5 comments about Black Cadet in a White Bastion: Charles Young at West Point.

1. There was a great deal to learn from a story that is over 100 years old. I was unfamiliar with the story of racism at the military academy and this thoroughly researched book provides a great deal of context and thought provoking observations that are useful today.
   
   The author is challenged with finding authoritative resources long after the trail has gone cold but does a great deal of first-hand reporting unearthing historic letters and photos.
   
   I understand there will be followups to this edition which should be a welcome addition to what appears to be a rather small bibliography on the subject.



2. Most biographies are about extraordinary people who accomplish extraordinary things. But the story of an ordinary person who makes the most of everything he has can be even more compelling. This is why Black Cadet in a White Bastion is well worth reading. It is a tale of accomplishment through simple perseverance, not complex genius. Brain Shellum details the slave community of Young's birth, the freeman's community of his youth, and the West Point environment where Young struggled for social and academic survival.
   
   Charles Young lived a century before there were television ads selling the Army as the place where you can "Be all you can be." He was ahead of his time, and his story is an inspiration to anyone who seeks to follow in his footsteps, to overcome the odds against them. Author Brian Shellum performs a great service by portraying Young's faults along with his strengths so that we can fully appreciate how hard he had to work to earn his stripes.



3. My book club recently read this insightful biography of Charles Young's birth through graduation from West Point with unanimous praise for Shellum's writing style and solid research. While many military bio's are dense and slow, this book reads with ease and quick pace. As two of our club members are alumni of The Academy, I was not surprised to learn from them that the descriptions of campus life and traditions were accurate and much the same for Young as those from late this century.



4. What an inspiring story! Luck, pluck and a narrow window of opportunity all lined up for Charles Young, a young African American teacher from Ohio, who knocked on West Point's doors in 1884 and found them open to him. I'm amazed that West Point enrolled Blacks in that period. But as historian and author, Brian Shellum, tells us in BLACK CADET IN A WHITE BASTION, for a short period after 1884, a few African Americans were accepted at West Point. Soon after Young graduated, the military school barred African Americans for fifty years!
   
   Shellum explains that Young struggled at West Point because of intolerance as well because of its challenging curriculum. But Young was a man who never gave up, depending on hard work, tutors, mentors, friends and family to carry him to graduation.
   
   The author outlines the challenges of writing about an individual whose color relegated him to a shadowy existence at West Point. Yet with some diligent and creative research, Shellum pieces together a biography of a hero who clearly became the Colin Powell of his time.
   
   I look forward to Shellum's next installment of Charles Young's extraordinary journey.



5. I've just finished reading this skillfully researched book about Charles Young's life. From his birth to parents with roots in Southern slavery to his graduation from West Point, it's a story that reflects a strength of character and purpose against the many odds of the time in which he lived. His struggle against the racism of the time is a story that begs to be told.

No comments about A Just and Righteous Cause: Benjamin H. Grierson's Civil War Memoir.

1 comments about Where the Ashes Are: The Odyssey of a Vietnamese Family.

1. The author, having grown up in an uppler-class family with aristocratic scholarly roots in the central region, thus gives another perspecitve to the Vietnam experience. His father, Nguyen Vän -Dãi (pen name Hoàng Liên), was a high-ranking civil servant who oversaw the central region from his office in Danang. During the Tet Offensive of 1968 in Hue, where the family had come to visit the author's grandparents, the father was taken away by the communists. Transferred from one prison camp to another for twelve years, he was finally released and reunited with his wife who had stayed behind in Vietnam to care for their mentally-ill daughter, who eventually died. The author, who had left VN in 75 at seventeen, was reunited with his parents in 1984. In 1989, the author returned to Vietnam on a radio assignment, and only in the last chapter before the epilogue does he tell of his visit. The book is more about the story of his family from 1968 onward than a personal memoir. The writing is direct, not sentimental, rough at times, but always expressive of compassion for Vietnam and its people. His love for the land of his birth allows him to be objective against the opposing political viewpoints that are expressed ironically all in the name of "loving the country." Though he is grateful to be live in the land of opportunity, he maintains a wariness of the excessiveness, cold routine, and "green-lawn" conformity of American society. In the epilogue he writes: "I know that my notions of my homeland are romanticized. But I am also aware of the difficulties I would face if I were to return to live and work in Vietnam. And yet, how could I not yearn for the open and gracious ways of the Vietnamese, from city folks to villagers, who smile and share with me everything from food to time and wisdom? How could I not be drawn to a people whose foremost quality is their ability to sustain unceasing hardship and loss, all the while retaining hope and faith and dignity? How could I not be drawn to a people whose dark-humored cynicism can also easily blossom into radiant innocent? How could I not be drawn to a people who can easily laugh in the midst of their own misery? I miss it all so deeply, and I want it all back, yet I know that going home and staying there is nearly impossible." He closes with, "Perhaps I will come to accept life in America. In the end, it is imperfect, and it will always remain so, for to me it is not home. But it will be the place where my parents have found a home, and the place where my parents were given back to me. As for Vietnam--perhaps I should be content that it may one day be the home of my children. It may be they who, in the future, will welcome me back there. And they will know, they will know, to bring my ashes home." This last wish of his is probably futile, but I can share in his feelings about his predicament: always longing for Vietnam yet knowing one can never live there but always feeling that the US is not one's true home. One exists in a floating exile-like state, not self-imposed or politically-imposed, but imposed by the circumstance.

