men onboard in history's first loss of a nuclear submarine.
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I REMEMBER THESE HEROES
- By JustBill on 03-31-20
By: Norman Polmar
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Vanished Hero
- The Life, War and Mysterious Disappearance of America’s WWII Strafing King
- By: Jay A. Stout
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 9 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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A hell-bent-for-leather fighter pilot, Elwyn G. Righetti remains one of the most unknown, yet compelling, colorful, and controversial commanders of World War II. Arriving late to the war, he led the England-based 55th Fighter Group against the Nazis during the closing months of the fight with a no-holds-barred aggressiveness that transformed the group from a middling organization of no reputation into a headline-grabbing team that had to make excuses to no one. Indeed, Righetti's boldness paid off as he quickly achieved ace status.
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Great Performance for a Great Story!
- By Carter L. on 11-03-17
By: Jay A. Stout
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The Longest Campaign
- Britain's Maritime Struggle in the Atlantic and Northwest Europe, 1939-1945
- By: Brian E. Walter
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 15 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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For four centuries the British realm depended on sea power to defend itself against a myriad of threats. The Royal Navy established itself as the "Sovereign of the Seas", helping transform a small island nation into the center of a global empire. But Britain's maritime services faced an unprecedented challenge during World War II, and the survival of the nation was at stake. The Longest Campaign tells the epic story of British sea power in the Second World War.
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Excellent for serious student of Atlantic War.
- By Tara B on 05-21-25
By: Brian E. Walter
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The Silent Service in World War II
- The Story of the U.S. Navy Submarine Force in the Words of the Men Who Lived It
- By: Edward Monroe-Jones, Michael Green
- Narrated by: Tom Perkins, Jo Anna Perrin
- Length: 10 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the US Navy had a total of 111 submarines. It was mostly a collection of aging boats. Fortunately, with the war in Europe was already two years old and friction with Japan ever increasing, help from what would become known as the Silent Service in the Pacific was on the way: there were 73 of the new fleet submarines under construction. The Silent Service in World War II tells the story of America's intrepid underwater warriors in the words of the men who lived the war in the Pacific against Japan.
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Disappointing
- By Chris on 09-17-18
By: Edward Monroe-Jones, and others
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The Great Escape
- By: Paul Brickhill
- Narrated by: Robert Whitfield
- Length: 7 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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It was a split-second operation as delicate and as deadly as a time bomb. It demanded the concentrated devotion and vigilance of more than six hundred men for every hour, every day, and every night for more than a year. With only their bare hands and crude homemade tools, they sank shafts, built underground railroads, forged passports, drew maps, faked weapons, and tailored German clothes.
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Fascinating and exciting!!
- By 6catz on 10-28-13
By: Paul Brickhill
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Tailspin
- By: John Armbruster
- Narrated by: Brandon Pollock
- Length: 11 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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World War II tail gunner Gene Moran fell four miles through the sky without a parachute and lived. Captured by the Germans, he survived a harrowing eighteen months as a prisoner of war, including a six-hundred-mile death march in 1945 across Central Europe. When Gene returned home, he kept those memories locked up for nearly seventy years. His nine children knew little of their dad's war story. But when John, a young history teacher, learns of Gene's amazing fall, he's desperate to learn more. Finally, Gene agrees.
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Triumph, Tragedy, History
- By Bill54494 on 12-12-22
By: John Armbruster
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Final Harbor
- Silent War Series, Book 1
- By: Harry Homewood
- Narrated by: Corey M. Snow
- Length: 10 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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She was a monster, sleek and gleaming, designed to strike without warning like the dreaded shark. She was the USS Mako, as fearless and bold as any submarine that ever prowled the blue Pacific. Her mission: seek out and destroy the hitherto invincible ships of the Japanese Imperial Navy - and revenge the earlier defeats of a long and dirty war. Here is the story of the men who pitted their lives against impossible odds in the most dangerous branch of the American armed services.
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Loved it. Both times I listened
- By Father of 3 on 06-13-17
By: Harry Homewood
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Surface at the Pole
- The Extraordinary Voyages of the USS Skate
- By: James Calvert
- Narrated by: Tom Perkins
- Length: 7 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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Under the guidance of James Calvert this nuclear submarine had navigated through polar ice packs, braved atrociously cold conditions, and broken through layers of thick ice to arrive at their destination; the northernmost point of the world. This mission, however, was not just about completing a seemingly impossibly feat of Arctic exploration. It also had huge implications for military strategy during the height of the Cold War.
