5 comments about Hard Fighting Soldier: Finding God in Trials, Tragedies, and Triumphs.

1. This book is amazing. I finished it in two days, the only reason it took me that long was because I started in the evening of a busy night for me. For me to finish a book that fast says a lot because I have only finished maybe 5 books in high school and college (I'm a sophomore in college now) and I have taken AP English courses in high school and literature courses in college. I just don't typically enjoy reading, but this book was so good that I could not put it down. Well written and great theology and Christian experience anyone, not just athletes, can gain from.



2. This book is quite different from a lot of books on the Christian faith. It has many short chapters and moves quickly from one area of Chette's life to another. It does cover some details of Auburn football because that is an early part of his life and his current position is as Chaplain for the Tigers. However a good bit of the book covers his family life, interactions with friends growing up, and his early work in Christian ministries. I thought the style of writing was execellent because it blends his view, with comments from other coaches, team members, and friends that provides a compelling view of how God does work in each of our lives - many times in ways that we only understand many years after He does the work.
   
   It is an easy read, and very entertaining to hear some of the behind the scenes stories of Division I football. I really enjoyed reading it.



3. Once started I was unable to put down Chette Williams wonderful book full of life stories and messages of hope. Don't shy away if your not part of the Tiger Family or a football fan. This book is about life and what we make of it as individuals and has a group of people.
   Thank you Chaplain Williams for sharing your journey with us.



4. Just an unbelievable testimony to the work God did in Chette's life at Auburn as a player and now as the team chaplain. God has used Chette in enormous ways both on and off the field and you can read about them first hand in this book. If you are like me, you won't be able to put it down and it will change your life!! Thanks Chette!!



5. Chette Williams' passion and living faith come alive in this simply elegant touching work. It is a personal, genuine and inspirational account of his challenging life as an initially troubled and lost college student and football player who in God's hands is transformed into first a team leader, and then is miraculously led on to be a minister and "fighting soldier" from the toughest neighborhoods of New Orleans to his return as chaplain for Auburn University fooball, where he continues to this day helping tranform the lives of players, coaches and all those God allows to cross his path. It is not a self help book, but with Chette's passionate anecdotal style and the intense experiences and challenges he describes, it is a markedly relevant tool for coaches, teachers and anyone ministering to or leading young people. Don't miss it. When you finish, you'll wish every college student in America could know these truths.

5 comments about Caesar's Commentaries: On The Gallic War and On The Civil War.

1. Mostly written by Caesar, this book provides an insightful view of ancient warfare from a general's perspective, including such topics as the siege, infantry/calvary interaction, the value of enemy awareness, military engineering, intelligence, moral building, calculated risk, and so on. It also describes such topics as the ancient use of the defeated providing hostages, the temperament of the Celtic tribes, the competition for the areas west of the Rhine (Gaul), the lifestyles and state of civilization of the Germanic tribes (this may be the first recorded account of the Germans), and political strategies.
   
   Note that Caesar writes in the third person, which almost makes it seem like it was written by an impartial historian (which is obviously not the case... Hence, its accuracy must be questioned to some degree).
   
   The only downside of this book is its translation, which I compare to reading an old version of the bible. Sentences run very long, paragraphs cover entire pages, verbs are placed in odd parts of sentences,.. etc. It takes a while to get through it. It is, however, worth the effort, and is a interesting window into the past.



2. Caesar might have been a good general but he's a uniquely boring writer with leaden descriptions of intensely exciting campaigns. The other problem is that it's best to read Roman writers in the original Latin as that way the "otherness" of ancient Romans comes across better. Ergo taedet me istius libris. Dabit deus his quoque finem.



3. It is a very interesting read, but can be hard to follow if you are not a history buff or a fan of Roman History + Ceasar. For the time, the thought process and lucid writing techniques are above average. If you want to get a real sense of history with first hand knowledge, then this is a great read for history buffs, and non-history buffs as well.



4. I would strongly recommend getting a higher quality, clearer translation. This version of the classic is near incomprehensible compared to the Penguin or Oxford versions.



