5 comments about Chicken Soup for the Veteran's Soul: Stories to Stir the Pride and Honor the Courage of Our Veterans.

1. This book is full of short stories by veteranns about veterans. I must recommend this book for anyone that has any affiliation to a veteran, simply the best, short stores from all wars and conflicts that will cause you to swell up with love and pride. This is a quick read and a must read, it certainly gave me pride to have worn the uniform. Mike - Des Moines, Iowa



2. If you never really appreciated a veteran, you definitely will after reading this book. This book has so many wonderful true stories about American veterans. Some of us never realize what they have to go through. I loved the whole book - it's hard for me to say which stories were my favorites.



3. This book was sent to me from a dear friend and I love this book so much. I think all Veterans will love it and heck anyone should. It is a book I will cherish always!



4. This book was given to me by a good friend. He thought I, as a Vietnam vet, would identify with some of the stories. It is one of the absolutely most enjoyable books I have ever read. I even slowed down my usual reading speed to savor the stories . Each day, in the sunshine of my patio, I read two or three stories. Every story got my full attention. I even found one story about a man I knew in the army. I adamently recommend this book to any veteran.



5. A truly wonderful book with numerous short tales about veterans.
   Perhaps I am prejudiced, being a retired USN radioman. These
   stories will uplift your spirits tremendously. Reading of the
   selfless actions of veterans throughout our nations history may
   add a new dimension to your life. What impressed me besides the
   shear joy of reading these stories is that each and every one
   was new to me. I suggest you keep some tissues nearby, this book
   will truly tug on your emotions. I've sent this book to 3 others
   so far. There's a huge series of Chicken Soup books. They all seem
   to be written with the same care as this one.
   
   
   UPDATE:
   
   At the start of 2007 I had one of those V8 moments and decided to start a mission for myself. It would be pretty
   easy. Simply it is to hand out a copy of this marvelous book to any veterans I might run across. Just a simple
   "thank you for your service" gift. I carry three in my car's glove box. I usually order 10 at a time here. So far I've handed out 50 copies. I really get into this! I was beside a guy in a truck at a red light with a VietNam decal on the bumper. I yelled over and asked if it was his. When he nodded yes I asked him to pull over I wanted to give him something. He pulled into an animal vet parking lot. Give him one, he had been in the USAF. I typed up a short note and staple them inside the cover telling a little about my service and what my mission was. Now that I have blown my own horn way too much I would like to toss out an idea. How about doing a similar thing where you live? You meet the greatest folks and feel super when you've handed another one out.
   
   Best Regards

5 comments about The Highway War: A Marine Company Commander in Iraq.

1. Having served with a Battalion of Marines back in my Naval Service days, I was unable to put down Major Seth Folsom's book on the Highway War. My impression of the Marine Officers with whom I served, their dedication to duty and to their men, left a lasting impression on me. Major Folsom's story reaffirms that admiration. What is so noteworthy is the maturing of a combat Marine who emerged as a competent professional able to meet any challenge under extreme stress and pressure to complete the assigned mission. First to use LAV's in combat, his unit encountered many imponderables and maitenance problems while continuing to move forward in the face of unknown enemy resistence. He never once failed to give credit to his Marines who fought under his command and alongside him. Their desire to stay in touch and close to him after returning from Iraq is evidence of the high regard they have for him. No higher acolade can be give than to have your enlisted troops want to serve with you again as they said in the book. Major Folsom represents the finest we have in the future core of military leaders. We need more of his kind if we are to maintain the freedom we enjoy.



2. I have read the previous comments of others both pro and con. I have known Major Folsom's father for many years. Quite obviously, the acorn fell close to the tree. His father is one of the most outstanding officers with whom I have had the privilege to associate. From reading this book, I feel confident that Major Folsom has inherited all of his father's outstanding qualities.
   
   Two matters were brought to light in reading this excellent documentation of his tour. First, I wish that I had the presence of mind to record a daily record of my tour as a squadron commander in RVN. Second, I commend Major Folsom for his honest evaluation of his accomplishments and his revelation of what he considered his failings.
   
   There are many who can understand the stress of combat because they have been there. The ground troops, perhaps more than any, face the true cruelty of the close-in combat environment. POWs, more than anyone, experience a different type of stress. No one can truly express the stress unless he or she have been there. There are far too many who critique the events without having ever experienced being there. Folsom has.
   
   Major Folsom's forthright analysis of his tour should be required reading for every newly commissioned officer of any branch. Folsom recently departed and is presently in-country on his second tour. I wish him and those men with him God-speed and shall look forward to a critique of this tour. May I add that I would be more than willing to serve with this officer anytime, any place as I have with his father.



3. I couldn't wait to read this book and when I finally got my copy, it wasn't all I thought it would be. Basically you follow the life of a young marine LAV Company Commander during OIF. He comes across many times as a whiner and someone I wouldn't want to work for. I felt sorry for his Marines many times when they had to deal with him and his emotional outbursts. I really saw nothing different from this book than any of the other books like this based on OIF. I could have passed on it.



4. Years ago Marine artist Col Charles Waterhouse drew a cartoon of a grizzled Marine Gunny, complete with cigar, pulling on a Santa outfit as he prepares to entertain young children, as compared to his normal demeanor of an intimidating Gunny. Maj Seth Folsom's book details a similar transformation, as he grows from a nervous young officer facing his first combat to that of a skilled and articulate officer and husband.
   
   A Captain at the time, Folsom is a blunt and honest writer who discusses his fears and concerns of what he is about to encounter in Iraq. The likely-hood is that many Marines and soldiers, both officers and enlisted, can identify with his worry of how he will fare in his first combat: Can he hack it? How well will he perform? Will he make any mistakes that might cost the lives of his Marines? The difference between them and Folsom is his frankness in discussing these concerns.
   
   Folsom uses the story of his role as company commander to tell the story of Delta Company, 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion as they participated in the March 2003 invasion of Iraq. From breaching the berms into Iraq, to watching and waiting as his fellow Marines fought at An-Nasiriyah, to the fighting on the way to Baghdad and beyond, Folsom pulls no punches and spares no feelings in his descriptions of leading 130 Marines into combat. The invasion in March 2003 was the beginning of an unusual war against a non-traditional enemy, and Folsom has to find his balance as an officer when dealing with both his superiors and the Marines under him while learning how to lead Marines in combat. Sand, stink, rain, lack of sanitation, fatigue, grime, and nerves are just some of issues with which he dealt even before he and his men even encountered the enemy. Folsom covers the military actions from 21 March 2003 through the April 2003 capture of Baghdad, and he accurately recounts the stress, excitement, and confusion of those historic days.
   