2 comments about Mississippi to Madrid: Memoir of a Black American in the Abraham Lincoln Brigade.

1. An excellent book, which pays attention to an episode in history, that should not be forgotten. In simple words James Yates makes clear the relationship between his struggle for civil rights in the US and his later contribution to the International Brigades in Spain. Also his courage to go on with his activities after the Worldwar, as his pictures show, is impressive...



2. This book is one of the greatest books I bought at the time when I was in the US. Pete Seeger wrote about the book: This is a great story, a great read, and has a great lesson to teach young Americans , black and white, of how you can be strongly rooted in your home community and at the same time see a sense of kindship with working people around this whole world. The battle to save the elected Loyalist government of Spain 50 years ago was the first battle in World War II. The Abraham Lincoln Brigade and others may have lost a battle but they didn't lose the war, nor have lost it yet. Carry on! I want to send all my respect to the members of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, your international solidarity which you showed in the battle against the fascist Franco regime will never be forgotten, we will never forget you bright stars in the darkness.

5 comments about Company C: An American's Life as a Citizen-Soldier in Israel.

1. COMPANY C: AN AMERICA'S LIFE AS A CITIZEN-SOLDIER IN ISRAEL tells of an American-born immigrant to Israel who was drafted into the army and assigned to the reserve infantry which would be his world for his next twenty years, from 1984 until 2002. His soldier experience in Israel provides readers with unique insights into not only Israel's army's structure and experience, but into Israeli issues and culture. It's a fine addition for any collection serious about not just world military experience, but Israeli society as a whole.
   
   Diane C. Donovan
   California Bookwatch



2. One reason this book so deeply impressed me is that I know something about the realities which Watzman writes about. I also served for years, though not as many as he, in the reserves of the Israeli Army. However my service was not a level comparable to Watzman's, and it was especially interesting for me to learn and read about what service at the 'next level' might be.
   I also was impressed by 'factual accuracy' of the work. Watzman describes himself as a runner, and as a soldier as someone who is 'consistent'. It seems to me that he is also like this as a writer , consistent and reliable.
   In the course of describing his fifteen years of reserve duty Watzman gives the picture of a typical Israeli Army reserve unit. Israel is a country in which there are immigrants from over eighty different countries, and in which there is an enormous diversity in backgrounds, and outlooks.His depiction of his own relation to the other long- time regulars of the unit, who become his friends is one of the best parts of the book. Watzman's loyalty to them and to the company he serves, and to Israel itself are another distinguishing feature of the work, another point, which to my mind makes the work so admirable.
   One of the major themes of the work is Watzman's moral dilemnas as he is called upon to serve in areas he does not believe Israel should hold on to. He guards in Tel Romeida in Hebron , and serves in Jenin , and in the Arab village of Beni Haim. He tests his own belief and practice, against the practical realities and has the guts to know when he is wrong. For instance he initially believes the best way to treat the Arab villagers is to leave them completely to themselves, not interfere with them. But then he discovers that they take this as weakness, and violence is the result. He comes to understand a policy of firmly making it clear who is in charge leads to a better situation all around, with fewer injuries to the villagers. Nonetheless he remains a decent moral human being throughout . And he indicates not by declaration but through tens of examples that the Israeli Army is by and large made up of decent people whose aim is to defend their own homes and people, and not do wanton injury to their enemies.
   Watzman shows how the reserve soldiers he is serving with are truly volunteers. They could get out of their duty if they wished. He is a particularly persistent faithful soldier, returning to his unit even when offered ways out. He gives us many interesting dialogues between the soldiers, including political ones. What I found especially impressive in him was his resistance to cliches and slogans and his ability to look at the complexity of the factual reality, the true situation on the ground, even when it did not fit his own ideal conception.
   This is at times a distressing and difficult book but it is ultimately an inspiring one.



