Donald M. Kehn Jr. is a military historian and researcher. He attended South Texas Junior College (now the University of HoustonDowntown) and the University of TexasAustin. He is currently the official historian for the USS Houston (CA-30) Survivors Association and the official historian of the Naval Order of the United States, Texas Commandery. Kehn has contributed to works by James D. Hornfischer (Ship of Ghosts), Vincent P. OHara (The U.S. Navy Against the Axis), Mark Felton (The Fujita Plan), and William H. Bartsch (Every Day a Nightmareforthcoming). A Blue Sea of Blood is Kehns first book. Kehn lives and works in Houston, Texas, where he was born and raised.
CombinedFleet.com "...as much the proverbial "page-turner" as any
novel in some of the settings, events, and mysterious "who-done-it"
suspense...Kehn's detective work takes the reader from the swells
of the Indian Ocean south of Java through the bureucracies of the
U.S. Navy Department to the jungles and political turmoils of the
Netherlands East Indies. It is a drama that takes hold of you and
there is something of interest for all students of history."
Library Journal, February 2009
"The World War II disappearance of the U.S. Navy destroyer Edsall
under, until now, mysterious circumstances would make a good read
in and of itself; but in recounting the vessel's far-ranging,
prewar career, military historian Kehn creates a fascinating tale
of atrocity, murder, unpreparedness, and, ultimately, deliberate
cover-up. Launched at Philadelphia on July 29, 1920, and
commissioned that November, the Edsall trained in the Pacific Ocean
before being ordered to the Mediterranean as part of the U.S. naval
detachment in Turkish waters in 1922. There she was a witness to
the mass murder of Greeks by the Turks at Smyrna. Subsequent
service in the Far East, as a charter member of the U.S. Asiatic
fleet, put the ship in harm's way following the Japanese attack on
Pearl Harbor in December 1941. Lack of Allied preparedness and
planning led to needless loss of men and mat�riel, and such was the
case with this destroyer--lost in an uneven battle on March 1,
1942. Kehn's persistence in uncovering the facts surrounding her
disappearance and the murder of her surviving crew makes this a
compelling read. Recommended for all public libraries."
WWII History Magazine "In A Blue Sea of Blood, his first book,
author Kehn does a masterful detective job in delving into
long-sealed Japanese records, previously unknown material from
crewmembers' families, and U.S. Dutch, and Japanese documents to
reveal, as completely as possible, what happened to the Edsall and
her crew...In this detailed, comprehensive look at a doomed ship
and her dutiful crew, Kehn examines how the Edsall was used by both
sides in their propaganda efforts and how her heroic services and
final battle were relegated to obscurity in naval histories...
"With the publication of the riveting A Blue Sea of Blood, it is
unlikely that the Edsall and her crew will be forgotten any time
soon."
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