   With the book written from the notes and recollection of his wartime journal, this is a fascinating memoir revealing are his feelings as he dealt with his Marines, and how he matured as an officer and as a human being. Many readers, especially his fellow officers will find much to critique in his rough and abrasive leadership style, and his dislike of the media is at odds with Marine Corps policy. But it is Folsom's same bluntness that lets him write so revealingly - and perhaps these same readers can use his vignettes as an `after-action report' in order to guide themselves in similar circumstances.
   
   In perhaps a reflection of the asymmetrical nature of this war, Folsom recounts participating in briefings with the generals and colonels leading the invasion, and later singing with his men as they blast rock & roll music at rock concert levels. Perhaps one unexpected bonus of war in the wired age is that we readers can share in our warrior's thoughts and experiences while they are still fresh, and as such, Maj Folsom's book is both an exciting read and highly recommended.



5. You may hate this war and our current President for getting us involved in it, but after reading this book you can only respect and honor those doing the fighting .Folsom's thoughtful leadership and concern for his men, his belief in the Marine Corps and The Mission turned my head around.
   The more liberal you are , the more you need to read this book.

5 comments about A Year of Absence: Six women's stories of courage, hope and love.

1. As a military spouse and after reading so many great reviews here and elsewhere, I felt the need to read this book. It was a little fluffy for my liking. I did relate to events and day to day life of the women. However, I felt as though a lot was missing from this book. I was left wanting to know more about the characters. I think it could have been developed a little more.



2. all i can say is that by reading this book the last 3 deployments my husband has gone thru and the time i have spent by myself and the kids are finally validated.
   im a army wife of 8 years, and 3rd deployment survivor.
   i am german where my husband was stationed at for 10 years, and deployed to iraq twice from there.
   i got the book and instantly started to read, and i couldnt stop, i sat on the couch for 6 hours crying and sobbing.
   and realizing what i have been thru, some of the things i have pushed aside, as my husbandactually deployed from darmstadt in january, pushing into iraq right away, i pushed aside not sleeping for 2 years, while everytime at night i started to jump up when i heared car doors slam, checking the window as my heart almost stopped.
   i am one of these women, and i feel after reading this book that i am somewhat relieved.
   now that my husband is deployed for the 4th time in his career, i told him as soon as he gets home he will read that book to understand what i had to deal with.
   i absoloutly love this book and will keep it for my kids to read, when they grow.
   i am at peace in a sence.
   thank you jessica redmon



3. Although I am the wife of a retired soldier who spent 24 years in the Army with two tours in Viet Nam, I still could identify with these women during their husbands' deployments to Iraq. I was especially pleased to read about Baumholder since that was where we were stationed in the 70's. This is a different war from ours, the Army has changed, women are much more independent than I was in the late 60's and early 70's when my husband went to war; however, the loneliness, worry about your spouse, counting down of days until he/she comes home, sometimes the anxieties and sheer terror that you feel...those things remain the same. This is one of my favorite books about this war and I think that it is ideal reading for any woman who watches her man leave for war. I was glad to read that the Army has Family Readiness Groups and support groups for the families. A glimpse into these women's lives was so revealing and I felt their pain. Just an excellent read, in my old Army wife opinion.



4. Finally, a book that got it right. I've gone through my husband's 6mo deployment in 2002 to Kosovo living by myself in Schweinfurt. Then the next deployment to Iraq in 2004 while stationed in GA. This time with the surprise of finding out I got pregnant sometime in the week before he left. There was talk about an extention for them, but thankfully, they came home 1 year to the day. We are now on our third deployment. This time Afghanistan. I'm now home with three dogs, a three year old and a new baby that was 3 mo old when he left. Each deployment has been totally different with our location and family size. I love this book because every woman's story was a bit different. In their job status, family size and coping mechanisms. All were right on! I know and knew women just like them. I read this book after borrowing it from the library on post. Now its going on my Amazon.com wishlist and will be recommending to anyone who will listen. Thank you Jessica for giving us an outlet to share with the world of what its really like.



5. As an Army wife, having gone through one deployment, and at the end of the second one, this book made me realize that my feelings, and the things my husband and I go through, are natural. I felt as if this book described my feelings and my mistakes. It was a relief to read stories of women who have gone through what i have gone through. To those military moms who think that the wives cant feel what they feel just because we didnt give birth to the soldiers, you are wrong. We are the ones who have to hear their complaints, frustrations, and have to come up with wise words when they are down. Your love for your child is different and so is their love for you. You will always be their mom, just dont underestimate what it takes to stand by a soldier, be faithful, wise, and strong.

4 comments about An American Heroine in the French Resistance: The Diary and Memoir of Virginia D'Albert-Lake (World War II--the Global, Human, and Ethical Dimension).

1. There were only a few Americans in the French Resistance: Mme d'Albert-Lake was one and in this intelligent book shows that she has a good memory and a clear expository style --- and a sense of humor as well. Carefully annotated. Informative both on the Resistance and on the French scene before and during World War II.



2. I really liked the original documents which made up this book (filed reports, letters, diary entries, etc.). The memoir was good also, but a little awkwardly written. I also wished she had devoted as much time to her resistance work as she had to her imprisonment. Overall, though, very interesting.



3. I've met and photographed scores of memorable and important people in my time, but few hold a candle to Virginia d'Albert-Lake. Her work as an American woman in the French Resistance saving American airmen's lives led to her winning France's highest decoration, the L?gion d'Honneur. But the greatest honor for her was having the love of her husband Phillippe d'Albert-Lake, who was the reason she stayed in
   France when she could have retreated to the safety of the United States as World War II loomed on the horizon. This is an extraordinary story to be shared with friends, family, and particularly your children, as an example of how a life can be lived with grace, humor, and heroism.
   
   David Hume Kennerly
   Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for photography in Vietnam



4. Expertly edited by Judy Barret Litoff who also provides an informative introduction, An American Heroine In The French Resistance: The Diary And Memoir Of Virginia d'Albert-Lake is the remarkable story of Virginia d'Albert-Lake's devoted and hazardous service as active member of the French Resistance to the Allied forces during World War II, and the risks she took which nearly cost her life. Introducing readers to her efforts to aid an Allied airman in getting him to safety, An American Heroine In The French Resistance vividly depicts the horrors d'Albert-Lake faced in her eventual imprisonment in the German prison camp of Ravensbruek. An heroic tale of total commitment to the French Resistance, An American Heroine In The French Resistance is very highly recommended reading as the articulate memoir of a strong woman who laid her life on the line in the defence of her country under German occupation, and an invaluable contribution to the growing library of World War II memoirs and autobiographies by a generation now passing from among us into history and legend.