5. This classic is well worth the time of any buff on Roman History. If you are a true buff you already own it! There are eight "books" comprising about 15-25 pages apiece. Each book a reflection on the previous year's effort in Gaul. The style is plain and to the point. Written in order to curry favor in Rome and document his campaigns, Caeser is guilty of inflating enemy numbers according to some historians. Never the less he painstakingly records the relations between the tribes of the time, the Gauls,Celts, and Germanic peoples are all referenced. The final three books regarding the Civil War are longer. Ramon L. Jimenez's "Caesar against the Celts" is a great companion for this one. He has a good bibliography as well since this translation of the "Commentaries" is lacking of one. For fans of HBO's Rome television show, check out Book V chapter XLIV.

1 comments about Phantom Reflections: The Education of an American Fighter Pilot in Vietnam.

1. Having grown up during these events and going to school with many that either had been in Vietnam or where going there this was a most interesting read.

5 comments about Lonely Soldier: The Memoir of an American in the Israeli Army.

1. Neither well written nor engaging. A Purity of Arms: An American in the Israeli Army by Aaron Wolf is a much better book. Haim Watzman, Company C: An American's Life as a Citizen-Soldier in Israel is also worthwhile, though with its share of longueurs--and much in need of a glossary of Hebrew military terms.
   



2. A beautiful story. Adam is a true hero. A must read for those of us who love Israel.



3. Lonely Soldier: The Memoir of an American in the Israeli Army
   I have served in the United States Marine Corp and traveled to Israel. It was with interest that I read this book hoping to gain some insight into the IDF and life in Israel. I found the book to be well written and very interesting. I am not a speed reader but I read Lonely Soldier in less than a week. My wife kept trying to pry it out of my hands but it was difficult to put down.
   
   The author's details regarding training and his personal feelings are fascinating. The discipline of the author and his desire to serve well are an inspiration to anyone traveling through life and seeking a personal mission.
   
   Best of fortune to all and I hope you enjoy the book as much as I did.



4. Marechal De Saxe wrote, "The reputation of an organization becomes personal just as soon as it is an honor to belong to it." He was referring to that illusive entity we refer to as esprit de corps. In this memoir we gain an insight into such a noted organization and how men and women are molded to be honored members. It is not an uncommon story type but seeing inside the Israeli defense forces gives it a new exotic twist.
   
   It is not an objective study of middle eastern politics. Soldiers do not have the luxury of political objectivity. The corps is their primary loyalty, acceptance as a fellow soldier by the man or woman at their side their main concern.
   
   This is pure enjoyment treading for those of us who enjoy the comradere and esprit de corps band of brothers story. To enjoy it best, try to ignore the political slant and just enjoy the story for its face value.



5. This is a nice peak in to the Israeli army, but doesn't really cover any new ground. The writing style is decent, but doesn't keep you interested throughout. Its mostly about the training process and doesn't go very deep in to his thoughts politically or even his changing thoughts about Zionism. I kept feeling like I wanted to know more about his inner thoughts, not just which wadi they were hiking through for a particular mission. While worth reading, it is not inspiring.
   
   If you want an inspiring book about the Israeli military, I recommend either Portrait of a Hero -- about Yoni Netanhayu who led the raid and fell in Entebbe or Alex -- about Alex Singer who fell in battle in Lebanon. Both of which are excerpts from diaries.

5 comments about The War I Always Wanted: The Illusion of Glory and the Reality of War.

1. Brandon has a unique story telling gift that is to be treasured. I am an OEF veteran and I felt I was in his shoes at the precise times he describes. I had many of the same fears and emotions and connected with him through the book. Once I picked it up I did not put it back down till I was done.



2. I just missed the vietnam draft and bearing that in mind, probably was in my late thirties the next time there was a war to fight in. I always wondered what the military experience was like, and I feel that this book was an excellent window viewing into that experience. It was a very quick read, exciting and interesting. I definitely reccommend it.



3. This first-person account of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq was fascinating and informative. However, what really struck me was the quality of the writing. Even if you're only marginally interested in the subject matter, get the book for the prose. It reads better than many novels. This guy has a brilliant future as an author. I look forward to his next release, whatever the subject.



