R. Alan Lewis
President, Ground Zero Books, Ltd.

As the Americans among us are about to celebrate our Independence Day, it is appropriate to reflect on the universality of human striving for independence, freedom, and self-determination. As in the Presidential exhortation before the climatic battle in the classic film, Independence Day, the concept of “independence” in not uniquely an aspect of American Exceptionalism, it is a global, and perhaps ultimately, an intergalactic trans-species concept. It often is born, saved, or restored out of the throes of warfare. It is fundamentally a political state, defined and preserved by civilian domestic and international political processes. And while there are at times exceptions, in general independent nations, especially democracies, tend to seek to live in peace with their neighbors and to seek economic and/or political union voluntary (such as the European Community) where in the past under dictatorships or monarchies, unification (such as the unions of Germany and Italy) were accomplished by force of arms.

But before going further into this paean to Independence, we want to acknowledge the unprecedented response to our June column. We are gratified that so many felt that story of the young untested Lieutenant F. E. Fleck, Jr., at Pearl Harbor was a fitting point of focus for Memorial Day reflection, in his own right and as an exemplar of all the others who have served and sacrificed on behalf of their nations. We also very much appreciated the acknowledgement of our commitment to sound historiography and our effective use of modern research tools. While we do not need to apply this level of rigor to all of our offerings, we frequently do so in order to adequately and effectively present items for our consideration. As many of you already know from firsthand experience, we are happy to delve deeper, at the request of clients with serious interest in specific items, into the background of authors, printing history, and status of works in their areas of historical or political literature.

But now let us shift back to Independence. Of course we have many works on the American Revolution and the Declaration of Independence. The date of July 4th has achieved mythic status in the American culture and psyche. If Robert E. Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia had been victorious at the Battle of Gettysburg, perhaps July 3rd would have achieved similar status had the nationhood of the Confederate States of American been so achieved? There is a growing literature of the “what if” variety of historical speculation, and we have examples of those including conjectures by Newt Gingrich. In the first case, our Independence Day reflects the political decision taken that declared our nation, and our people, free of British rule. At other times, in other contexts, the date of independence comes from a strategic victory, such as that of the Viet Minh over the French at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu. The political processes took time to ratify the results, whether by the Treaty of Paris or the Geneva Accords, but the dates of those agreements are in the province of scholars and perhaps advanced Jeopardy players, and are not embedded in the fiber of a nation.

Independence is not just a national political state; it is an individual political state, and part of an individual’s character. In some parts of the United States, there are more declared political independents than declared members of either the Republican or Democratic parties. The dynamics of the political process has shifted from machine politics delivering the votes of the party faithful (including those who took voting as a grave responsibility and continued to cast their ballots after their deaths), to establishing a stronger community of interest on issues with both independents and members of the other major party. There does not seem to be as clear a Republican equivalent to the Blue Dog Democrats who align with the Republicans, but that may be because Teddy Roosevelt co-opted the Bull Moose, John Anderson was mascot deprived, and Ross Perot could not break out of the Big Ear image. For some reason, the Democrats were not able to get any traction with the concept of “Pink Elephants”!

Beyond the political affiliations, we have a long history of respecting people who have an independent streak, who reflect this in their character, their outlook, and their deeds. We have many biographies of leaders who laid out their principles and their course of action, and who resisted the easy path of “go along to get along.” Many paid a price for their commitment, for their independence. Some we may share ends with, but not means—such as John Brown. Some we may share both ends and means with, such as the commitment to non-violence of Mahatma Gandhi. We may disdain both the ends and the means of others, such as Lenin, but we cannot argue that even with his commitment to collectivism and communism, in his time, he was an outcast, a visionary, and had a streak of independence in this thought and action.

So, as we in the United States pause to enjoy, and hopefully appreciate, our independence in this month of July, we hope that all of our clients are able to enjoy peace, freedom, and personal, political, and national independence. We of course, remain ever ready to process your individual and independent selections from our diverse stock of books, pamphlets, ephemera, and frankly odd-ball items. Upon request, we will grant a ten percent discount on purchases through our website.