5 comments about The Walking Dead: A Marine's Story of Vietnam.

1. There is more embellishment in this tall tale of a book. Like was said in one of the other reviews....to do all that was said and done in one tour as a Pfc is more fictional than truth. Don't waste your time and more important don't waste the 97 cents for a used one. I personally was in Vietnam in 1965-66 starting with Fox Company 2/9 for a little over two months and was transferred to Bravo 1/9 as a Pfc.
   Again, there are Marines that served in 2/9 and 3/9 lay claim to the (WALKING DEAD). A few years ago in a buisness in Phoenix there in the office was a Walking Dead sticker. I asked the owner who he was with and he said 2/9. So you will always have the wanabees and I informed him that 2/9 has no connection with the Walking Dead. Nuff said. Get a life and if you write another book maybe it should be fiction??
   
   Liam Jones
   USMC
   
   ACTA NON VERBA



2. My criteria for any book is simple. The writing must be excellent. The story must be plausible. And the subject has to be absorbing. This book satisfies my requirements and gets 5 stars.
   
   I was in the military and served in Vietnam. The information in this book is consistent with my experiences and the experiences depicted in similar books about Vietnam. I cant argue if Roberts wuz or wuznt in the Walking Dead Battalion. I dont know. I do know that me and my friends from Vietnam argue about events we experienced together. I served several weeks with one outfit in Vietnam, but was never formally assigned to that unit. Consequently, I dont get invited to their reunions. I spent exactly two weeks in still another outfit, was formally assigned to it, and can tell you almost nothing about it. Some of my friends had similar experiences. They were volunteered for temporary duty elsewhere, and there is no formal record of it. So the issue of "assignment" is irrelevant to me.



3. I liked this story about Vietnam. The author spent some time in Vietnam during the early phase of the war (1965-66). What struck me was the comradely focus of his experience. He depended upon his buddies. The Vietnam population was pro-Communist in his sector. Sasser was enraged when the civilian population watched the progress of Marines through their villages and waited for the booby traps to spring. It is no wonder that certain soldiers held grudges against the population when the time came. He was in one village where Cronkite was broadcasting as Marines fired the town. What one didn't see in this village was the weapons cache found in the tunnels and bunkers under the town.
   
   This is one man's experience of the war in its early phases. I liked this very much even though some of the stories are not for some people. This is an interesting read.



4. This book, although interesting reading, is replete with historical inaccuracies. The writers, both Tulsa Police Officers, "borrowed" a title belonging to another unit - that of the FIRST BATTALION, NINTH MARINES. Roberts writes of his service with the Second Battalion and Third Battalion, and even talks of those unit's nicknames, "Hell in a Helmet" (2/9) and "Shadow Warriors" (3/9). There are very few Vietnam Marines living who do not know that "The Walking Dead" was indeed 1/9.
   
   The books title gives a false impression that he served in one of the most famous infantry battalions in the Marine Corps. His book is fiction and self-flattering.
   
   Roberts & Sasser's accounting of the Morley Safer incident at Cam Ne don't match up with the actual incident either. Although 2/9 did operate in that area, it was Delta Company of 1/9 (not 2/9 as Roberts states) that entered the village on the day described in his book. I would know because I was there at the time.
   
   When reserching Roberts claims of being a Marine Sniper I found a website with a photo of his "donated" uniform to an alma mater of his. The uniform had a Rifle "Sharpshooter" marksmanship badge on it along with Vietnam Service Ribbons. I never heard of a "Sharpshooter", or anyone less than a qualified Marine Rifle "Expert" qualifyer ever being selected to be a Marine Sniper either.
   
   I don't recommend this book to ANYONE interested in an accurate war novel. This book is not about the famed "Walking Dead" as it's title implies. I am throwing away my copy.



5. Mr. Roberts attempts to capture the essence of the Vietnam combat experience for the noncombatant reader, which can't be done. One has to live it to really understand it. Simply ask any Vietnam Vet and they will tell you...Only those who've "been there" can understand. I find it extrememly difficult to believe that Mr. Roberts lead a recon team, served as a sniper, advised a CAC team of ARVN Rangers, and was shot down and rescued... all in one tour, and as only a PFC. I would rate the book as a work based on limited historical fact, mixed with large doses of personal fictional embellishments designed to entice the reader to purchase more of the author's works. By the way, it was 1/9 who were "The Walking Dead".
   
   Robert J. Syler
   Master Chief Petty Officer, USNR RETIRED
   Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 9th Marines
   Combat Corpsman 1966-'67

5 comments about 800 Days on the Eastern Front: A Russian Soldier Remembers World War II (Modern War Studies).

1. Considering the amount of memoirs available form WW2 it is amazing how few are from a Soviet perspective, at least in English. So in this context the book is a gem and in content it shines.
   
   Nikolai Litvin's memoir is very low key and honest. For the most part he is a driver, either as a commanders chauffeur or with a transport battalion and you get interesting small details as how dirty his one uniform becomes when he served as a mechanic. Don't worry there are hair raising parts as well and sad stories. Litvin comes across as a man doing his duty for his country and never tries to claim credit for extraordinary deeds even if he did a few.
   
   Starting out as an anti tank gunner in a Airborne Division he is wounded early during the battle of Kursk, from there he is transfered to a transportation battalion and is bombed by artillery and planes, he lives when others, even his friends die. At one point he has difficulties in disposing of a friends body. Then he is sentanced to a penal company for desertion when all he does is following a command that turns out to be a suggestion and not a proper command. His time with the penal company is very interesting. Then he gets reassigned to his transport unit and gets drafted from the rear units to the front replace combat losses. All through the story there are accounts of Litvin's personal experience and some very horrible incidents.
   
   Many readers will also find interesting how Litvin is fighting the infantry mans war, very few tanks are metioned at all. In fact with 2/3 of all Germans fighting on the Eastern Front and the majority of both Germans and Russians fighting as infantry this tells how the war was for most, even if it isn't the most glamorous part.
   
   Special mention should also go to Stuart Britton who completes the memoir by adding introductions or adds explanations to fit Litvin's experience into contex and big picture. They summarise the unfolding events and explain strategic and tactical events and I found these parts very useful and informative without casting a shade on Litvin's story. In many occasions Litvin would have been blissfully ignorant of what was really going on but as a reader it is good to be helped along by Britton.
   