4. One of two war books I have read since the DMZ in Vietnam, this book gets the distinction between preconceived notions of war and the experience of war. The times that can be emotional if we allow them to, and the experience of one of the most alive times one can experience, is captured in this book in a way I could never have expressed myself--and I've tried. This one truly "gets it". Strongly recommended!



5. Friedman found that the "glory" of war was really only the "gore" of war. John Wayne never told us about that.
   
   As a veteran of the Vietnam War, I understand Friedman's book. I was an Infantry Platoon Leader with the First Infantry Division. War is the same bloody mess everywhere and this author tells us about it in this excellent book.
   
   Author of Mr. NewHeart (New Heart): Heart Attack to Transplant and Beyond
   
   You may preview a free copy of my next book if you Google "david hollar the face of war."
   
   
   
   I also recommend A Step of Faith - an inspiring story to help get you through the month.

5 comments about Vera Brittain: Testament of Youth: An Autobiographical Study of the Years 1900-1925 (Penguin Twentieth-Century Classics).

1. Vera Brittain (1893-1970) was raised as the daughter of a mill owner in the north of England. She was an intellectual who dreamed of majoring in English Literature at Oxford University's Somerville College for Women. In the post-World War I period Vera would return to Oxford taking a second in History and later winning a Master's degree.
   The first third of this book deals with Vera's autobiographical description of her raising in a conservative Edwardian home. She was close to her brother Edward; fell in love with poet Roland Leighton and enjoyed poetry. She and her generation were not ready for the horrific reality of the war which would kill over 10 million people.
   During the war Vera temporarily dropped out of Oxford to serve as a
   V.A.D. (a volunteer nurse). She would serve in London, Malta and France.
   She would minster to German Prisoners of War as well as serving with distinction. Vera's beloved Roland was killed in battle as was her brother Edward who fell in the last summer of the war. Vera was seared by these overwhelming tragedies. And yet she went on with her life serving with bravery.
   As the war ended she returned to Oxford becoming a feminist and pacifist. She lectured all over England on behalf of the League of Nations Union. Vera married a World War I veteran who became an academic.
   Vera would write over 25 books becoming a beloved and popular author in her native England.
   This is a long book over 600 densely printed pages. It is also one of the best books about non-combat, civilian life ever written about the war. Many of the scenes in which Vera is serving as a nurse are graphic and touch the human heart with the sadness and tragic loss of a bright generation of young Europeans. This book has become a modern classic which should be required reading in any course on World War I. Several years ago it was broadcast in a miniseries by BBC appearing on Masterpiece Theatre on PBS. This is a book which will remain lodged in your memory. Do your self a favor and purchase a copy soon!



2. I clearly am in a minority here but I did not like this book. A peer of other notable young British writers like Robert Graves and Wilfred Owen, Britton's book stands out among the male writers of the period as giving a woman's view of the war. The problem, at least for me, is that Britton is so over come with bitterness that she flogs the reader with it from the start.
   
   An early feminist Britton had strong views and supported her male friends and family going off to the First World War but as they fell to the german guns she, like many of her generation, became disillusioned. This is understandable but in writing her book, Britton cannot set aside her bitterness and it makes the reading ponderous and heavy. For example noting a fete in her early childhood and the bunting and flags put out she says "If only I knew then it was all meaningless." we are taken from a little girl's views to a bitter adult in the blink of an eye and it just gets too much.
   
   By comparrison the autobiography of Robert Graves, Goodby to All That, starts out with the childish illusions being enjoyed as a child and slowly the bitterness slips into the writer's world view as he matures and is exposed to the horrors of the war. this is far more subtle and easier to read, meaning you are guided to the ponit he wants you to reach, instead of trying to bludgeon you into the mindset as Britton does.



3. The word "classic" gets thrown around a lot these days. Many so-called "modern classics" are not that important, but "Testament of Youth" deserves this reprint as a Penguin Classic. Brittain tells of her early life in the north of England between 1893 and the start of World War I in 1914 in beautifully clear prose, and her clarity of thought and powers of observation make the bulk of the book, dealing with the war's impact on her, painfully vivid without ever lapsing into self-pity. Like too many others of her generation (and the next and the next) Vera Brittain learned almost unimaginable lessons about life and her own inner strength. To that extent, "Testament of Youth" can serve as both example and inspiration.
   