R. Alan Lewis
President, Ground Zero Books, Ltd.

Booksellers are full of stories. We have many. One of our favorites involves a three-volume set entitled Carter’s Medals of the British Army. We had two volumes of the set and were contacted by a dealer in Spain who had a copy of the volume we were missing. The issue was whether he would buy our two volumes or we would buy his single volume. As many of you know, we are very careful in our descriptions of our items, so we informed our Spanish compadre that our two volumes had a rather large and ornate bookplate inside the front cover of each book. He replied that his copy also had a similar bookplate. Intrigued, we mentioned that our bookplate was that of James Ashbury. We were astounded when he confirmed that he had the missing volume for that set. This was too good a story not to drive us to purchase his single volume. Based upon subsequent research, we believe that the James Ashbury who owned this set was possibly the same James Ashbury who sailed the Cambria to New York to compete in the first America’s Cup of 1871. The son of a Manchester wheelwright who had invented a railway carriage, James Ashbury was not content to have fortune. He was eager for social recognition and in particular recognition from the high society, which explains his membership in numerous British yacht clubs, such as the Royal Harwich and Royal Thames Yacht Clubs. In 1868, Ashbury appointed Michael Ratsey to build a 188-ton schooner christened Cambria after the Cambrian Railway, a company in which James had some interest. As the United States defended the America’s Cup the next year, it appears sadly that Ashbury, and his ship, did not win this historic first encounter.

The Internet is a wonderful tool. We recently used to in researching a copy of a Naval Academy Manual of Athletic Requirements by W. A. Richardson published in 1927. It appears to have been an update of a similar manual initially published in 1920, with a second edition in 1922. It contains three photos of Midshipman F. E. Fleck, Jr., front, back and side that appear to have been taken during a physical examination. These show a lot of skin, and the cheeks are quiet visible on both the front and back views. As one would expect of midshipman, the pictures depict a fine physical specimen. We wondered what sort of career Midshipman Fleck later had, and were astounded with what we were able to discover in a few days of innovative and effective use of our research knowledge and Internet tools. Our virtual tour of Fleck’s career took us from Annapolis to Pearl Harbor, to Waynesboro, Pennsylvania.

Our journey was not logical or chronological in terms of his career. First we determined that Fleck, with the rank of Captain, commanded the USS Salamonie from 4 September 1954 until 1 February 1956. The USS Salamonie (AO-26) was a Cimarron-class fleet replenishment oiler, named for the Salamonie River in Indiana. Salamonie was laid down on 5 February 1940 under a Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 13) as Esso Columbia by the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company, Newport News, Virginia.; launched on 18 September 1940; sponsored by Mrs. Eugene Holman; designated for US Navy use on 20 November 1940; and commissioned on 28 April 1941. During the period of Fleck’s command the ship had deployments with the US 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean Sea. We then searched and located a website dedicated to this ship (http://salamonie.homestead.com). Unfortunately, an exchange of e-mails yielded no additional information on Captain Fleck.

Undeterred, and in fact feeling challenged, we proceeded to try several search engines. Not surprisingly, we got some different ‘hits’ from basically the same searches. We were particularly pleased with the results from Bing, although we initially thought we would get references to a type of cherry and to Bob Hope’s Road movie buddy. We found the text of a dispatch from the Commanding Officer, USS Henly to CINCPAC, dated December 15, 1941 on the Subject of “Offensive measures during air raid on Pearl Harbor, T.H., December 7, 1941.” In this dispatch the following statements are made:

“Lieutenant F. E. Fleck, Jr., U.S.N., was commanding officer of the Henley at the time the air raid commenced. The manner in which he got the ship underway and fought the enemy during the sortie of the Henley is worthy of special commendation. The seamanlike manner in which he picked up his Captain and Executive Officer at sea is greatly appreciated.” What a time for the senior officers to be ashore!