   Through Litvin one gets a very diverse view of the Soviet Army and not always its most glamorous side but the toil of the every day soldier. I heartly recommend it for anyone interested in WW2 memoirs and would like read about the experience from the Russian side.



2. Nikolai Litvin's memoir is very low key and honest. For the most part he was a driver, either as a commanders' chauffeur or with a transport battalion. There are also some hair raising parts as well and sad stories. Litvin comes across as a man doing his duty for his country and never tries to claim credit for extraordinary deeds even if he did a few. Starting out as an anti tank gunner in a Airborne Division he was wounded early during the battle of Kursk. From there he was transfered to a transportation battalion and later he was sentenced to a penal battalion for desertion, something that wasn't really his fault. Then he got reassigned to his transport unit and got drafted from the rear units to the front replace combat losses. All through the story there are accounts of Litvin's personal experience and some very horrible incidents. Many readers will also find interesting how Litvin is fighting the infantryman' s war, since very few tanks are metioned at all. In fact with 2/3 of all Germans fighting on the Eastern Front and the majority of both Germans and Russians were infantry business, even if it wasn't the most glamorous part. Special mention should also go to Stuart Britton who completed the memoir by adding introductions and explanations to fit Litvin's experience into context and big picture. The fine team of Kansas University Press, headed by David Glantz (the current preemninent authority on the Eastern Front), did a tremendous job on this matter and these inroductions and explanations are extremely interesting. In many occasions Litvin would have been blissfully ignorant of what was really going on but as a reader it is good to be helped along by Britton. Very few mistakes are made in the text and the five b&W maps included are very good and detailed. There is also a 6-pages section of b&w photographs.



3. In recent years we have witnessed the publication of a multitude of military memoirs by Red Army soldiers. These memoirs are important in that they provide new insights into World War II on the Eastern Front.
   
   Nikolai Litvin's remembrances are witness to the versatility, endurance, and patience of the Red Army soldier. A Siberian by birth, Litvin served in artillery, anti-tank, and penal formations and also as a driver to various Soviet commanders. This alone makes his experiences during the war exceptional. Litvin fought at the epic battle of Kursk in July 1943 and remained with the Red Army as it attacked relentlessly westward from the Soviet Union to Nazi Germany.
   
   But Litvin was also unique in that he was officially trained and qualified to drive U.S. Army lend lease vehicles. Hundreds of thousands of these were provided to the Red Army during the war. It is clear that he had a love affair with the various "Willy" jeeps he drove throughout the conflict and his memoirs highlight the mobility American jeeps and trucks provided to the Soviet military. Those vehicles were much appreciated by Red Army soldiers like Litvin. Without them Stalin's legions would have been unable to advance to Berlin as quickly as they did.
   
   Having served his country faithfully through almost three years of brutal combat, Litvin was arrested at the end of the war for possessing a German pistol and sentenced to four years imprisonment in the Soviet Far East.
   
   His memoirs are a testament to the greatness of the Red Army soldier and the brutality of the Soviet system they served.



4. Although the negative reviewers might of had valid points, I am not sure the critism is really relevant. I knew two WWII veterans very well, one of whom wrote a brief memoir. Using them as a reference, I do not believe the author was trying to create an exciting, flowing, historically, geographically precise docudrama (if it was I would be very suspect of the motivations and validity of the document and would not have found it near as valuable). I am not sure the author was even trying to educate us although I certainly was. I believe the author was trying to set down in print a brief personal history of WWII obviously, largely from his point of view. What was added by the tranlator was an aid which allowed us to go back in time and perspective without disturbing the author's account. What the author (and the other veterans I know) think is important based on his experiences obviously doesn't always match readers expectations. With this in mind and in response to specific criticism, I found the author's references to various vehicles he encountered interesting and important. Maybe not exciting but, again, that wasn't the point. I thought the historical and geographical descriptions to be adequate in and of themselves. The author's accounts and stories flowed well enough with help from the translator's added descriptions and foot notes.
   
   I bought the book based on a recent description in the WSJ. I had read a book some time ago called "The Diary of a Napoleonic Foot Soldier." I thought it would be interesting to compare what sounded like a similar story told by two men of similar rank who fought wars in the same basic geographic area a century apart. The similarities were remarkable and reading both books contributed much to my persective of war and this region. Beyond the obvious basics of survival, what was important to these two men is very much the same. And I think what was important to these two men from their personal perspective in these two "histories" is what the authors and their "helpers" were trying to convey. Both documents succeeded in this respect and did so well enough to, dare I say it, be entertaining. I would give "The Diary of a Napoleonic Foot Soldier" 5 stars however. I thought it was a better read. If you must be constantly thrilled and excited by a book to enjoy or be informed by it, subtract one star from each rating. And if you are looking for graphic descriptions of blood, sex and gore, don't bother with either of these reads. A rating of two stars however misses both the point and the mark in my opinion. And thus ends my critique of the critics.



5. The author tries to present a coherent depiction of activities - but the result is difficult to follow and requires additional materiel to track the flow of battle.

4 comments about Joshua Chamberlain: A Hero's Life and Legacy.

1. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain did not appear "ex nihilo" on 2 July 1863 at the craggy slope of Little Round Top. Neither did he disappear on 12 April 1865 following his magnanimous violation of military protocol at Appomattox Court House. In this volume, Mr. Pullen documents Chamberlain's life after the Civil War, demonstrating that the hero's character continued to illuminate all his life until his death in 1914.

   Unlike Sis Deans', "His Proper Post;" Michael Golay's, "To Gettysburg and Beyond;" or Willard M. Wallace's, "Soul of the Lion," Pullen's text does not presume to be a complete biography. It does not address the question of what forces in Chamberlain's up-bringing formed such an extraordinary man.

   Unlike Chamberlain's own books "Through Blood & Fire at Gettysburg," and "The Passing of the Armies;" or Michael Shaara's, "The Killer Angels," and Alice Rains Trulock's, "In The Hands of Providence," this is not primarily a book about soldiers at war.

   The question that Pullen addresses is, "What becomes of the hero after the battles cease: how is courage displayed after the war ends?" In the case of Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, and other great Americans, the answer is that true heroes continue to demonstrate the same commitment to service in peace as in war. True heroes demonstrate the same integrity and courage in their chosen civilian occupations that they once showed while facing iminent death.

   Forget the trendy books on leadership and values. Instead, read Mr. Pullen's book. Be inspired by the story of an exceptional leader, who demonstrated his commitment to American values until the day he died.




