The Lady Gangster
Table of Contents, Chapter 4, pgs 117-119 (pdf)
Watch an interview with the author (mpg)
From the softcover edition:
This remarkable story began in 1967 with a broken car radio and a father-and-son’s cross-country trek. The two had been making uncomfortable small talk until the son asked, “Dad, will you tell me what you did in the war?”
The father’s answer is the amazing first-hand account of the USS Fuller, The Lady Gangster, an attack transport ship and its courageous crew of “Chicago Boys” who transformed from wide-eyed new recruits to weathered “Old Salts” braving enemy attacks while delivering troops and supplies during many of the toughest battles waged in the South Pacific during World War II. It is also the poignant tale of how a simple question forged a lasting bond between a father and his son.
From the hardcover edition:
“The ship is a real live being. She took on the personality of all the men who served on her. Mixed in the paint on her decks was the sweat and blood of a lot of boys from Chicago.”
Brilliant assaults and heroic defensive stands are the remembered highlights of World War II's battles, but few ever wonder how troops and supplies arrived at their destinations, thereby overlooking the vital and dangerous efforts of the military men who sailed on auxiliary ships. Yet without the latter, victories would never have been possible.
The U.S. Navy’s Amphibious Force was a crucial component of the Allied victory that wore down and ultimately crushed Imperial Japan’s dream of expansion throughout the Pacific region during World War II. Of the battle-tested attack transport ships involved in the war, only one, the USS Fuller, has a service record that stretched from Iceland and the British Isles to the beaches of Guadalcanal, Saipan, and Okinawa. She was known as the Queen of the Attack Transports, and with good cause.
This remarkable story began in 1967 with a broken car radio and a father-and-son’s cross-country trek. The two had been making uncomfortable small talk until the son asked, “Dad, will you tell me what you did in the war?”
The father’s answer is the amazing first-hand account of the USS Fuller, The Lady Gangster, an attack transport ship and its courageous crew of “Chicago Boys” who transformed from wide-eyed new recruits to weathered “Old Salts” braving enemy attacks while delivering troops and supplies during many of the toughest battles waged in the South Pacific. It is also the poignant tale of how a simple question forged a lasting bond between a father and his son.
| The Lady Gangster Hardcover ISBN 13: 978-1-934980-21-7 ISBN 10: 1-934980-21-8 Retail $23.95 limited time $17.96 |
The Lady Gangster Softcover ISBN 13: 978-1-934980-22-4 ISBN 10: 1-934980-22-6 Retail $16.95 limited time $12.71 |
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| Order your copy today !
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Order your copy today ! |
WWII Navy Memoir Reviewed at Books Alive
The answer to the question, “Dad, what did you do in the war?” provided the basis for “The Lady Gangster: A Sailor’s Memoir” to be reviewed by author Del Staecker for the Books Alive program, Tuesday, June 23, at the Northumberland Library in Heathsville starting at 7 p.m.
The father’s answer is a first-hand account of the USS Fuller (APA 7), nick-named the Lady Gangster, and her crew who braved enemy attacks while delivering troops and supplies during many of the toughest battles waged in the Sough Pacific during World War II. It is also a tale of how in 1967 a simple question posed on a cross-country trek in a car with a broken radio forged a lasting bond between Staecker and his father, Irvin Staecker, who died in 1983.
Staecker is a writer of detective stories who last appeared for a Books Alive program in October 2008 to review his book, “The Muted Mermaid.” He had not thought about venturing into a non-fiction memoir.
“I was planning to do a short story about the car ride, called “The Broken Radio.” But my wife, Lindy nudged me to ‘write the whole story, tell what your dad told you,’” he said. “By the way, we never fixed the radio.”
Along the way he has been in touch with the crew still alive as an associate member of their veterans group, adding that several are like family. In particular, former crew members Elgin Bowen, Donald Lutes Sr., and Richard Henning were important resources.
“The Lady Gangster” is a quick and fascinating read. Del Staecker does an excellent job framing the story of his father’s service aboard an armed transport ship during the Second World War. Officially named the USS Fuller, the ship is better known by her apt nickname, “Lady Gangster,” a name christened by her crew, made up almost entirely of fellow Chicagoans.
In addition to being an accounting of his father’s service, “Lady Gangster” is also a heartwarming story of a rapprochement between father and son. A long road trip and a broken radio result in hours of conversation and an outpouring of memories. For the first time, the young son listens to his father’s vivid and detailed recounting of his harrowing experiences serving with the Navy in the Pacific Theater. Through his writing, Staecker transports the reader from inside that car where he listens intently to his father’s story, to the various locations were his father served. Staecker intersperses his father’s reminiscences with just the right amount of family background, comments, clarifications and explanations of wartime history to keep the reader up-to-speed with the historical setting and maritime terminology.
The book is well written and includes useful maps, which help orient the reader to the action and keep up with the unbelievably savage fighting and island-hopping through places with names like Guadalcanal, Tinian, “the Slot,” Saipan, and Okinawa. The book also includes several photographs that help personalize the story and make the action that much more realistic.
With dignity and grace, Staecker pays homage to both his father’s unheralded service during the war and the equally unheralded service of a proud and effective ship, along with her officers and crew. Well done!
Praise for "The Lady Gangster":
Del, I just finished "The Lady Gangster" and just wanted to tell you that I enjoyed it immensely and could not put it down. It is a remarkable story not only as a previously unreported tale from WWII but as a great discovery of a bond between you and your father. Congratulations; I appreciate you bringing this story into my life.
- David Cheifetz
Praise for Del Staecker's other books:
“The Muted Mermaid is an amazing novel…”
--Midwest Book Review; 5 stars
“…highly recommended…for anyone who wants a good detective story.”
--MBR, Small Press Bookwatch
“…an exciting and absorbing mystery…”
--Mysterious Reviews
“Intriguing…an action-packed yarn…”
--The Tennessean
“…a fast, action-packed ride that rounds a couple of hairpin turns… readers will be reluctant to put on the brakes.”
--Lancaster Sunday News
“Staecker captures the essence in evil and its effect upon people who have experienced loss.” --Midwest Book Review
“As a storyteller, Del Staecker has ‘the touch.’ The Muted Mermaid is a compelling mystery that rips away at the notions of the New South. It is both marvelously entertaining and deceptively profound.”
-Clifton K. Meador, M.D., author of Symptoms of Unknown Origin
“For suspense, action, and intrigue, Del Staecker has it nailed cold. I couldn’t put it down.”
-John Steiner, FBI agent and SWAT team supervisor, retired
“Here is a classic murder mystery by a master storyteller. You won’t want to put it down—even after the epilogue, you will want to turn the page to the next chapter.”
-John Seigenthaler, Founding editorial director of USA Today and Founder of The First Amendment Center
“A riveting, superbly paced, deftly written mystery adventure from beginning to end…”
–Midwest Book Review, Small Press Bookwatch; 5 stars
“From its opening scenes of waves crashing along the shore, the relentless pace of Shaved Ice continues to accelerate to its pulse-pounding conclusion. The characters, narrative, and suspenseful plotline are all well executed, the result thoroughly enjoyable.”
--Mysterious Reviews; 4 stars
“Staecker keeps me reading long after I should have stopped for the night. Can’t wait for the next book!
--Rollye James, “The Rollye James Show,” XM Satellite Radio
Congratulations Del!
Del will be part of a group of award winning authors to tour US Navy library facilities,
schools, and local communities in Naples, Sicily and in Rota, Spain.
Del will speak before a variety of audiences about history, about reading, and about his book The Lady Gangster.
Read more about this exciting trip on the Military Writers Society of America web site.