3. Watzman does probably the best job that can be done of describing, with movie-like realism, what it means to be Israeli and serve in the military reserves. I wonder if any American realizes what they're reading--it's so far out of their experience, even these days when American reservists are serving in Iraq. It's different. The closest parallel in America is the Minutemen of New England where I grew up, but over 200 years ago.
   
   The story also succeeds in conveying something which both news and documentary rarely touch: the on-the-ground consequences of political and economic, as well as military, decisions. A budget cut here, a policy waffle there, and we all say "tsk, tsk" and go to sleep at night. If you're in the Israeli reserves, you don't sleep, and maybe you don't eat, or you freeze, or risk your or your friends' lives unnecessarily. All of us who live in democracies and don't fight should think twice before they express this or that opinion without considering the consequences.
   
   Speaking of politics, then, careful readers will fall into two categories. Left-wing readers will be proud of Watzman's well-intentioned stances based on principle, but won't notice the consistent omission of large parts of recent centuries' world history that should bear on his decision-making. Right-wing readers will simply boggle at how someone could give so much to his country, have so many Arabs try to kill him and his family, and yet remain unshaken in his belief in Arab goodwill.
   
   All in all, Watzman does us a service, and gives us a gift, by telling his story, and that of his comrades, his family, and his (our) country.
   
   I just would have hoped that he ended up with, and thus raised for his readers, more questions, rather than answers.



4. Read this book to learn about what's happening on the ground in Israel from the point of view of a working family man. Perhaps unintentionally, Watzman shows how the endless war is grinding down the average Israeli, how hopelessness has infiltrated every aspect of Israeli society, how social institutions are breaking down and how a zealous and extremist minority exercises a hugely disproportionate amount of power over the beleaguered majority. And this with billions of dollars of aid annually from the United States, turning Israel into a dollar junkie. The most moving parts of the book show the constant dilemma of working-class Israeli men as they struggle to make a living while fulfilling their duty, a duty many of them now do not want to have.
   
   Watzman's politics are sober and his morals are admirable, yet he consistently finds arguments to sabotage both. He bases these arguments on notions of loyalty to his comrades--loyalty which is no doubt real--but it puts into question just serious is his political and moral opposition to the occupation of Palestinian territories.



5. I loved Anthony Swofford's Gulf War memoir, Jarhead, but with no disrespect to its author or to Kirkus Reviews which calls it "an Israeli Jarhead", Company C offers a far richer reading experience. American-born Watzman served for almost 20 years in the Israeli military, starting with the regular army in 1982, moving to the reserves in '84. This period covers a broad swath of modern Israeli history, and Watzman brilliantly demnstrates how he was able (overcoming personal conflicts) to mix his political views -- anti-settlements -- with his soldierly duties, which often required defending settlers and unapologetically executing missions to which he was opposed in principle. His company C contained people from across the full spectrum of Israeli politics (die-hard expansionists to socialistic peaceniks to religious zealots). Watzman showed exceptional dedication in doggedly reporting for duty year after year into middle age, leaving his work and wife and 4 kids every year to report for front-line duty, when so many of his peers were easily managing to escape reservist service. Even after an illness left him permanently disabled and almost crippled and he'd passed his 40th birthday (ancient for a footsoldier), Watzman insisted on doing battle for his adopted country. He is a true hero and patriot and a wonderfully entertaining writer.

2 comments about The Revolutionary War Memoirs Of General Henry Lee.

1. Anyone with a sobriquet of "Lighthorse Harry" sets up some expectations with his memoirs, but this book delivers on them. Not only does the book take you into the thick of battle in the Revolutionary War's "Southern Campaign", it also takes you to deliberations about how the Colonists reacted to British Rule and what kind of government America should have and how it should solve practical issues of the day. Henry Lee was there for all of it as one of the "Lees of Virginia". This book has a zest and pacing that gently draws the reader in for the next installment.



2. Lee's work is well written and, in some cases, provides the only description of the legion of battles and skirmishes that characterized the Southern Campaign. The reader needs to keep in mind that Lee wrote in the 18th century tradition of exagerating one's own triumphs and glossing over any shortcomings. Lee likewise writes in a seemingly authoritative manner about events where he wasn't present. For example his condemnation of the NC militia at the battle of Guilford CH has influenced most subsequent accounts although Lee wasn't aware that their orders allowed them to leave the field after delivering up two rounds. In contrast he fails to mention the flight of the Virginia militia in the right wing. Given these faults, Lee's work is still the best of it's kind. Any Rev War library should have a copy.

3 comments about When Hell Froze Over: The Memoir of a Korean War Combat Physician Who Spent 1010 Days in a Communist Prison Camp.