2. I don't think I could say it better than the reader from Huntington, Pennsylvania - what a great review! But I agree wholeheartedly, this book allows the reader to see Chamberlain *the human* and despite his faults and frailties, he remains someone well worth admiring. John Pullen, as always, has written a very well researched and very readable book that gives one a look at the whole person. For those who are just starting to become interested in Chamberlain, this book will give you an excellent view of his later life and accomplishments (all of which were achieved despite a debilitating wound!). For those who have been Chamberlain fans for years, this book will help you get to know him even more and give you further reason to admire him.



3. Joshua Chamberlain's post-Civil-War life never reached the heights of his military exploits. John Pullen has done an excellent job researching and writing about Chamberlain after the Civil War, but, like Chamberlain's civilian life, it's not as gripping as his Civil War experiences. For die-hard Chamberlain fans and those interested in Maine's and Bowdoin's history, it's worth reading, but if it's excitement you want, read Killer Angels.



4. Joshua Chamberlain reaches through time and space and grips the imagination of all that encounter him. John Pullen, who drew back the shroud of a forgotten hero in his excellent book "The Twentieth Maine," has come full circle in this engaging and enlightening biography. Chamberlain, the hero of Little Round Top, burst upon the American culture in the film "Gettysburg." As if in answer to the question "What makes this guy a REAL hero?," Pullen has gathered the facts and presented us with both the man and the myth. Few heroes, stripped of legend, endure the light of truth. Chamberlain not only lives up to his legend: he invites further acclaim by the manner in which he lived, and the integrity of his character. John Pullen fills in the blanks of Chamberlain's postwar life, and shows us a man worth admiring. A true American hero, Joshua Chamberlain emerges unsullied, untarnished and quite human. Thank you, Mr. Pullen!

5 comments about Commandant of Auschwitz : The Autobiography of Rudolf Hoess.

1. I have always been facinated by what makes people do the horrible things they do to each other. So, thinking (hoping actually) that by reading this SS officer's biography I would gain some insight and because all proceeds from the sale of the book benefit the victims I bought it.
   
   The book is a crashing bore. Like all Nazi's he obeys because he was ordered to obey. He was raised with a Prussian sense of duty and appears incapable of independent thought or reason. When he gets into the atrocities at the camps, he claims ignorance of or that they really were not that bad. Or, when they really were that bad, he was "sickened by them." And if he had really "Been in charge" he would have just made
   them all work camps for slave labor with no gassing. Like working people to death in a slave labor camp is better than gassing them in the first 15 minutes????? This guy's lack of humanity is so typical of the racist mentality, although he claims no hatred of the Jews. Maybe he did not hate them, but he sure murdered them by the 100,000's.
   
   I would not recommed this book. You have heard it all before. Instead buy and read "The Murders Among Us" by Simon Weisenthal. Now thats one darn good mass murder mystery and Nazi spy hunt of a story. Its like "Helter Skelter". You will read it, then ten years later read it again.
   
   I use to be a absolute death penalty supporter. As I age I find I'm not so blood-thirsty. However! There are certain persons it should be reserved for, Timothy McVeigh as an example, and Rudolph Hoess, not to be confused with Rudolph Hess (Hitler's deputy). I would pull the trap myself on Hoess if asked to. He was executed after Nuremberg.



2. After Dachau was liberated, Army intelligence interviewed a woman at the camp who claimed to have been Rudolf Hoess' mistress while at Auschwitz. What details they could check were confirmed, and her interview became part of a Seventh Army report issued a few weeks later, a report that has been republished as Dachau Liberated: The Official Report (ISBN: 1587420031). For those who want to understand the infamous Hoess, that interview of "E.H." provides a background to his obviously self-serving autobiography. Here's a short passage from her interview:
   
   "According to my recollection, on December 16, 1942, about 11 p.m. I was already asleep, suddenly the C.O. appeared before me. I hadn't heard the opening of my cell and was such frightened. It was dark in the cell. I believed at first it was an SS man or a prisoner and said, "What is this tomfoolery, I forbid you." Then I heard "Pst," and a pocket lamp was lighted and lit the face of the C.O. I broke out "Herr Kommandant."
   
   Hoess didn't mention this clandestine affair in his autobiography, but details she gave fit with his account and with conditions at Auschwitz.



3. This book was very disturbing on so many levels. Yet it was also fascinating to see the progression of this semi-average person, into a person who was responsible for the deaths of millions. Read the intro by Primo Levi first to get yourself in the right frame of mind.



4. This so-called "autobiography" is fiction, written, coached, and co-authored under the extreme duress of a Stalinist prison, and it shows in it's shoddy attention to the detail of the lies.
   
   For example, the book is chronologically unsound.
   
   According to his book, Hoess is ordered to come to Berlin "in the summer of 1941". The book then contains a glaring impossibility in that Reichsfuhrer SS Himmler allegedly tells him; "The existing annihilation sites in the East (Belzec, Sobibor, and Trblinka), are not in a position to handle the major actions envisaged."
   The problem is that according to standard holocaust mythology, the alleged killing activities of these camps only got started "exterminating" in the summer of 1942. In 1941, there were no "existing extermination sites in the East".
   For that reason, Jean-Claude Pressac claims the meeting must have been 1942. That, however, creates further contadictions in chronology.
   
   Firstly, Himmler's 1942 appointment book survived the war, and it contains no such entry. Once the attack on the Soviet Union began, Himmler was hardly ever even in Berlin.
   
   Secondly, by the summer of 1942, Hoess is supposedly already "gassing" Jews.
   
   Further contradictions with factual detail abound.



5. Rudolf Hoess was the Allies' most important witness to the "Holocaust." His affidavit
   and his testimony were quoted extensively both by the prosecution and in the judgment
   of the IMT at Nuremberg, as well as by the press. Hoess's "confession" is heavily
   relied upon by historians like Raul Hilberg and others as a primary documentary
   source to this day.
   
   It is true that Hoess witnessed at Nuremberg to horrendous "atrocities," and he also
   confirmed the "truth" under oath of an affidavit which he agreed to sign for the
   prosecution. In it, he confessed to having given orders for the gassing of millions of
   victims. The affidavit, by the way, was in English, a language he did not speak or
   understand, and was not translated to him.
   