   Vera Brittain came from an upper-middle-class background shared by millions of young women in late Victorian England. One thing that made her different was her great intellectual curiosity and determination to escape a truly suffocating existence that few of today's Western women can easily imagine. What made her like most citizens of the time (and of later times)was her complete ignorance of the meaning of "war." Patriotism, her social conscience, and a desire to take part in the bigger world led her to volunteer as a nursing sister with the British Army. Her grueling hospital experiences were a revelation to her. Her personal losses are even more powerfully revealing of the human condition. Brittain was a "survivor" in every sense of the word.
   
   "Testament of Youth" is just as fresh and moving today as it was when it was written 75 years ago and Vera Brittain tells a story that must be told and retold to each generation. For every reader who finds the book "too long" by current standards (its almost 700 pages), there will be two who wish they could follow the author even further. But even if you find yourself skipping ahead, particularly in the early part, you will not be able to forget Vera Brittain or her story. "Testament of Youth" is one of the great autobiographies of the past 100 years.



4. This is a fascinating, insightful book that it would behoove many of us modern folk to read. Learn about the harder times of the past, while sipping latte in a comfy chair. You'll be thankful for today's comforts -- and today's modern attitudes towards the capabilities and intelligence of women -- after you read what it was like for one woman early in the 20th century. Simply a great book.



5. Vera Brittain enrolled in Summerville College, Oxford, in a time before degrees were granted to women. This was just before The First World War changed almost everything for almost everyone. When it was over, her best friends, her fiance and her brother had all been killed. She also personally witnessed the agony of thousands in the surgical wards where she worked as a volunteer nurse.
   
   In response, she became a suffragette, a feminist and a liberal writer and lecturer. She sought to prevent such tragedy from reoccurring.
   
   The answers to the political and social questions with which she struggled elude us still. But Vera Brittain's autobiographical account of her generation's trials, Testament of Youth, remains both a stunningly-honest portrait of a courageous young woman and a vivid chronicle of a time almost out of living memory. Through her words we see what we might have thought, felt and believed, had we been born into her era.

3 comments about Becton: Autobiography of a Soldier and Public Servant.

1. LTG (Ret.) Becton has served this country honorably for over 40 years. His autobiography is outstanding and demonstrates that hard work will win out over all obstacles. He is truly one of this Nation's great heros and I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in learning about his life.



2. Personal memoirs of famous or near famous people can be risky investments for a reader. General Becton's book has no such risk though, and it makes for enjoyable, informative reading without any of the jargon that often can make military matters tedious to the layperson. In fact, Gen. Becton frequently shows an obvious effort to explain technical points in terms that keep everything well inside the reader's comfort zone. Autobiography of Becton compares very favorably with those of a number of other senior professional officers whose names are quite familiar to the general public and which were issued over the last 15 years or so by some of the larger and more prominent national publishing houses.
   
   Julius Becton is far less known in America today than he deserves to be. Not only does he have a public service career spanning more than 60 years, but it is a career highlighted by taking up tough jobs that entailed a lot more criticism than material reward. These included FEMA, presidency of a historically Black college in the South at a time when those institutions were becoming increasingly strained by the end of segregation at larger state universities and, the hottest potato of all, taking charge of the pathetic District of Columbia school system to root out the graft and incompetence, while fighting off the incessant backbiting from the power centers that benefited by the old ways of doing things. And he did this while in his 70's, postponing a well-deserved retirement.
   
   My own interest in the book was mainly in General Becton's military career. Although he had quite a successful one, it was a career marked by competence and solid performance, rather than the glamour, slogans and catch phrases, goofy reorganization plans or personality stunts that accompanied so many general officers I saw during my service years in the 70s and which were such a burden on their subordinates, at no gain to the service. I was also gratified to see several of General Becton's observations on Army inspections, personnel policies and run-ins with overinflated egos along the career paths. Oddly enough, I had crossed paths with some of those people (at a far lower level on my part) or heard a great deal about them, and in every case agreed with his polite, but negative assessments.
   
