Comments on: Interview With Author John Koster http://www.historynet.com/interview-with-author-john-koster.htm From the World's Largest History Magazine Publisher Sat, 25 May 2013 03:21:04 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: John Koster http://www.historynet.com/interview-with-author-john-koster.htm#comment-830425 John Koster Fri, 04 Jan 2013 12:36:34 +0000 http://www.historynet.com/?p=13683493#comment-830425 Calling all bluffs! If anybody has photographs showing an alternative Sergeant Finckle who doesn't resemble the man in the book or the film, a letter from Berlin stating that there was a Prussian dragoon officer named Finckle in Wilhelm I's army, the name and address of any indignant Finckle relative now living and seething in Germany, or any government documents showing Frank Finkel somewhere other than the 7th Cavalry in 1876, send them to either "Wild West" in Leesburg, Virginia, or the Battlefield Dispatch in Morrisonville, NY. Critics claim these exist. Let's see them! Outside of that, it looks like the end of the trail...People who want to get published in history need documents, not opinions. A couple of people sent in one-star reviews for my latest book, OPERATION SNOW, where they claim the American traitor Harry Dexter White was NOT a Soviet agent and had nothing to do with triggering Pearl Harbor. The FBI confirmed that Harry Dexter White was a Soviet agent in 1950, his KGB handler who adored him said so (in Russian) in 1996, and White's state papers show him trying to make sure that FDR didn't negotiate a stand-down with Japan-- as FDR actually attempted to do on the advice of his military commanders.. Facts don't matter to some critics. Let's see those Finckle documents and photographs we've all heard about at "Wild West" or "Battlefield Dispatch," honest publications edited by professionals or genuine experts. The rest is silence. Calling all bluffs! If anybody has photographs showing an alternative Sergeant Finckle who doesn't resemble the man in the book or the film, a letter from Berlin stating that there was a Prussian dragoon officer named Finckle in Wilhelm I's army, the name and address of any indignant Finckle relative now living and seething in Germany, or any government documents showing Frank Finkel somewhere other than the 7th Cavalry in 1876, send them to either "Wild West" in Leesburg, Virginia, or the Battlefield Dispatch in Morrisonville, NY. Critics claim these exist. Let's see them! Outside of that, it looks like the end of the trail…People who want to get published in history need documents, not opinions. A couple of people sent in one-star reviews for my latest book, OPERATION SNOW, where they claim the American traitor Harry Dexter White was NOT a Soviet agent and had nothing to do with triggering Pearl Harbor. The FBI confirmed that Harry Dexter White was a Soviet agent in 1950, his KGB handler who adored him said so (in Russian) in 1996, and White's state papers show him trying to make sure that FDR didn't negotiate a stand-down with Japan– as FDR actually attempted to do on the advice of his military commanders.. Facts don't matter to some critics. Let's see those Finckle documents and photographs we've all heard about at "Wild West" or "Battlefield Dispatch," honest publications edited by professionals or genuine experts. The rest is silence.

]]> By: Naoki Hioka http://www.historynet.com/interview-with-author-john-koster.htm#comment-826949 Naoki Hioka Tue, 11 Dec 2012 08:31:25 +0000 http://www.historynet.com/?p=13683493#comment-826949 Dear Mr. John Koster MedicaLingual Inc., Japanese translation and publishing company is very much interested in publishing Japanese translation of your books, especially "Operation Snow." Is it possible you consider a contract with our company? I hope you could answer me to my e-mail: info@medicalingual.com Sincerely yours, Naoki Hioka, President MedicaLingual Inc. www.medicalingual.com Dear Mr. John Koster
MedicaLingual Inc., Japanese translation and publishing company is very much interested in publishing Japanese translation of your books, especially "Operation Snow."
Is it possible you consider a contract with our company?
I hope you could answer me to my e-mail: info@medicalingual.com

Sincerely yours,
Naoki Hioka,
President
MedicaLingual Inc.
http://www.medicalingual.com