1. When Hell Froze Over
   
   The Memoir of a Korean War Combat Physician who spent
   1010 Days in a Communist Prison Camp
   
   William Shadish MD w/ Lewis Carlson
   
   iUniverse, Inc. , Lincoln NE: 2007
   159pages with photos, notes and Appendix
   
   Dr. William Shadish is now 84 years old, retired from his practice of Plastic and Hand Surgery since 1992, and retired after twenty years of Army service in 1966. He is busy in his retirement in California, tending his roses and polishing his fossils with his beloved wife, Karen. But he has some tidying of affairs and some scores to settle, and this self published memoir, is an attempt to set the record straight.
   
   Bill Shadish was one of five surviving US Army physicians captured in our `Forgotten War,' in Korea from 1950 to 1953. Four died and there were three British and a Turkish physician who crossed paths with him in captivity. Thus a total of at least 13 physicians were captured. According to the official records, there were 7245 Americans captured. 4418 were repatriated, 2806 died in captivity, and 21 refused repatriation. By contrast there were over 80,000 Chinese and North Koreans captured, with over 10,000 deciding not to go home, but to settle in South Korea or Taiwan, after intense political jockeying by both sides. But that is another story, very admirably told in Ha Jin's brilliant and intense novel, War Trash.
   
   I am particularly interested in Dr. Shadish's compelling narrative, as I was the only physician captured in another war somewhat southwest of Korea, in Vietnam. He was held 1010 days, and I was held 1932 days, with 1075 in the jungle, and 857 in the jails of Hanoi. My experience was similar to his, but on a much smaller scale. In my camp in the jungle of South Vietnam, we had 27 prisoners. Five were released, twelve survived and ten died. The statistics are about the same he witnessed the first year of his captivity....about 50% mortality. He stated that the first year was horrible with no food, clothing or medicine and that conditions improved after the first year in the subsequent camps with a precipitous increase in living standards and fall in the death rate. My story is similar, though, it took about three years for conditions to improve. We died until we got to North Vietnam.
   Dr. Shadish's book is organized chronologically: he begins with his early life, one of a large family of Slovenian immigrants in the coal mining region of Pennsylvania. His family was very ethnic, hard working and poor. He joined the Army in 1945 too late for combat, but got a pre medical education. He left the Army for a while, but under its aegis went to medical school and then went back in, just in time, June 1950.
   