   At this point I should note that I had one fleeting contact with the author more than 35 years ago, when he swore me and my graduating class into the Army. The word "charisma" is terribly overused and not necessarily informative, so I won't use it here. I will say that General Becton was a man of monumental dignity, seriousness and personal magnetism. This was most noted by the families who were present at the time, who didn't discuss anything else about the ceremony other than what a stunningly impressive, yet approachable, pleasant and civil individual this was (and this was at a time when a member of an ethnic minority as a military general officer was much less usual than in recent years).
   
   Although I doubt that General Becton's book will be used much this way because youth today don't read much, this would be a wonderful thing for any teenager to read, whether black, white or whatever, because it shows the path to an excellent system of values and life choices. General Becton writes with a good deal of introspection and is quite open about some of his statements and decisions that didn't work out for the best (indeed, he is often too hard on himself in that respect). On the other hand, his many accomplishments and the good he has done for his country come across from the simple facts and not by a lot of self-aggrandizement from this modest and monumentally decent man.



3. "Becton's" autobiography is the tale of a great man of humble beginnings. Born the son of a handy-man, he took advantage of the opportunities life presented and he still serves as the role-model of someone we should all aspire to be.
   
   Lt Gen Julius Becton enlisted in the Army just after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Beginning the war as a private, he ended it as a second lieutenant. The book follows his military career through the hot wars in Korea and Vietnam, and finished with the Cold War in West Germany. Having led at every organization level in the Army, he retired as a Lt General with 39 years of service.
   
   After serving our nation in the profession of arms, he came out of retirement to run another organization that greatly benefitted from his proven abilities at international diplomacy and crisis management. He ran the Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA), which coordinates United States assistance to other countries that have suffered man-made or natural disasters. After fixing OFDA he was asked to head the newly-formed Federal Emergency Management Agency. From there, he returned to his Alma Mater of Prairie View A&M University, this time as President, and saved it from going into receivership. He continued his pattern of restoring desperately needed leadership to (at the time) dysfunctional organizations one more time for the District of Columbia Public School system before finally retiring.
   
   Lt Gen Becton's career predated another famous Black American's military career by just a few years. Similar to General Colin Powell's "My American Journey", both books recount the experiences of two men who were very successful in the environment provided by the US armed forces. Gen. Powell's biography benefitted from a professional writer resulting in smoother flow through the book. The author could have also helped elicit more when it came to Lt Gen Becton's incredible accomplishments. In some cases, Lt Gen Becton's humility when relating his proudest moments whet our appetites, but left us wanting "The Rest of the Story".
   
   Lt Gen Julius Becton's life story is an incredible one. Becton's candid story-telling provided examples of what worked, balanced with his introspection as to what he could have done better. This critical self-assessment combined with Becton's 13 principles of the "First Team Philosophy" provides the reader with a very powerful lesson in applied leadership.

5 comments about The Pianist: The Extraordinary True Story of One Man's Survival in Warsaw, 1939-1945.

1. One of those amazing stories that makes you realize just how much the human spirit can take, and still survive. And just how inhumane we humans can be towards each other. Once you start reading, you won't be able to put this down.



2. Szpilman reveals the tragedy of Jewish life in Warsaw under the German occupation from 1939-1946. Szpilman's autobiographical work was first published in postwar Poland in 1946 but then quickly removed from circulation by Polish authorities. An accomplished pianist before the war, Szpilman played for Polish Radio during the siege of Warsaw and later within the Jewish ghetto to provide food for his parents and siblings. With the systematic liquidation of Jewish life in Warsaw and separation from his family, Szpilman's life took a series of surprising twists. As the reader views life in the ghetto through the eyes of a survivor, his escape from the ghetto before the Jewish up-rising and his ultimate survival consistently depended upon a timely combination of luck and sympathetic acquaintances B including a German army officer.
   
   Included with Szpilman's memoirs are excerpts from Captain Wilm Hosenfeld's diaries and Wolf Biermann's own brief commentary. Hosenfeld's equating of National Socialism with Stalinist Communist and Biermann's emphasis on Szpilman's willingness to break with his past detracts from the overall quality of this work. Nevertheless, this work is well written and will retain the reader's attention to the end.



