War Zone is the story of the time the enemy entered America’s
front door unhindered, when the United States suffered but
overcame the German U-boat menace. For seven months, black smoke
and orange flames from torpedoed vessels filled the ocean skies
from New England to New Orleans. Explosions rattled window panes
and the nerves of coastal residents. Beaches were awash with
wreckage, oil, empty lifeboats, and bodies. The majority of
these attacks occurred off the North Carolina coast. “Why didn’t
I know about this?” many people ask about one of the most
spellbinding but least-known chapters of American history.
Decades of military secrecy, reluctance by those involved to
remember painful memories, and the disregard of this important
history in educational curriculums are a few of the answers. War
Zone is a gripping panorama of the shameful betrayal of merchant
sailors, of young Coast Guard recruits watching helplessly as
sailors plunged into pools of burning oil, and of the baby born
in a lifeboat. Learn about