   David Halberstam, in his final book, the riveting history of the Korean War, The Coldest Winter emphasizes that American troops were poorly trained and led, and living the soft life as garrison soldiers in Japan when suddenly they were catapulted into the Korean maelstrom. The In Min Gung (North Korean Army) was a lot better than anyone realized and quickly had Eighth Army troops trapped in the Pusan area. Captain Shadish who was by then a battalion surgeon with the 2nd Battallion, 9th Infantry Regiment was one of these. These August, 1950 days were the bleakest, , but thanks to superior air and firepower, these elements of the 2nd Infantry Division were able to stave off annihilation, and survive another day.
   Unfortunately, the 24th Infantry Division fighting alongside the 2nd was almost destroyed and its commander captured. General William Dean, was captured and incarcerated in Manchuria, basically in solitary confinement until the end of the war. Captain Shadish met him and greatly admired him after the war, and shared a podium or two with General Dean. General Dean gave him a ride to CONUS from Japan on his plane. Dean, perhaps the most famous POW of the war, received the Medal of Honor, and epitomized a humble, honorable soldier, who felt good soldiers don't get captured. Although, his courage and fortitude were exemplary, critics have questioned his disposition of troops and their tactics and training. And even he himself was criticized for acting like a rifelman rather than a Division Commander in the Battle for Pusan. His story is very admirably told in his self effacing autobiography, General Dean's Story. Dr Shadish repeats a stunning vignette which is in General Dean's book: one of his guards in Manchuria, a Chinese soldier, defected, probably because of Dean's indoctrination about America, went to Taiwan, and then came to visit Dean in the States. What wonderful irony.
   In Halberstam's The Coldest Winter, the main villain is not Mao or Stalin or even Kim Il Sung. It's none other than Douglas MacArthur, Commander of all forces in the Far East. He's portrayed as vainglorious and out of touch, and very ill served by his sycophantic deputies. But in the war's most brilliant stroke, the Inchon invasion in September, 1950, MacArthur and X Corps commander, Ned Almond landed behind North Korean lines and pushed on toward the Yalu. That was the problem. The Chinese came into the war in massive numbers for which America and its UN allies were totally unprepared. General MacArthur had assured his superiors in Washington that it would never happen. It happened.
   Captain Shadish's unit got caught in the Gauntlet at Kunu-ri and he was captured by ahugely numerically Chinese force in November, 1950. Oddly, he vaguely criticizes the 23rd Regiment for escaping to the west on another highway, and leaving his unit and others at the mercy of the Chinese. Halberstam notes that COL Paul Freeman (later 4 Star General Freeman), commander of the 23rd, was an outstanding leader who did exactly the right thing to find and lead his men out.
   Captain Shadish spent the rest of the war until 1953 in captivity. He was in three main camps...Death Valley, Camp 5, and Camp 2. The better part of the first year, at least until the summer of 1951 was very hard. They lost about half of their men. He had to contend with the same diseases that we did in Vietnam...malnutrition and vitamin deficiencies, malaria, dysentery, pneumonia, and other infections. His men, as ours, lost 50% of their body weight, were ravaged by infectious disease, beri beri heart disease, protein deficiency edema, and mental and physical stress which was overwhelming. He describes a lot of the mental aberrations that I saw...blocking out the world, loss of structural and reality based thinking, loss of the will to live, profound despair and hopelessness. In addition they had to contend with a bone chilling cold and didn't have adequate clothing or nutrition. In these circumstances, minor and inconsequential problems become serious and life threatening.
   His treatment improved when he got to Camp 5 and improved more at Camp 2. They were allowed to write and receive letters and got winter clothing and better food and shelter and some Red Cross packages once negotiations started in the summer of 1951. The first half of his captivity, he had a small hospital, was allowed to practice medicine with rudimentary instruments (there were five doctors), was taught to extract teeth by a British doctor, and even treated the Chinese Camp Commander for pneumonia (and was repaid later with food).
   He says that after the first year, the death rate dropped precipitously from about 50% to almost zero.
   Like Dr Shadish, I was forced to sign death certificates for prisoners written in a foreign language. Like Dr Shadish, I saw starving prisoners trade food for cigarettes. Like Dr Shadish's group, our group made up elaborate menus of food we wished we had, and never thought much about sex. Hunger is a much greater drive.
   He made every effort to keep his own and others spirits up, and tried to enforce sanitation and hygiene in his camps.
   I was never allowed to practice and given no instruments or medicine but what we could hoard. We never received Red Cross packages or letters from home until the peace was signed in January, 1973.
   In his last camp, he lived with officers and was not allowed to practice medicine. It was just a jail to be endured until the end.
   The Korean War was the first war in which political indoctrination was a hallmark of the treatment of prisoners. They received numbing and interminable lectures on Communism and so did we. They had self criticizing meetings and so did we. Our group, like his, tried to make a joke of it, but the Communists attempted to use the POWs to indoctrinate and for propaganda purposes. This was a radical shift in the historical treatment of POWs.
   When the PWs were exchanged at the end of the Korean War in Operation Big Switch and Little Switch (about 400 very sick and wounded were exchanged first), there were rumbles of criticism of how the PWs had behaved in this very different conflict. Dr Shadish spends the last quarter of his book defending his and his fellow prisoners behavior and attacking with no subtlety those who attempted to denigrate and sully the honor of his comrades. It was said that the Turks were the most admirable and toughest of the UN prisoners, and the Americans, British and French should have behaved more like them. [Again, Halberstam, states that the Turks were disorganized as soldiers, and not up to the performance of their duties and missions; so there is controversy about this].
   Army psychiatrist, William Mayer, and journalist, Eugene Kinkaid criticized the behavior of our PWs in Korea, and much later David Hackworth, the retired Army colonel and publicity seeking contrarian publicly chastised and violently disapproved the POW's record in Korea. Neither of these men were ever captured, had no idea what went on behind the lines, could not identify with the unspeakable hardship and cruelty endured by the prisoners, and receives scathing and effective criticism from the pen of Dr Shadish.
   There was a widespread public perception that our POWs in Korea didn't behave honorably because of the writings of Kinkaid and Mayer. Out of that came the Code of Conduct which is supposed to be a guide, a resource, and a refuge for the captured soldier....perhaps wounded, sick, lonely, hopeless and despairing, but never abandoned. In 1974, I participated in a committee of former POWs at the Pentagon which included two MOH winners, to revise the Code. We did make slight but non substantive revisions, but the essence remained the same: to resist to the limits of ones endurance and ability, and to have faith in the United States of America.
   The last part of When Hell Froze Over, details Dr Shadish's life after captivity. He was debriefed and interrogated when he returned and for a while there was some suspicion of his and his fellows' behavior while captured. His fellow prisoners were glowing in their approbation of him, and after a brief time, the pall was lifted and he stayed in service for a very productive and fruitful career as a plastic and hand surgeon. He settled in Northern California after his twenty years of active duty and practiced very successfully for another 26 years until his retirement. He brings the reader up to date on his family and his hobbies and reprints some speeches he gave about the suffering of POWs and includes as an appendix the nature of the diseases their group suffered in captivity. I was struck by how similar his experience was to mine.
   One of his sons, Dr William Shadish, Jr. is famous in his own right as a well known psychologist. If one googles `William Shadish', there are more references to his son than to him.
   Apparently, Dr Shadish felt the need to convince the reader of his exemplary behavior while a POW. The beginning of the book has several testimonials to his heroism, his sacrifice, his protection and salvation of other prisoners. His co-author, Professor Lewis Carlson, spent several evenings with Dr Shadish, transcribing his story on tape, and then had some long telephone conversations with him to flesh out the memoir. Professor Carlson then wrote the book, which I presume was edited by Dr. Shadish as it was self published. If I have any criticism, it is that the writing is rather stark and pedestrian. Dr Shadish's personal story is gripping and compelling, and I believe deserves a better narrative than Professor Carlson can give it.
   This little book is an extraordinary story of an extraordinary man, who struggled against an unyielding and brutal enemy, and not only survived but was able to put it behind him, and go on with his life with great insight and humanity. He was the victim of a suspicious and ignorant Army, and conquered that specter with remarkable little bitterness. He was responsible for saving innumerable of his fellow comrades and emerged with dignity and grace and continued devoting himself to medicine and humanity, and has become a spokesman for those unable to speak for themselves. He reminds me of Dr. Edward "Weary" Dunlop, the Australian physician POW at the Bridge on the River Kwai. His courage, compassion and leadership saved thousands of lives in Thailand, and then he returned to his native Australia and became a well known spokesmen for veterans' and medical issues.
   Dr. Shadish is such a man, and his memoir will add very significantly to the POW medical literature. We should be very grateful for this addition.