]]> By: christopher brown http://www.historynet.com/interview-with-author-john-koster.htm#comment-824079 christopher brown Sat, 10 Nov 2012 15:08:07 +0000 http://www.historynet.com/?p=13683493#comment-824079 I'm not sure that I disagree with you, but I could see a point in going after the rest of the soldiers, who were clearly on the attack. Having turned back Crook and wiped out Custer with so little loss, you'd think the consolidated tribes might have felt themselves capable of one more stunning victory. I suppose in the end the outcome would have been the same, but without an authoritative command structure, I'm surprised that the hotheads didn't prevail. But then again, perhaps the Indians knew from the start that their time was passing and further resistance was hopeless. Hard to say. I'm not sure that I disagree with you, but I could see a point in going after the rest of the soldiers, who were clearly on the attack. Having turned back Crook and wiped out Custer with so little loss, you'd think the consolidated tribes might have felt themselves capable of one more stunning victory. I suppose in the end the outcome would have been the same, but without an authoritative command structure, I'm surprised that the hotheads didn't prevail. But then again, perhaps the Indians knew from the start that their time was passing and further resistance was hopeless. Hard to say.

]]> By: John Koster http://www.historynet.com/interview-with-author-john-koster.htm#comment-824073 John Koster Sat, 10 Nov 2012 13:57:45 +0000 http://www.historynet.com/?p=13683493#comment-824073 The ndians were not aiming at a comprenhensive massacre. They were defending their families from a surprise attack. Once the active threat was neutralized, they saw no point in throwing away more warriors and hunters. The ndians were not aiming at a comprenhensive massacre. They were defending their families from a surprise attack. Once the active threat was neutralized, they saw no point in throwing away more warriors and hunters.

]]> By: christopher brown http://www.historynet.com/interview-with-author-john-koster.htm#comment-823177 christopher brown Wed, 31 Oct 2012 19:57:08 +0000 http://www.historynet.com/?p=13683493#comment-823177 Just curious. Has anyone ever speculated on why the Indians didn't finish off Reno and then turn on Terry? According to all reports, they had the manpower and the weapons. What I suspect, though I have no way of knowing, is that the Indians lacked organization--and that fact, in the end, is what defeated them. Tecumseh's confederation had the same problem--you couldn't shoot a deserter, so when the warriors decided to go home, they went home. In my view, Native America was doomed the moment that first Indian saw an iron cook pot. After that, it was shuck the old ways as quick as they could find a trading post. I think this conclusion is born out by the fact that Custer's command was mostly killed with white man's firearms. Just curious. Has anyone ever speculated on why the Indians didn't finish off Reno and then turn on Terry? According to all reports, they had the manpower and the weapons. What I suspect, though I have no way of knowing, is that the Indians lacked organization–and that fact, in the end, is what defeated them. Tecumseh's confederation had the same problem–you couldn't shoot a deserter, so when the warriors decided to go home, they went home. In my view, Native America was doomed the moment that first Indian saw an iron cook pot. After that, it was shuck the old ways as quick as they could find a trading post. I think this conclusion is born out by the fact that Custer's command was mostly killed with white man's firearms.

