On my recent trip to Texas for business (ArcBest), I started and finished a fantastic baseball and history book called “The Cloudbuster Nine,” by author Anne R. Keene. Truth be told, I saw Ted Williams in the cover’s photo and read the book’s subtitle, “The untold story of Ted Williams and the baseball team that helped win World War II,” and I was sold. I read the book, nearly 350 pages of interviews, historical text and some incredible black and white photos, in just about a week’s time. Do you love World War II history, love reading about how our men and women enlisted and trained for the war, and how baseball fit into the narrative of the day? Great, then you will love this book as much as I did.

In my opinion, some of the best tales, stories, and experiences are the result of random acts of something. You stumble upon a dirt road which leads you to a historic baseball field in ruins. You research one subject and find a treasure in the deep dive that is more impactful to you then the original subject. You meet and interview someone about a certain subject, only to find out they were a master at another subject and you are completely blown off course and caught off guard. Some of my favorite baseball experiences came from random visits to parks, games, and stadiums that I had zero expectation of a story. Some of my favorite baseball interviews have absolutely nothing to do with the list of prepared questions I had for the interview subject. This book’s author, had a very similar thing happen to her around the passing of her father. Keene discovered a wonderful world of history that few wrote about, few journaled about, and even fewer could claim to have access to the kinds of stories and photos in this book.

Men from coast to coast, women even, were enlisting in the Military in the 1940s to help America win World War II. The events of Pearl Harbor, the attack on our American soil resonated with Americans, even professional athletes and coaches. Did they curl up and let others fight the good fight? Nope, they enlisted – Ted Williams, Joe DiMaggio, Johnny Pesky, Johnny Sain, Yogi Berra, Duke Snider, as did so many brave professional football players, boxers, and Olympic athletes. They sacrificed their professional athletic careers to fight for Uncle Sam. Courageous, honorable, patriotic adjectives do not begin to describe their dedication to the United States of America.

Keene’s family history is woven into this story of the infamous Pre-Flight School in Durham, North Carolina circa 1940s, around the time of World War II. It was here at the Pre-Flight School that an assembly of Who’s Who in American War History gathered. There were NCAA Football Coaches who taught toughness and the brutality of combat. There were skilled survival experts who taught cadets how to make it home in the event you landed in a wooden, unfamiliar area – what to eat, how to find shelter, how to make it back to base camp alive. There were Washington D.C. smart tanks and military brass and somehow, a baseball team enters the story with one of the most famous baseball players of that era, Ted Williams. When many think of Ted Williams they think “greatest hitter of all-time” or Boston Red Sox LF’er or fly fishing extraordinaire. Williams was a Navy pilot and a damn good one at that. Williams may be one of the greatest hitters of all-time, I would go a step further and say Ted Williams is one of the greatest Americans of all-time.

How did they build the school? Why was Durham, North Carolina and the University of North Carolina chosen as a flight school location? Who was there? Who assembled this All-Star roster of teachers, trainers, and instructors that would help develop an elite brand of military person? Who trained them (spoiler alert there were so major league folks running this school) and what impact did they make? How did Williams fit into the story, being that he was so famous even before getting to Pre-Flight? How did the Cloudbuster Nine do against other competition, from other bases, and other teams in the area? How many future Presidents of the United States were at that NC Pre-Flight School? And US Senators and other distinguished American journalists, illustrators, and historical figures. What was the author’s father’s role on the base and what other relatives of Keene were involved in that Pre-Flight School? Who were some of the Major League heroes who sacrificed their MLB time for Uncle Sam to fight in World War II? All and so much more are answered expertly in “The Cloudbuster Nine.”

I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves reading about baseball in the 1940s, history of war time America, and how the priorities of that generation differ from modern times. Great read, amazing photos, heartwarming story, beautiful writing, hard to put down, and can’t wait to share it with others who love a great story.