Good Night Officially: The Pacific War Letters of a Destroyer Sailor

by William M. McBride (Editor)

The Moluccas Islands; the invasions of Leyte, Mindoro, and Luzon; Iwo Jima; Okinawa—these and other important naval actions of World War II are vividly recounted by an enlisted sailor and former journalist, Orvill Raines, in poignant and graphic letters to his wife.

The story of the young sailor and his shipmates aboard the destroyer Howorth, serving in the Pacific in 1944 and 1945, comes alive in Good Night Officially, first published in 1994. Edited and introduced by historian William M. McBride, the letters tell of the routine and boredom, fear and bravery of those who reclaimed the Pacific for the United States and its allies. They also tell a sweet and sad story of the love of Raines for his wife—sad, because Raines, posthumously awarded the Purple Heart, was killed in an air attack on April 6, 1945. This volume bears testament to the sacrifice and victory of Raines and his fellow “bluejackets.”

Genres: Naval History, World War II

326 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 1994

About the author

William McBride is professor of history at the United States Naval Academy.

Reviews

[Elisabeth]

I read this for research, and had to skim and cram a bit owing to a library due date, so I can't review it as thoroughly as I might have otherwise. I can say it's definitely a fine primary source for studying life aboard a WWII destroyer. Raines was a reporter in civilian life, so his letters include a good deal more observation and description of places and events that other WWII letters home that I've seen. (He's also pretty blunt in describing some more gruesome things he witnessed.) But by far the defining characteristic of the letters is his intense homesickness and longing for his wife, reiterated along with profuse declarations of his love for her in nearly every single letter.

I was actually pretty amazed how freely Raines discussed battles and locations, although he usually waited until able to do so in the past tense. Though he mentions letters being censored, there's only two instances of it in the letters selected for this book, though he gives quite detailed eyewitness accounts of what he could see of the Leyte Gulf and Iwo Jima campaigns.

What I personally found annoying were the editorial footnotes, which, rather than merely elucidating technical terms or historical events mentioned in the text, found it necessary to psychoanalyze Raines' comments on the enemy, his and his shipmates' responses to danger, his own emotions, etc.

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good Night Officially is a must read for anyone who wants to understand the average sailor's life and meaning. I have told students to read this book and each time they have a life changing experience. Raines writing places the reader in the U.S.S. Howarth and the reader likes thes kind and loving man.

The reader will feel voyeristic in reading the passion between Raines and his wife but the reader will feel lucky in the end reading this work.

My only criticism of this edition is that it has by William M. McBride who is the editor. Mr. McBride is not the author it is James Orvill Raines who was a gifted writer and these letters to his wife shouldn't have McBride's name other than edited by.

Good Night Officially and Pacific War Diary by James Fahey are must reads to understand what sailors went through and how lucky we are to know Mr. Fahey and Mr. Raines through their writing.