Our search then took us to Wikipedia to learn more about the ship. We found out that: USS Henley (DD-391), a Bagley-class destroyer, was the 2nd ship of the United States Navy to be named for Captain Robert Henley, an officer in the United States Navy during the Quasi-War with France, the War of 1812 and the Second Barbary War. She departed San Diego 14 April 1941 to join the Fleet at Pearl Harbor. When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor 7 December 1941, Henley was moored in Bast Loch with battle stations manned, a green sailor having sounded General Quarters instead of Quarters for Muster. This fortunate mistake gave Henley under the command of Lieutenant Francis E. Fleck, Jr., the opportunity to fire the first destroyer shots as the initial wave of enemy planes swooped in. A bomb exploded 150 yards off her port bow as she slipped her chain from the buoy, and, as she cleared, she received a signal that a submarine was in the harbor. Henley maneuvered through the smoke, fire, and confusion and sped out of the channel. Her gunners shot down one dive bomber with her .50 cal. guns and shared credit for another. Commanded by a junior lieutenant—both her commanding officer and executive officer were ashore when the attack began—Henley dropped depth charges on a sonar contact, possibly a midget submarine, outside the harbor, and continued to blaze away at the enemy with her guns.

Clearly Lieutenant Fleck was a hero the day Pearl Harbor was attacked, as were many others who rose to the occasion that fateful day. His copy of the Manual of Athletic Requirements had become a tangible connection not only to how naval officers were trained between the two World Wars, but also to the attack on Pearl Harbor. It is possible, but unlikely, that this copy was on the USS Henley with Lieutenant Fleck when the fleet was attacked.

While, there were still gaps in our knowledge of the career of F. E. Fleck, Jr., we knew what happened to the ships. The USS Salamonie was decommissioned in 1968. The heroic USS Henley had perhaps a fate more fitting a combatant vessel. “On 3 October 1943 Henley was steaming with Reid and Smith on an offensive sweep off Finschafen when her skipper sighted two torpedoes heading for her. Split-second maneuvering permitted Henley to evade those two torpedoes; but a third was immediately sighted, closing too fast and too near to be avoided. Henley was struck on the port side, with the torpedo exploding in the number 1 fire-room, destroying her boilers, breaking her keel, and displacing her bow about 30 degrees from the longitudinal axis of the ship.

At 18:29, with all her crew having abandoned ship, Henley went down, stern first. Her companion DD’s searched for the sub, then returned to rescue Henley’s survivors, who had lashed their life-rafts together and were using flashlights as signals. Eighteen officers and 225 men were rescued, with 1 officer and 14 men missing.”

Based upon the information we had accumulated, we contacted the United States Naval Academy Alumni Association and submitted a general information request. Their response filled in some key gaps.

“RADM Francis Edward Fleck, USN (Ret.) was a graduate in the class of 1934. He was married to Isabelle Fleck.

He died in Waynesboro, PA on 7-12-1990 of cancer.

He received several medals during his career: Navy Commendation Medal, Presidential Unit Citation, Silver Star Medal, and Bronze Star Medal.”

We may continue doing research, with the National Archives or with some naval historians we are acquainted with (and have provided diverse items to), but there is only so much time one can (or should) spend on individual items. It is nice to know that this green lieutenant who had a day of heroism at Pearl Harbor also had what it took to enjoy a distinguished lifetime career in the Navy, rising to flag rank.

We tell you this story for several reasons. First and foremost, we believe the story of F. E. Fleck, Jr., a hero of Pearl Harbor, should not be forgotten. Second, we believe that the saga of our filling in the gaps based on three photos and a name written in a book should tell you that what our website says about us is real—we are historians as well as booksellers, we love our work, we respect our stock, and we seek to provide unparalleled service to our customers. Lastly, if anyone reading this has additional information of Rear Admiral Fleck, we would love to learn it so we can improve our description of the Manual of Athletic Requirements.