2. This is a Korean POW story of starvation, disease, cold, neglect, abuse, depravation, exploitation and conscious reduction of fellow human beings and fellow soldiers to the lowest level of survival by a brutal unfeeling Chinese Communist enemy.
   This is a solid work which debunks the myths of collaboration created by journalist Eugene Kinkead's travesty "In Every War But One" and Major William E. Mayer's farcical "study" of 1,000 Korean RPOWs which tar brushed them all with "giveupitis" and a basic "lack of character". [It is frightening to remember that this very same incompetent Major Mayor would end up being RR's ASD (Health Affairs)]
   Unlike Mayer, Dr. Shadish was on the front lines with his troops. He was with them during the ordeal of captivity as a prisoner of war consciously choosing, even though an officer, to be part of an "Enlisted Camp" in an attempt to protect and serve his men. He was with them during the second ordeal of reintegrating into an unfriendly, unfeeling and uncomprehending Army and civilian world. He was with them as they struggled to obtain the benefits which were theirs by right from an unresponsive bureaucracy. He was with them all the way.
   I served with Dr. Shadish on the Department of Veterans Affairs Prisoner of War Advisory Committee on Prisoners of War and had the opportunity to get to know both "Doc" Shadish and his wife Karen. In our time together I had the opportunity to take the measure of the man, what makes him run, the level of his intelligence, the depth of his emotions, the intensity of his dedication, the sincerity of his motivations and the quality of his professionalism.
   The prism for my observations was my own thirty one years of military service, my six years plus as a POW in North Vietnam and my second career as a Clinical Social Worker. The conclusions I drew from my association with William R. Shadish MD is that he was and remains in truth a man for all seasons.
   His report is reliable. Read it and weep for the most forgotten of the forgotten war.



3. Refuting the myth one Korean POWs Perspective
   
   By Paul Galanti
   
   Review of When Hell Froze Over by William Shadish, M.D. and Lewis H. Carlson
   iUniverse Publishing, LLC. 157 pages, $26.95, 2007
   
   The personal heroics and care by Dr. Bill Shadish for his fellow POWs in the hell of the North Korean prisoner of war camps has been documented elsewhere. His fellow POWs praised his conduct under threats of death and not least of which are the citations for the actions he took under the most difficult of circumstances. The horrendous conditions and bitter cold caused the death of over half of the POWs. Into this hellhole arrived one of the Armys newest physicians wod ony recently compleed his residency.
   
   Tributes from his former comrades in the notorious Death Valley and Camp 5 consistently reveal how much the men in those camps thought of him. In addition to documenting the rudimentary medical treatment he was permitted to administer, Dr. Shadish also tracked the deaths of the many who were unable to recover from terrible wounds, disease and starvation. His records brought closure to many families after the Koren POWs were eventually repatriated in 1953.
   
   One of Dr. Shadishs major accomplishments made at great personal risk was confronting the Communist political cadres who deliberately starved the POWs in order to render them more susceptible to their incessant propaganda. Shadish continually pressed the camp authorities to keep on top of their efforts to force the POWs to collaborate with them for anti-US propaganda purposes. But Shadishs major accomplishment with this book is to refute the fact that the Korean POWs willingly cooperated with the enemy.
   