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Early Nuclear Sub Polar Exploration
- By John on 02-21-25
By: James Calvert
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The Gods of War
- Vietnam Tet 1968
- By: Ben Speed
- Narrated by: Virtual Voice
- Length: 5 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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This book is an unvarnished look at the life of a helicopter pilot and his year in Vietnam. He arrived at the beginning of the great Tet Offensive in 1968. Some stories are humorous, some are not. It's an honest inside look at that war.
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Whisper sync me no more
- By Tranchen on 04-03-25
By: Ben Speed
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I'm Staying with My Boys
- The Heroic Life of Sgt. John Basilone, USMC
- By: Jim Proser, Jerry Cutter
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 9 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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I'm Staying with My Boys is a firsthand look inside the life of one of the greatest heroes of the Greatest Generation. Sgt. John Basilone held off 3000 Japanese troops at Guadalcanal after his 15-member unit was reduced to three men. At Iwo Jima he single-handedly destroyed an enemy blockhouse, allowing his unit to capture an airfield. Minutes later he was killed by an enemy artillery round. He was the only Marine in World War II to have received the Medal of Honor, the Navy Cross, and a Purple Heart.
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Devil Dogs!
- By Skip Drake on 10-25-18
By: Jim Proser, and others
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Shadows in the Jungle
- The Alamo Scouts Behind Japanese Lines in World War II
- By: Larry Alexander
- Narrated by: Norman Dietz
- Length: 11 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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Set on retaking the Philippines ever since his ignominious flight from the islands in 1942, General Douglas MacArthur needed a first-rate intelligence-gathering unit. Out of thousands, only 138 men were chosen: the best, toughest, and most fit men the army had to offer. Their task: silently slip onto Japanese-held islands, stalk through the thick jungles, and assess enemy locations, conditions, morale, and troop strength, all while remaining undetected.
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Shadows In The Jungle.
- By Charles on 12-27-09
By: Larry Alexander
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Long Way Back to the River Kwai
- A Harrowing True Story of Survival in World War II
- By: Loet Velmans
- Narrated by: Danny Campbell
- Length: 6 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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The astounding memoir of a World War II veteran who spent three and a half years in the slave-labor camps made famous by The Bridge on the River Kwai.
Loet Velmans was 17 when the Germans invaded Holland. He and his family fled to London on the Dutch Coast Guard cutter Seaman’s Hope and then sailed to the Dutch East Indies - now Indonesia - where he joined the Dutch army. In March 1942, the Japanese invaded the archipelago and made prisoners of the Dutch soldiers. For the next three and a half years Velmans and his fellow POWs toiled in slave-labor camps.
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Tellement bien rédigé et poignant
- By Aline Tucker on 03-06-25
By: Loet Velmans
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The Paratrooper Generals
- Matthew Ridgway, Maxwell Taylor, and the American Airborne from D-Day Through Normandy
- By: Mitchell Yockelson
- Narrated by: Jonathan Cowley
- Length: 9 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Generals during World War II usually stayed to the rear, but not Matthew Ridgway and Maxwell Taylor. During D-Day and the Normandy campaign, these commanders of the 82nd "All-American" and the 101st "Screaming Eagle" Airborne Divisions refused to remain behind the lines and stood shoulder-to-shoulder with their paratroopers in the thick of combat. Jumping into Normandy during the early hours of D-Day, Ridgway and Taylor fought on the ground for six weeks of combat that cost the airborne divisions more than 40 percent casualties.
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Evan's Review
- By Evan on 07-16-22
somethings he shared with me weren't in the book. we also worked together and became friends at the dog pound. he would always refer to me by my last name.
I guess we got along so well. Because I was a marine and he was navy.
Chuck Was my friend
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The Audible performance is outstanding.
A Must Read
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Cant wait for more of lc’s books
Horray
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Excellent book for any WW2 or military history buff
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Prisoner of War Tale
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this book will leave you in tears
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the war details were interesting
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