Not a lot of wry comments and word play in this month’s column—we will try to catch up next month. As always, we include in our columns the opportunity for you to request a ten percent discount on any item purchased from our website. As we explained in our e-mail announcing the May column, when we use third parties to complete sales, they charge a fee. By offering you a discount when you buy directly from us, we are passing along our savings to you.

We hope that you have enjoyed this “fleck” of history and discourse on our research efforts!

R. Alan Lewis
President, Ground Zero Books, Ltd.

No, cloning is not involved!  We have received inquiries from time to time from customers who tried to order a book that was shown as available and we then had to tell them that the item has been sold.  Typically these are signed books whose author or subject has died or otherwise become newsworthy, or books that somehow have gotten media attention.   The collectible book business model has a lot in common with the real estate business—especially in terms of multiple listings.  On any given day, we have the same item available via direct purchase from our website, via Alibris.com, Advanced Book Exchange, and Biblio.com.  Through these venues, the same book then also becomes available via Barnes and Noble, Chapters, and a host of other outlets around the globe.  When a book is sold from our website, it does not automatically disappear from the other venues.  We try to update frequently, especially to remove sold items, but occasionally orders for a single book come in almost simultaneously—we fill orders based upon when received—and there has not been time to update the other listing services.

As many of you know from personal experience, we seek to avoid disappointing customers.  In some cases, we have multiple signed and inscribed copies of works, such a Tim Russert’s Big Russ and Me.  Unless the inscription or the recipients are particularly noteworthy, we offer the comparable copy at the same price.  In some cases we may have a non-identical copy, paperback instead of hardcover, later printing, without dust jacket.  Here again, in those circumstances, we try to offer our customers an alternative at an appropriate price reflecting the difference between the two versions.  Sadly, it is not always possible for Ground Zero Books, Ltd., to meet our customers’ desires when the initial book has been sold.  While market conditions and availability of items can vary considerably, we also try, if our client so desires, to see if we can locate another, comparable copy.  In many cases it is not possible to provide a comparable copy at the price of our previously sold item.

There have been days when we have updated our listings half a dozen times to reflect multiple sales.  The week of President Reagan’s final illness and death we sold about a dozen copies of his An American Life.  When NBC’s Tim Russert died of a sudden heart attack we sold signed hardback and softcover copies of his books, and because of the depth of our stock, listed and promptly sold about another half dozen copies over the next two days.  Yet, despite our prompt attention to updating our databases, we still had multiple orders on several occasions.  When the identity of Deep Throat was revealed, we had about a dozen orders for the two copies we had—and this title has proven quite elusive to restock.   This spiking of interest occurs not just with deaths and signed items; we find that often what is in the news drives sales.  The earthquake in Haiti spurred interest  in our holdings on both Haiti and earthquakes.  We expect a surge in interest in Ronald Reagan next February, when his centennial is celebrated.  We expect 2011 to have a sustained interest in items on terrorism, Islamic fundamentalism, al Qaeda, the Taliban, and the 9/11 attacks and aftermath.  Having 50,000+ items available online and an equal or greater number of items pending entry into our database makes tracking duplicates and restocks both necessary and a challenge.  We spend a significant amount of our data entry resources tracking additional copies of items in our database—capturing the shelf location so that we can re-list promptly.  As you all understand, to be successful in the out-of-print and collectible online book business—we cannot be LISTLESS!

Our goal is always to delight, and we strive never to disappoint.  While it is possible for one of our books to be in two places at the same time, we can and will only sell it once.  We are committed wherever possible to offer a comparable copy at a consistent price.  We take MasterCard, but while our books can be of great value, nothing we offer for sale is price-less.

So, for those of you who have asked about books that vanished when ordered, and for those of you who never gave this phenomenon a thought, we hope the above discussion has been of interest.  Some times our columns are more humorous, but we hope the always entertain and inform.  At a benefit to those of you who have slogged through to the end of this column, we thank you and offer, upon request, a discount of ten per cent on any item currently in stock, and a commitment not to charge you if you order any item previously sold.