   It was just not so. Many of the men suffered the symptoms of dementia caused by their being undernourished starved and, while they apparently lost interest in living very few collaborated. It is Dr. Shadishs contention that several individuals not POWs themselves created the derogatory fiction of the image of open collaboration that stuck.
   
   Following liberation, Shadish refuted such charges at every opportunity throught the remainder of his 20 year military medicine career. He kept in touch with many of his fellow POWs and often treated them medically without charge. He served on the Secretary of Veterans Affairs Advisory Committee on Former POWs and used his medical expertise to cause the agency to change several policies with regard to POWs.
   
   He became a plastic surgeon and practiced in Northern California until recently.
   
   Also in the book are several illustrations and photographs that show the effort Dr. Shadish put into helping his fellow POWs following repatriation. There are several tributes to his caring and his care by his grateful compatriots.
   
   So why did a Vietnam Ex-POW review a book by a Korean POW? Several reasons. We were trained to resist the type of torture and pressure the Communists foisted first on the Korean POWs. Part of our Navy training had been accomplished by instructors who had been POWs in Korea. Having served with Dr. Shadish on the Secretarys Advisory Committee, I knew him personally and of drive and determination to overturn the bad rap the Korean POWs received from the Army.
   
   I share the same fond feelings toward Dr. Shadish as do, obviously, his co-author and the several Army Korean POWs who served with him in the hell-holes of North Korea.
   
   There are only a few truly good men in this world. Bill Shadish is one of them. Read his book and youll know why.
   
   -- PG

5 comments about Vietnam 1968-1969: A Battalion Surgeon's Journal.

1. I'm a Vietnam Veteran. The book would be much better if the good doctor didnt whine so much. He's whines about everything. And when he isnt whining he's kissing David Hackworth's butt. I mean, I wanted to cry when the poor-baby doctor was compelled by the evil army to treat grunts rather than continue his medical education in a rear-area hospital. And when Doc Poor-Baby finally became a REMF, he whined about that, too.
   
   Poor-Baby, MD whines about the endless hours of work yet has the time to write long, detailed letters to his girl-friend every day. This makes me suspicious of his veracity.
   
   Officers of every stripe had lives of comparative ease and comfort in Vietnam. And they pulled 6 months in combat zones, not 12 like the grunts.



2. This book by Dr. Byron E. Holley is a must-read for anyone who is interested in learning about the soldier's personal experiences in Vietnam. His personal accounts of nearly everyday ocourances while on his Tour Of Duty is so insightful. When I read this book it was like being there or being the relative who received the letters home from Vietnam. This book and its account of daily events on Dr. Holley's Tour freezes ones mind in time. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.



3. This awe-inspiring book reminds us of a war that some of us may have forgotten and others would like to. The words that Dr. Holley uses to describe his fears, concerns, and disgust with the war is a chilling reminder to us all. Dr. Holley tells his story in 1968-69 real-time by incorporating letters to his sweetheart and his parents. The book begins with Doc Holley receiving that wonderful letter from Uncle Sam stating that his medical services are needed so that his country may be served, through his one year tour-of-duty including his experiences with Col. Hackworth. You will hear this story from a man, a true man, who has saved countless lives and lives to tell about it. Dr. Holley captures his audience in this must-read for any person that survived his or her worst nightmare. This is simply a must read.



4. This awe-inspiring book reminds us of a war that some of us may have forgotten and other would like to. The words that Dr. Holley uses to describe his fears,concerns, and disgust with the war is a chilling reminder to us all. Dr. Holley tells his story in 1968-69 real-time by incorporating letters to his sweetheart and his parents. The book begins with Dr. Holley receiving that wonderful letter from Uncle Sam stating that his medical services are needed so that his country maybe served, through his one year tour-of-duty including his experiences with Col. Hackworth. You will hear this story from a man, a true man, who has saved countless lives and lives to tell about it. Dr. Holley captures his audience in this must-read for any person that survived his or her nightmares. This is simply a must-read.



5. This book is on the "Recommended Reading List" of Vietnam Veterans of America, Chapter 295, Indianapolis, Indiana

1 comments about Inman's War: A Soldier's Story of Life in a Colored Battalion in WWII.

1. Author Jeffrey Copeland (head of the Dept. of English Language and Literature, University of Northern Iowa) presents Inman's War: A Soldier's Story Of Life In A Colored Battalion In WW II, a narrative biography of an African-American who served in the American military prior to its integration under Harry S Truman. Drawn from one hundred and fifty letters written by Inman Perkins to his fiancee and later wife, Inman's War offers an intensely personal look at individual valor and suffering, and allows lay readers and historians alike to appreciate the contribution of "colored battalions" not only to the war effort, but to the improved egalitarianism of American culture. Highly recommended reading.