   We now know from the book "Legions of Death: The Nazi Enslavement of Europe" that
   Rudolf Hoess was beaten almost to death by Jewish members of the British Field Police
   Force upon capture and badly mistreated thereafter until he gave this very devastating
   "testimony" and "affidavit" used by the Allies propagandists ever since. You be the judge.
   Here is an excerpt from this book by Rupert Butler, published by Hamlyn Paperbacks, page 235:
   
   At 5 PM on 11 March 1946, Frau H?ss opened her front door to six intelligence
   specialists in British uniform, most of them tall and menacing and all of them
   practiced in the more sophisticated techniques of sustained and merciless investigation.
   No physical violence was used on the family: it was scarcely necessary. Wife and
   children were separated and guarded. Clarke's tone was deliberately low-key and
   conversational.
   
   He began mildly: "I understand your husband came to see you as recently as last night."
   Frau Hoess merely replied: "I haven't seen him since he absconded months ago"
   
   Clarke tried once more, saying gently but with a tone of reproach: "You know that
   isn't true." Then all at once his manner had changed and he was shouting: "If you
   don't tell us, we'll turn you over to the Russians and they'll put you before a firing
   squad. Your son will go to Siberia."It proved more than enough. Eventually, a broken Frau
   H?ss betrayed the whereabouts of the former Auschwitz Kommandant, the man who now called
   himself Franz Lang. Suitable intimidation of the son and daughter produced precisely
   identical information.
   
   When they found Hoess, here is how the capture played out. Clarke, one of the
   participants, recalls it vividly:
   
   "He was lying on top of a three-tier bunker wearing a new pair of silk pajamas. We
   discovered later that he had lost the cyanide pill most of them carried. Not that he
   would have had much chance to use it because we had rammed a torch (flashlight) into
   his mouth." Hoess screamed in terror.
   
   Clarke yelled: "What is your name?" With each answer of "Franz Lang," Clarke's hand
   crashed into the face of the prisoner. The fourth time that happened, Hoess broke and
   admitted who he was. The admission suddenly unleashed the loathing of the Jewish
   sergeants in the arresting party whose parents had died in Auschwitz following an order
   signed by Hoess.
   
   The prisoner was torn from the top bunk, the pajama ripped from his body. He was then
   dragged naked to one of the slaughter tables, where it seemed to Clarke the blows and
   screams were endless.Eventually, the Medical Officer urged the Captain: "Call them off,
   unless you want to take back a corpse."
   
   A blanket was thrown over Hoess and he was dragged to Clarke's car, where the sergeant
   poured a substantial slug of whiskey down his throat. Then Hoess tried to sleep.
   
   Clarke thrust his service stick under the man's eyelids and ordered in German: "Keep your
   pig eyes open, you swine." . . .
   
   The party arrived back at Heide around three in the morning. The snow was swirling still,
   but the blanket was torn from Hoess and he was made to walk completely nude through the
   prison yard to his cell. It took three days to get a coherent statement out of him.
   
   This statement, tortured and terrorized out of him, was the one we are all familiar
   with--the "proof" for the so-called "gassing of millions of Jews."
   
   Historians today are finally admitting that Hoess is a totally unreliable witness--and
   is it any wonder? He spoke of a concentration camp "Wolzek" which does not even exist.
   He swore that 2,500,000 people were gassed and burned at Auschwitz and a further half
   million died of disease, for a total dead of three million. The Auschwitz Memorial Museum
   itself puts the death toll at 1.5 million. It is very clear that Hoess only said what his
   torturers wanted him to say when he signed a statement in a foreign language that he did
   not understand. it is also known that these same tactics, and even more forms of mental
   torture including mock hangings, were used the secure the "evidence" for the Malmedy trial
   at Dachau.

5 comments about Flyboys: A True Story of Courage.

1. My dad loves true military stories, and I got this for him for Christmas. The previous Christmas I had gotten him "Flags of our fathers." He loved it. My dad is a good reader, but he never reads for hours on end putting other stuff aside just to do so. But, this book had him reading for the better part of his Christmas break. He also said it was somewhat sad, but not overly.



2. I had seen the book but never made the connection to the author of The Flags of our Fathers. I decided to pick it up and give it a read after chatting with an older gentleman about the war. He said it was good.
   
   I had never hear of Chichi Jima. A bypassed island which was overshadowed by the Battle of Iwo Jima. Chichi Jima was a communications center for the Japaneses. American pilots "flyboys" were assigned to try and take out the radio stations so they could not inform Japan that bombers were on the way. Bradley tells the story of what happened to the flyboys that were shot down. Their names were Dick Woellhof, Floyd Hall, Marve Mershon, Jimmy Dye, Grady York, Warren Earl Vaughn, the future President George HW Bush, Glenn Frazier, Bill Connell and an unnamed B-24 crewman. Only George Bush and Bill Connell would survive.
   
   
   What I found interesting is the way Bradley tries to explain the two cultures and the history leading up to the war. The history mentioned ranges from the Samurai, the restoration of the Mejii, Perry and the rise of the Militaristic powers. Bradley made an attempt to explain the pseudo-Samurai culture that arose and the actions of the so called "Spirit Warriors" committed. Actions which the real Samurai would have never done.
   
   Bradley makes no attempt to "white wash" the history and the wars that were fought. Bradeley tells of barbarous acts committed by Japan, the US, and even China throughout the years. Actions which at the time people thought they were the right thing to do and with future generations can question.
   
   The clash of the two cultures does come into play. To the Japanese soldier the act of surrender was a shameful horrendous act. It basically made you the lowest of the low. Treatment of such men was horrible especially with the brutal thugs that ran the army.
   
   War is about dehumanizing the enemy. It makes it easier to kill them. The US even practiced it with songs such as "I am going to slap that dirty little Jap" and the use of a parade float which showed scurrying yellow rats being bombed.
   
   Hollywood likes to paint a noble John Wayneish view of the war and yet our boys could be a brutal as the enemy. As mentioned by flyboys who strafed Japanese soldiers and sailors. Bradley doesn't try to paint an evil image of the US soldier. Simply that war can make decent people do bad things in war.
   
   I knew prisoners were executed as I have seen the famous photo of the Australian soldier about to be beheaded. What I did not know was the acts cannibalism that went on.
   
   Such acts happened to the flyboys that crashed and were captured on Chichi Jima. Such acts suggested the War Department thought it was not a good idea to tell the families of the flyboys as they were told they were MIA. It's kind of sad hearing the mothers went to their graves not knowing what happened to their sons. Yet, would you want to tell a mother that her son was beheaded and partially eaten?
   
   This story only made it to light because of Bill Doran felt the flyboys stories needed to be told and he contacted the author and told him about them. Bill Doran was present at the war crimes trials for the leaders and soldiers involved with the killings on Chichi Jima.
   