3. I could not put down this book, and read it in two sittings. Wladyslaw Szpilman, the famed pianist and composer, describes his harrowing account of life under Nazi terror. As a Polish Jew, Szpilman was considered by the Nazis to be entirely subhuman, and it is a miracle he survived the persistent and random acts of violence that surrounded him. He was nearly sent to a death camp along with his five family members, and somehow was pulled off the Birkenau-bound train to a grim prospect of survival. The images in this book are harrowing, such as the depiction of the shattered skulls of little girls, victims of the Nazis' "preferred" method of killing children by picking them up by their legs and swinging them into a brick wall. Imagine the horror....Szpilman's account is so matter-of-fact at times that you wonder how he survived. The fact that he did is a testament of human endurance, but also the ways of fate. There were occasions when he survived simply by the luck of the draw in a Godless universe.



4. Why do I consider a first person account detailing the horrors of the Holocaust to be uplifting? The events described by the author are harrowing and nearly unbelieveable to the degree that I was astonished that the man, in the end, survives. Perhaps that is why I am so uplifted by this story. He survived. He defied evil by daring to live. He also dared to pick up the pieces of his shattered life and continue to live. He does this without any fanfare or obvious heroism. I think that is what makes this particular telling of the Holocaust so remarkable. The author writes it in such an unremarkable fashion that it forces you to sit up and take notice. By simply stating that the caramel was his 'family's last meal together' makes you pause to reflect on such an event. Beautifully written. Highly reccommended.
   
   As a side note, Roman Polanski's adaptation of this book is truely brilliant. Adrien Brody's portrayal of Szpilman is awe inspiring and heart wrenching to watch. Both men do the book and Szpilman's memory justice.



5. I don't have too much to add to the other reviewers; having seen the movie I had a pretty good idea what to expect.
   
   Probably the most interesting thing about the book version is the diary of a German officer who helped save Spilman. The officer's diary (from 1942-44) shows that he was aware of the Nazi extermination camps by mid-1942; he explained that most Jews were "so weak from starvation and misery that they couldn't offer any resistance." By December 1943, he knew that Germany would lose the war, but suggests that Germans would not revolt because "no one would risk his life by standing up to the Gestapo."

5 comments about Night Owl Fighter Pilot.

1. Well, one would think that the cover would have an F-4 on it with 497TFS markings on it. The tail flash should be "FP" and not "FG."
   
   Bob Hipps, Ubon Alumnus
   497TFS 1967/68
   334TFS/Wolf FAC 1972-73



2. I regret that there was no capable editor assigned to this work. I am plowing through the this book hoping that somehow it will get better, but the stilted prose really is a road block.



3. This was a fascinating book for me to read for several reasons. I was at an F4 pilot at Ubon two years after Val. Every time he described some facet of the base, I could visualize it exactly as he described it. My squadron, the World Famous, Highly Respected, 433 Tactical Fighter Squadron, was located at the opposite end of the building, so I was intimately familiar with the setting. I also knew several of the people in his book, which made it all the more interesting. In fact, some of them were my instructrors when I checked out in the F4.
   
   I too flew several night missions, so I was no stranger to those types of attacks. Like the author, I didn't see a lot of results for our night efforts and began to wonder if this night business was really worth it. Val does an excellent job of describing how this was done.
   
   If you were involved in the Vietnam War, I think you'd find this quite interesting. If you just wondered what it was like to be a fighter pilot in that conflict, I think you'd still find it fascinating. His descriptions are all very real, I assure you.



4. This book fills in valuable information on an aspect of the conflict that few historians of the VietNam war know about. It accurately points out the absurd way the missions were directed from the commander in chief on down. It was a total waste of highly trained men that LBJ & MacNamara simple ignored. Having flown 140 missions over NVA & Laos myself I concur totally with Col Johnsons assesment of the little known night owl airwar.
   
   Bob Frasier
   United Airlines retired



5. An accurate portrayal of what it feels like to be a fighter pilot. Col Johnson describes how it feels to walk out to the airplane, escape death, and the emotional relief of each mission accomplished.
   
   He figured out before MacNamara that this fiasco was not in America's best interest.
   
