Rear Admiral John G. Crommelin

This book is based on a large collection of materials donated to the National Museum of Naval Aviation in Pensacola, Florida. They reveal, among other things, a highly regarded naval officer who sacrificed his career by releasing classified documents to the press and by chasing non-existent conspiracies, pursuits that eventually cost him his career. Crommelin obsessed with the specter of high-ranking Department of Defense military leaders circumventing civilian control of the armed forces and creating a 'militarized' United States of America, presumably with these generals in charge of the enterprise. His fixation with conspiracies is first manifest in his pursuit of the 'Green Bowl Society' and culminates in his white supremacist, anti-Semitic, segregationist post-naval aspirations for various political offices in the State of Alabama. Crommelin was a captive of his own southern culture. He spent much of his post naval career unsuccessfully resisting the inevitable shift toward racial equality. This aspect of Crommelin's life would almost certainly appeal to those interested in the study of social change in a segregated society. To this day Crommelin is a revered and well-known name in Alabama. Criticism of one of their iconic sons will not be viewed charitably by many.