3 comments about The Exploits of Baron de Marbot.

1. All the history I've read about the Napoleonic Wars was a bird's eye view of grand maneuvers, but it's very difficult for a 21st century person to fathom what life must have been like in the inscrutably proper world of musket lines and lace. In this memoir, we find that the bygone culture of peasants and nobles fighting with sabers, muskets, and horses could still very much be populated by human beings not much unlike ourselves.
   
   Marbot's memoirs consist of two components: one is his own research into the events of the war, and reads much like a normal history book. Of much greater interest to us, however, is his personal recollections and stories, which is much like meeting the man in person over a beer and having him spew his opinions and experiences to you. Unfortunately, this edition does not retain as much of this personal flavor, instead choosing to retain the drier historical stuff that can be "ascertained". This is a pity, as there is a great deal we can learn about the times from Marbot's stories and rumors, inaccurate as some may be.
   
   The proper tone of this book masks from the reader the horrors that we read in today's memoirs, so it is left up to your imagination to grasp the full meaning of what "despair" or a "piteous sight" might refer to.
   
   The original is much less dry and bursts with period detail, although, much like what you might hear in a bar, is more suspect in its accuracy. It was also translated by a deeply biased Englishman, who is so fierce when he "corrects" every mention of English conduct in the footnotes that you begin to wonder just how trustworthy his translation might be. Being from another century, you will also encounter fierce anti-Semitism in a grand total of about 4 of the book's 700 pages, along with a derogatory remark slur on blacks, but this is to be expected reading a book from a less PC century.



2. I bought this book after reading "...Brigadier Gerard," by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle which was based upon the life of this
   man, Baron de Marbot. I'll have you know that I found it every bit as entertaining and fascinating as the "...Brigadier Gerard" book...even moreso for knowing that this fellow de Marbot really existed. When I read "...Brigadier Gerard," I was thinking how amazing some of the adventures were, or how fortunate he had been in this situation or in that one, but when I read about de Marbot, and of his incredible exploits, I was truly mesmerized. The coincidences..the simple twists of fate, the turns of fortune, the moments of chance...Hard to believe that this fellow experienced such awesome adventures... And all the while, amidst these adventures, we are kept abreast of the latest military tactics, the conditions of the land, the townsfolk and the soldiers, of all ranks during a period that seemed not to rest from battle... I tell you it is just a breathtaking piece of work (and for a female to say that is something indeed! )

   When I read this book I swear it felt so real that I could easily imagine the sounds of voices or of artillery fire, or of horses hooves pounding or sabres clashing...Even scents came alive..The scent of a grassy knoll, or of a smoldering fire, or even that of the decaying flesh of men and animals...I could see the uniforms becoming more and mroe soiled and tattered with wear and with time...I could see troops moving silently through shallow streams in the dead of night; the moonlight spread across the ground like a sheet...I could see men's breaths when the air turned cold, and I could feel their struggle within when they knew that the end was near, but dared to keep the field.

   This book simply pulls you in and doesn't let go. But that is quite alright. You won't WANT it to let go. It is every bit as much of a page-turner as "...Brigadier Gerard" was, and it gave me a sense of history that I failed to find in any of the books
   I studied in college. Marbot so intimately describes his friends, enemies, family, and fellow soldiers, that they became not only real to me, but almost familiar to me.

   Additionally, It did me well to remember a time when battles were fought in a much different manner than they are today... When words like Honor and Integrity and Duty and Loyalty were of paramount importance, and had substance,...They were not merely breath with sound.

   I cannot say enough positive things about this book, and to keep at it here would be like beating a dead horse. Let me just say this: If you are ever at a point where you just can't seem to decide on which direction you would like to go in with your next good read, try this one while you are working it out... More likely than not, when you are done, you will kick yourself for not having gotten it sooner. ( And try "... Brigadier Gerard " too! I have reviewd this as well...!! )




3. I'm a Napoleonic novice,and many things in this book are completely foreign to me, but this narrative gallops right along. This edited version makes me long for the full version. The author appears to write with both candor and a very dry sense of humor (I find myself wincing and laughing-I hope not inappropriately) about incredibly brutal battle exploits as well as about the behind-the-scenes politics. The author's sense of practicality, tempered with his sense of honor makes for a very appealing perspective on the events of the era. Further, it's truly amazing what the soldiers of that era had to deal with, just in terms of physical hardships (at least by today's standards). This book has served to seriously whet my appetite to read and to learn more about this period in history.