]]> By: christopher brown http://www.historynet.com/interview-with-author-john-koster.htm#comment-823071 christopher brown Tue, 30 Oct 2012 20:34:34 +0000 http://www.historynet.com/?p=13683493#comment-823071 I think that the moment anyone begins to recount an event, that event becomes to one degree or another fictionalized. No matter how objective we try to be, each of us visualizes through a filter of personal experience. We give meaning where there is none, we create heroes and villains according to current values, we promote or denegrate causes often for the sake of contrariness--and most of all we want the point of view we espouse to be the "right" one. Those who turn Custer's men into brave American heroes are no more correct than those who paint plains Indians as nature's noblemen. Most of us don't understand our own motives, let alone those of people long dead, and since people in any era tend to lie to make themselves look good, the accounts they leave behind have to be considered suspect. By the way, I have two degrees, I was in the Navy, I once held a survey drawn by George Washington himself, I've read history voraciously all my life--and I'm not an authority on any subject. To declare something probable based on evidence is reasonable; to declare it a certainty is idiotic. I think that the moment anyone begins to recount an event, that event becomes to one degree or another fictionalized. No matter how objective we try to be, each of us visualizes through a filter of personal experience. We give meaning where there is none, we create heroes and villains according to current values, we promote or denegrate causes often for the sake of contrariness–and most of all we want the point of view we espouse to be the "right" one. Those who turn Custer's men into brave American heroes are no more correct than those who paint plains Indians as nature's noblemen. Most of us don't understand our own motives, let alone those of people long dead, and since people in any era tend to lie to make themselves look good, the accounts they leave behind have to be considered suspect. By the way, I have two degrees, I was in the Navy, I once held a survey drawn by George Washington himself, I've read history voraciously all my life–and I'm not an authority on any subject. To declare something probable based on evidence is reasonable; to declare it a certainty is idiotic.

]]> By: John Koster http://www.historynet.com/interview-with-author-john-koster.htm#comment-822778 John Koster Sat, 27 Oct 2012 13:41:24 +0000 http://www.historynet.com/?p=13683493#comment-822778 Let us know what you think after yoiu see the signatures in the book from 1872 and 1921. The signature in the documentary was written by a clerk in Walla Walla, Washington in the 1880s and was NOT in Finkel's handwriting. Frank Hall's signature is very elegant and entirely different, as was his height and age. As to the reunion: Finkjel's first wife was part Cherokee and, like Reno Hill survivors Charles Windolph and William O Taylor, he probably saw the whole thing as a land-grab that backfired and took no pride in killing Indians. They both said so in their memoirs. Fred Benteen said so in Graham's book "The Custer Myth." Windolph and Benteen both won the MOH and Taylor took the time to study the whole battle in retrospect. He said the was was forced on the Indians. He was there and we weren't... Let us know what you think after yoiu see the signatures in the book from 1872 and 1921. The signature in the documentary was written by a clerk in Walla Walla, Washington in the 1880s and was NOT in Finkel's handwriting. Frank Hall's signature is very elegant and entirely different, as was his height and age. As to the reunion: Finkjel's first wife was part Cherokee and, like Reno Hill survivors Charles Windolph and William O Taylor, he probably saw the whole thing as a land-grab that backfired and took no pride in killing Indians. They both said so in their memoirs. Fred Benteen said so in Graham's book "The Custer Myth." Windolph and Benteen both won the MOH and Taylor took the time to study the whole battle in retrospect. He said the was was forced on the Indians. He was there and we weren't…

