Local author honored by military writers group
EL CENTRO – Bill
Gay said he joined the Military Writers Society of America so that they would review his book. That went even better than he hoped on Saturday when the organization presented his “Unseen Body Blows” a silver medal in its annual awards.
“I am thrilled to be honored with a medal from the Military Writers Society of America,” Gay said Monday.
Gay published “Unseen Body Blows: The ‘Fighting LST 479’ and Its Seven Pacific Campaigns, 1943-1945” in April 2019. He said part of his learning curve as a first-time author has been finding reviewers to help expand awareness of his book. He said some review services, such as Kirkus, require authors to pay for reviews.
That idea was a non-starter, as far as Gay was concerned. That’s one of the reasons why he turned to the MWSA. Aside from there being no charge for reviews, the opportunity for a critical assessment of his work from a peer group was appealing. MWSA is a nationwide association of authors, poets and artists who have a military affiliation. Most are either active duty military, retirees or veterans.
“I was looking for meaningful commentary on the book,” Gay said. “Winning an award was gravy as far as I was concerned.”
“Unseen Body Blows” is the story of life aboard one of the original World War II tank landing ships as it operated in seven
Pacific campaigns. Gay’s father, Alex, was one of the first “plank-owner” crew members aboard the ship, LST 479, where he served as communications officer.
The book details the lives of crew members who began service aboard LST 479 as a group of inexperienced amateurs. Over the course of the 1,046-day life of this ship, they became proficient warfighters.
“This book seeks to bring literary life back to this long-forgotten ship that was quickly taken out of service and scrapped after the war,” Bill Gay said. “These ships were considered expendable, and their individual contributions were, frankly, lost. My intent of writing this book was, in some small way, to add them to the recorded history of World War II.”
He said sources used in his book included an enlisted crew member’s secret journal that the author discovered at the University of Pennsylvania library; Alex Gay’s personal papers; interviews with crew members and their relatives, and numerous ships’ logs and other wartime records.
The book’s title is derived from comments in a postwar history written by an anonymous crewman aboard the LST. “Our ship slipped in those almost unseen body blows” that led to the defeat of Japan.
There were 81 books submitted into the 2020 MSWA judging. Three separate judges evaluated and scored the entries. Fifty-five received high enough scores to be declared finalists and qualify for either a bronze, silver or gold medal depending on the level of the score. Gay’s book was one of seven in the history category.
In its review of the book, the MWSA noted, “From the concept, design, and building of the LSTs in general — and LST 479 in particular — to amusing images of inexperienced crews tooling around the coast of California in newly designed, built, and delivered LSTs, to early adventures in the Aleutians, to the harrowing Pacific battles in 1944 and 1945, William Gay both educates and entertains the reader. … LST 479 herself becomes a beloved ‘action’ character. Her journey from shiny new vessel to a tired-old rusting hulk, to the proverbial scrap heap is both educational and fun.”
Alex Gay, who after the war had a career in advertising and public relations and was a twoterm El Centro city councilman, died in 1990.
Bill Gay, who is president of Reliance Public Relations and co-publisher of Imperial Valley Alive magazine, also served in the Navy, as did his grandfather, who was commanding officer at Balboa Naval Hospital in San Diego.
“Navy blue and gold runs deep in my veins,” Bill Gay said.
Information about the awards, as well as the complete MWSA review, can be found at http://www.mwsadispatches.com/2020-season.
More information about the book is available at www.unseenbodyblows.com and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/unseenbodyblows/.
The book is for sale locally at Greens Jewelry and Gifts, 670 Broadway, El Centro; Auctions and Antiques, 455 W State St., El Centro; the Imperial Valley Pioneers Museum, and Reliance Public Relations, Inc., 1850 W. Main St., El Centro. It is also available online through Amazon, Barnes and Noble and FriesenPress.