   Bradley talked to endless people and even Japanese soldiers who were on the island an interacted with the flyboys. The cannibalistic commands were executed in 1947. The stories told about the flyboys facing their deaths is indeed courageous and noble. Depending on your viewpoints you can take it as true or simply soldiers making them honorable rather then what happened.
   
   Bradley also visited the islands of Iwo Jima and Chichi Jima with President Bush. He asked the author if he knew anything about what happened to the two men he lost when he was shot down that day. President Bush stayed with his plane longer then he should have and even tried to turn it so they could get out safer. They didn't make it even though it was thought two parachutes were seen.
   
   President Bush said to this day he still thinks of them.
   
   Overall this is a great book to read and I highly recommend it.



3. "Fly Boys" an incredible botch. The book promises to tell of American fliers shot down over Japanese-held Chichi Jima. Not far from Iwo Jima, scores of Japanese on Chichi could only watch impotent as a huge American force utterly devastated their nearby comrades, opening the door for fiery assaults against the Japanese home islands. The Japanese proved far better at amassing forces than maintaining them, effectively stranding troops across the Pacific. (Imperial doctrine called for troops to "provision" themselves - by stealing from local inhabitants or by subsisting on insects and flora.) As a result, islands like Chichi and Guadalcanal became home to thousands of starving Japanese troops barely able to bring the fight to the enemy. Desperation exacerbates the sort of hysteria already endemic to every level of the Japanese military when the war began, and the "Fly Boys" suffer their captors' wrath.
   
   Some reviews complain about Bradely's use of "moral equivalence" (Bradley compares Imperial brutalities with those of an expansionist America from the post-Civil War era through the war in the Philippines) to anti-American effect. But those problems mask the book's larger flaw: that it really isn't about anything at all. What starts out a story of American prisoners, goes back to the dawn of Japanese-American relations, the birth of modern Japan and the road to war. Then there is the rise of American airpower, the battles of Coral Sea and Midway, and finally the landings at Iwo Jima and the firebombing of Japan. These historic events don't simply form a backdrop to the story, but become the story, grabbing as much of Bradley's focus as the plight of his downed airmen. Bradley never integrates these threads into a common historic theme, and never explains what they're all doing in the same book. In a book about nothing in particular, everything is irrelevant.
   
   For his research, or maybe because of it, Bradley loses his way almost immediately. Instead of learning about the downed Chichi fliers, Bradley begins with the historical roots of the Pacific war...and then works backward. We see how Commodore Perry "opened" the closed yet sophisticated and highly regimented Japanese society to the outside world. Japan's honor system - epitomized by Bushido - was blameless for the barbarities of WWII. Instead, the modern combat experience of the Japanese demonstrates both compliance with that code and extraordinarily humane (Russians captured in the 1907 war received treatment little worse than that for guests). Bradley contrasts this with the aforementioned brutality of Americans in war.
   
   Getting to WWII, Bradley barely touches on his subjects - instead rehashing more milestones already familiar to anybody with the least basic grasp of military history (or with basic cable). From the court martial of Billy Mitchell to Doolittle's raid on Tokyo; from the Battle of Midway to the fire-bombing of the home islands of the Empire - Bradley gives some marginal insight, but again little bearing on the downed American fliers who become extras in their own story. Bradley not only forgets whom he's writing about, but never clarifies whose perspective. (Bradley compares the cruelties perpetrated by Americans in giving some shape to those committed by the Imperial Japanese, but did the Japanese know of "Wounded Knee" during the Bataan March? Is Bradley is arguing for moral relativism, or merely demonstrating that the Japanese had done so?)
   
   When it's clear that Bradley is writing from his own perspective, the result is a soft concoction of history and euphemism, with little hard fact. This is especially true of the title - nothing in Bradley's book gets to the meat of what it means to be one of the "Fly Boys", though he uses the term throughout. In that vein, "fly boys" may be an image, like the one used in "The Right Stuff" in which pilots were the lone shining knights of the nuclear powered space age. But Wolfe fleshed out his metaphors without being conquered by them (by the end of "Stuff", Wolfe's America has matured beyond its need for such archaic heroes like the Mercury 7 - the era of the lone, shining and supersonic knight had come to an end). Bradley instead uses "Flyboys" to refer to fliers in general - ignoring much distinction between the fliers of different services. Instead, Bradley has "flyboys" as FDR's one-word answer in the desperate early days of the war (was FDR such a fan of naval aviation?), without saying much about how FDR turned that answer into the force that won the war. Other glossed over points - the relative industrial might of America and Japan, and the exhaustion faced by Japan in China even before hostilities began with America. Bradley "shows" much, yet teaches little.
   
   As to the problem of moral-equivalence touched upon by unfavorable reviewers, "Flyboys" engages in a sort of thematic shell-game. In turns, he eschews then embraces the sentimentality of American pluck over Imperial aggression. In a work that reveals the contrasting imagery that each side used for the other (uniformly hostile, of course), Bradley freely engages in imagery and sentimentality of his own - of spirit warriors and Samurai, of those betrayed the warrior's honor code, and those who've inherited it. Bradley charts Japan's ironic metamorphosis from honorable warrior to barbaric marauder, fleshing out the contrasting extremes for each. Yet having plumbed American atrocities, reverses direction for Americans without explanation, and makes them the heirs of the Bushido - a characterization (much like "Fly Boy") qualified or even defined. "Flyboys" is supposed to be an unflinching look at WWII as we haven't seen before, yet its subtitle, offering a story of "courage" suggests he's as much reliant on heroic and unreal imagery as those who written before him.



4. What could have been an excellent piece of historical research is fatally flawed by an unflinching and blatant diatribe against American culture and action going back to the first settlers in the East.
   
   Under the pretext of explaining why the Japanese resented American "meddling" in the Pacific, Bradley clumsily brings up a litany of (in his mind) evil American policies and acts that gradually become the dominant theme of at least his first few chapters. His graphic depiction of the Rape of Nanking is followed by a diatribe against the Americans' treatment of their aboriginals ( Indians, Native Americans, or whatever term floats your boat this week), and Bradley's intent of establishing moral equivalence is quite clear. As this pattern goes on, and on, and on, one begins to harbor a secret suspicion that this anti-American propaganda -- for there is no other appropriate word for his slick and dishonest portrayal -- was indeed the real raison d'etre behind this book.
   