]]> By: John Koster http://www.historynet.com/interview-with-author-john-koster.htm#comment-822733 John Koster Sat, 27 Oct 2012 10:54:36 +0000 http://www.historynet.com/?p=13683493#comment-822733 Excellent points. In researching my latest book, OPERATION SNOW: HOW A SOVIET TRAITOR IN FDR'S WHITE HOUSE TRIGGERED PEARL HARBOR I found that the suspect's brother had self-published a book which he felt showed his brother Harry Dexter White was "a loyal American." In fact, the book by Nathan White included a verbatim HUAC transcript which gave clear evidence of Harry Dexter White's treason. White's Soviet contact, Vitalii Pavlov, praised him for getting the United States into a war with Japan, just as he was ordered to do, to save Stalin from fighting a two-front war. THAT book has never been tranlated into English, and I somehow suspect it never will be....In interviewing U.,S.Pearl Harbor survivors, I never met one who didn't think the Pacific Fleet had been set up and that FDR knew the attack would happen, (He did, but only a few days before. FDR was NOT the prime instigator.) In other newspaper accounts, all the same guys could talk about was how surprised they were...Some reporters tell the people what the editors want them to. Some Finkle accounts may have been the same type of reporting. Forensically, Finckle and Finkel were pretty obviously the same person. The rest is perspective. Some people want the Little Bighorn to be Thermopylae. Others want Custer to be a moron or a monster. Facts don't fit either desire...so people get mad.... Excellent points. In researching my latest book, OPERATION SNOW: HOW A SOVIET TRAITOR IN FDR'S WHITE HOUSE TRIGGERED PEARL HARBOR I found that the suspect's brother had self-published a book which he felt showed his brother Harry Dexter White was "a loyal American." In fact, the book by Nathan White included a verbatim HUAC transcript which gave clear evidence of Harry Dexter White's treason. White's Soviet contact, Vitalii Pavlov, praised him for getting the United States into a war with Japan, just as he was ordered to do, to save Stalin from fighting a two-front war. THAT book has never been tranlated into English, and I somehow suspect it never will be….In interviewing U.,S.Pearl Harbor survivors, I never met one who didn't think the Pacific Fleet had been set up and that FDR knew the attack would happen, (He did, but only a few days before. FDR was NOT the prime instigator.) In other newspaper accounts, all the same guys could talk about was how surprised they were…Some reporters tell the people what the editors want them to. Some Finkle accounts may have been the same type of reporting. Forensically, Finckle and Finkel were pretty obviously the same person. The rest is perspective. Some people want the Little Bighorn to be Thermopylae. Others want Custer to be a moron or a monster. Facts don't fit either desire…so people get mad….

]]> By: John Koster http://www.historynet.com/interview-with-author-john-koster.htm#comment-822727 John Koster Sat, 27 Oct 2012 10:37:37 +0000 http://www.historynet.com/?p=13683493#comment-822727 Finkle's comments as filtered through his second wife are not verbatim. She claimed to be a spinster but had been married before, claimed his first wife had known nothing when Finkle's survivor role was mentioned in newpapers and the first wife's obtiuary...etc. Important to remember: Finkle was NOT obsessed with Custer's Last Stand and his role was not at all spectacular. But it looks like he was there. The book will answer MOST of these questions. Finkle's comments as filtered through his second wife are not verbatim. She claimed to be a spinster but had been married before, claimed his first wife had known nothing when Finkle's survivor role was mentioned in newpapers and the first wife's obtiuary…etc. Important to remember: Finkle was NOT obsessed with Custer's Last Stand and his role was not at all spectacular. But it looks like he was there. The book will answer MOST of these questions.

]]> By: christopher brown http://www.historynet.com/interview-with-author-john-koster.htm#comment-822572 christopher brown Fri, 26 Oct 2012 15:00:17 +0000 http://www.historynet.com/?p=13683493#comment-822572 Just some additional comments. Frank Finkel doesn't seem to have made much of a deal about what happened to him. There's no knowing what his exact comments were, since apparently no one wrote them down at the time. What he may or may not have said is second- or even third-hand information from people who might have had a greater interest in proving his claim than Frank himself did--and in fact the memories of old men, including those actual survivors who left their accounts, are always suspect. Also, having known a few veterans of WWII, I find that those who went through the worst of it are the least likely to talk about it--until some know-it-all who wasn't there decides to hold forth on "what it was like." If Finkel went through what he supposedly went through, based on what we know about post-traumatic stress syndrome, the discrepancies in his retelling aren't surprising--are they? Just some additional comments. Frank Finkel doesn't seem to have made much of a deal about what happened to him. There's no knowing what his exact comments were, since apparently no one wrote them down at the time. What he may or may not have said is second- or even third-hand information from people who might have had a greater interest in proving his claim than Frank himself did–and in fact the memories of old men, including those actual survivors who left their accounts, are always suspect. Also, having known a few veterans of WWII, I find that those who went through the worst of it are the least likely to talk about it–until some know-it-all who wasn't there decides to hold forth on "what it was like." If Finkel went through what he supposedly went through, based on what we know about post-traumatic stress syndrome, the discrepancies in his retelling aren't surprising–are they?

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