   R L Penn
   VietNam Vet

5 comments about Roll Me Over: An Infantryman's World War II.

1. It took a while for this book to start cooking ... the trip from Normandy to the front lines was relatively uneventful ... even the author admitted that the life of an infantryman was nothing like Hollywood's portrayal. Ironically, after that statement was made, all Hell seemed to break loose.
   
   Of the hundreds of books I've read about World War II from the American combat soldier's point of view, there are few that really put me on the front lines like this book did. Gannter did an excellent job of taking me with him through the myriad of small towns/villages in Germany ... he is very descriptive in his reflections of these experiences; it is very easy to envision what he's seen ... he even effectevly puts faces on the people in those towns/villages.
   
   The combat he does experience isn't large scale; mostly brief skirmishes that are up-close and personal. His recollection of the apprehension he felt upon hearing German tanks approaching his ill-prepared squad sent chills up my spine ... then came the terror he experienced being forced to hide ... right under the nose of one of the armoured monsters. The poignant manner in which he describes killing the enemy for the first time made me understand what millions of "citizen soldiers" must have experienced in combat ... a combination of sadness, pity, shock and a sense of duty to both his job as a soldier and to the men he led.
   
   Although Gannter's book is not a "hero's tale" ... it really does underline the sense of duty, honor and sacrifice exhibited by "ordinary" men. The book reads like a movie ... a very worthwhile experience for me.



2. One of the greatest narcissistic first person accounts out of the thirty plus I've read and listened to about WWII. Granted, Gantter has an intelligent literary talent for describing first person combat conditions and dreary rear echelon military life. Albeit he propagates the typical self righteous atheist perspective from a self absorbed individualist soldier, similar to that of a modern cynical collage student. Its intellectual poignant imagery reads like the movie you wished you'd left after the first 10 minutes, but you hoped to score with your morally sensitive and sympathetically confused liberal professor girlfriend after the film. He speaks of "not giving moral judgment," however typical of noble empirical hypocrisy, Gantter spews an enlighten bilge of brilliantly formulated hypercritical dramatics, personal, theoretical, and imaginary, throughout his lyrical polemic memoir. It is a wonderfully bias narrative in the philosophical confusion from the psychological guilt in killing and the absolute correct necessity to do so. Truly if the United States Army of WWII had more of these fine two time draft dodger specimens of ambiguous compass principles, aimless willed resolve, pragmatically obtuse, and historically simple minded wonders (plus a University graduate to boot) the Allies would have lost the war. Thank God my dad (an Infantryman) and his four brothers didn't maintain Gantter's personal `perceptive perspective' while fighting in Europe and in the Pacific during WWII. Hey being a University graduate of history myself and an Infantryman of 23 years, the book made me reflect and laugh times...as I used its Sad Sack pages for toilet paper. I think Gantter, being a fellow infantryman would have admired that irony.



3. I rate this book 5 stars because it was so good that I read it twice. In spite of the author's cynical outlook, I found him likeable as he took me with him through his World War II journey across Europe.
   
   Some of the most memorable experiences he shares:
   
   The time he shoots a German from the upper floor of a farmhouse. He sees the figure collapse and lay motionless in a nearby field. The author is sickened, carefully lays his rifle on the plaster-covered floor, and for a moment holds his head in his hands.
   
   The time he and his three-man squad spent the day in a farmhouse surrounded by Germans. After the squad escapes and rejoins the platoon, the other men admire them for their courage and cool-headedness in a difficult situation. For days afterward, the platoon treats the four men like heroes.
   
   The time the platoon liberates a slave labor camp. The joyous inmates bounce the author repeatedly in the air until he loses his backpack and helmet and is covered with plaster from hitting the ceiling. The author weeps with the inmates.



4. I was asked to purchase this book for a gentleman in our nursing home. He requested this book because he was the character in the book named Shorty and he was there in 1944 and knows the author.
   He is thrilled to have this book.
   Thank you.



5. I know the villages of Waimes and Faymonville very well as my mother's family came from that area. Gantter obviously took notice of what he saw and experienced there. He mentions people by name who actually existed and tells the readers exactly what these people did at the time. A well written and accurate account.