   No historian worthy of the name would seriously argue that Japan's megalomaniacal conquer-and-slaughter policies were merely a natural response to America's westward expansion, but that is exactly what Bradley tries to do. He is certainly entitled to his opinion, no matter how bizarre, but he is not entitled to play fast and loose with historical fact, and claiming that the US conquered the Philippines and Hawaii at bayonet point in the same way as the Japanese conquered Nanking is not just a stretch -- it's a lie.
   
   Bradley's carefully-calculated weaving of every available piece of anti-American propaganda into the fabric of this book is especially distressing because his research and portrayal of the actual facts surrounding the Chichi Jima incident is otherwise excellent. His analysis of Japanese history and cultural change is succinct and, occasionally, perceptive. Clearly, there are either huge gaps in his knowledge of these areas or, more likely, he has picked and chosen the parts he likes and ignored others. He could have done us all a service by mentioning the Japanese plans for conqest and empire, including specifically everything up to and including Hawaii -- plans that went back almost to the turn of the century and were certainly no secret among the Japanese military or any Japanese citizen that read books and newspapers. He may not be comfortable with direct research into Japanese-language material, but there is at least one recent book in English on the subject of Japan's plans for Hawaii (Hawaii Under the Rising Sun, by John J. Stephan). Japan's militaristic culture and birth rate drove her imperial dreams since the population of tiny Japan, believe it or not, was almost two-thirds that of the whole United States.
   
   For those with a firm grounding in history that can stomach Bradley's distortions, this book can be useful and definitely add to one's knowledge. Personally, I got a lot out of this book, but I deeply resent the deliberate distortions and untruths, and this is one book I would only recommend to other readers with a giant, bold warning label: "Inside these covers lies much good data, but with a large helping of politically correct B.S."
   
   Unfortunately, I suspect this book will get wide readership among students and academics since the leftist history professors will simply love the message in this screed.



5. I picked this book up on a whim and was unable to put it down. James Bradley's book is graphic at times, but enlightening. I found myself extremely curious as to what happened to members of my own family who fought in the Pacific.

5 comments about Road from ar Ramadi: The Private Rebellion of Staff Sergeant Mejia: An Iraq War Memoir.

1. Mejia is the true mark of a dirtbag. He joined the Army to leech the benefits, then when war comes, he cries and runs like a little girl. He does not represent the United States Army.



2. Conscientious Objector status is suppose to exclude one from military service - but what if you're already in the military? "Road from Ar Mamadi: The Private Rebellion of Staff Sergeant Camilo Mejia" tells this story as a veteran of the war has enough of it, and requests discharge - only to be marked as a deserter and imprisoned. Now free, Mejia tells his story and urges Americans to support an end to what he calls an unjust war in Iraq. A chilling first person perspective not often heard, "Road from Ar Mamadi: The Private Rebellion of Staff Sergeant Camilo Mejia"is a top pick for any community library collection focusing on current events.



3. I couldn't put Mejia's book down b/c he takes readers back to the early days of the war when we had to rely on biased governmental claims about what was going on in Iraq. I really appreciated hearing from an eye-witness about what truly went on in the war zone. He shows how from its inception, this war was based on a stronger nation's sense of superiority over a weaker one and how the US went there with a belief that Iraqis were less than Americans and proceeded to do dehumanizing things to them. It's embarrassing to read how our military had no respect for Iraqis, whom our leaders never bothered to understand culturally or religiously. Mejia describes more bravely & honestly than i believe most people would his own internal struggle with what he was assigned to do and how he was torn between being a good soldier & feeling morally aghast at the military's cruelty. He is not only a good role model for other soldiers, who should refuse to participate in immoral acts--no matter what propaganda the government attach to a mission--but also for regular citizens, who should be denouncing this war more vociferously & demanding that all the money (5 billion a month)our leaders are spending there be brought back to our communities. This book is a very gratifying read; it's good to see that all individual thinking has not been co-opted in our service people!



4. Camilo Mejia writes an interesting story, and it's easy to see how he got into the mess he made for himself. An intelligent writer, he paints a vivid picture of the personalities in his unit and the stresses that soldiers feel in the current conflict; future or current officers might well benefit from his observations about his small unit leaders. He also admits to a few war crimes (unprosecuted ones, at least until some prosecutor reads his book). But what's harder to explain is the bad legal advice about immigration issues, discharges, and how to obtain conscientious objector status that he got from Army JAG attorneys, as well as from his "progressive" lawyers. There are easier ways to get out of the all-volunteer Army than making a public spectacle of yourself.
   
   Mejia should have added all of his court documents as an appendix, so the reader could independently verify his story with some facts. He doesn't go into much detail about what he actually argued before the court, and having this information would have been helpful to the reader.
   
   On another note, Mejia should have gotten his US citizenship long before he was deployed to Iraq--and it would have been smart for him to get it then, because now he's possibly ineligible now, and could be deported.



5. Amazing is not enough to describe this book and Camilo's personal story. Reading this book, you become a passenger on the arduous journey into Camilo's soul, and for that I cannot thank him enough. We all know what this war has done to the US image abroad, to the citizens at home, and to some extent, to the people of Iraq. However, we conveniently ignore the effects it has on our soldiers. Whether you are a staunch supporter of Operation Iraqi Freedom, or a pacifist opposed to all war, you NEED to read this book.
   
   While I was lost in the stories of atrocities, camaraderie, and battle, I kept forgetting it was real. This isn't a tale invented by the mind of a brilliant writer, as Camilo is, but a glimmer into his world, a story that intersects the many stories being laid out daily in this seemingly unending war. These stories must stop being ignored by the American people, who sit at home comfortable, flipping channels when news about Iraq breaks.
   
   Camilo's story not only brings us closer to Iraq than we can ever hope to be, but also brings us closer to true courage. We have all done things we are not proud of, or have sat idly by when we knew we could stop injustice. And Camilo is no exception. But after his experiences totaled more than he could bear, he realized what he needed to do. And the road he had to take was not any easier because of it. Standing up for ideals is what makes change in this world, and Camilo realized he needed to sacrifice to do just that. The book takes us from the tough streets of Ar Ramadi to the tougher streets of discovering one's own resolve and human responsibility.
   
   For all these reasons, people need to read this book. As Camilo says in his book, "Whether we squeeze the trigger, give the order, or simply stand idle in the face of senseless missions that result in the spilling of innocent blood, it doesn't make a difference. We die, little by little, each time someone gets killed, until there is no soul left, and the body becomes but a corpse, breathing and warm but void of humanity." As citizens, we can no longer stand idly by as this war progresses. Read this book, learn where you stand, and become an instrument of your ideals. That, I believe, was the point of Camilo's sacrifice and the gift he has given us.