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Title: Honor Untarnished : A West Point Graduate's Memoir of World War II by Donald V. Bennett ISBN: 0-7653-0658-1 Publisher: Forge Pub. Date: 01 May, 2004 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4 (4 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Another side to World War Two
Comment: This is one of the best books I have read on World War Two, and I have read many. Bennett takes us back in time, as if we are sitting in his living room listening to him over coffee. He tells us what it was like to be an American officer during World War Two. He reveals the worry of 1942 - 1943 that we could lose the war. At that point, we were military amateurs compared to the Germans and Japanese. Our military had been dismantled after World War One.
Bennett shows an interesting side to Patton. Bennett had malaria and was in the hospital where Patton slapped a soldier for cowardice. Bennett, who was in the next tent over, cheered Patton on, as did the other patients. Patton was confronting the growing problem of desertion among American soldiers in Sicily, which was another worry we don't often hear about.
Bennett comments on the realism of the first 20 minutes of "Saving Private Ryan," which is the D Day landing at Omaha Beach. Then he adds that the real thing was four terrifying hours of that 20 minute sequence.
He sprinkles leadership advice throughout his narrative: Remain humble as an officer. Eat the same food the men eat; live in the same conditions. The worst officers, in Bennett's view, were the ones who considered soldiers their personal servants.
The book is written as a living room chat. It is not written with the polish of a John Toland or Cornelius Ryan or Stephen Ambrose. But it is movingly written.
Rating: 2
Summary: More colonel and less general
Comment: I have read many books on WWII from many perspectives and have been to visit the D-Day beaches four times. I cannot visit the American graves in Normandy without being moved. Twice I have had the experience of hearing taps played near Omaha Beach. I have the utmost respect for all those who fought and died. I had high expectations for the book. My problem is that the book never finds its voice. At times it is the four star general writing with his perspective of high and at other times it is the young colonel leading his men. I wanted to hear more from this man. Just as he starts to share, the general leaps in and throws off the narrative. Let the colonel talk about his artillery missions and show me more of how his experience was different. (A few photos and maps would be nice). If the general needs to talk, give him a separate chapter at the end of the book. We hear from the privates and generals but not the majors and colonels. Their voices could add to the history. I wish the colonel would have spoken for them.
Rating: 4
Summary: Honor Untarnished: A West Point Graduate's Memoir of World W
Comment: Bennett who served with the 58th and 62nd Mobile Artillery Battalions US Army takes the reader from his childhood to Westpoint and then through his service in North Africa, Sicily and Europe. I enjoyed the honesty with which Bennett pointed out both the successes and failures of himself and the US Army during the time he was in the service. He also explains how the US Army had many lessons to learn during the course of the war. His discriptions of the carnage following the Kasserine Pass battle and the US Soldiers routed during the initial phase of the Battle of the Bulge are noteworthy. He also describes how the United States Army and the individual US soldier meet the challenge of the German Armed Forces and ultimately prevailed. The book describes the torment that two families felt when the wrong family is notified of the death of a service member. I liked the book coming from someone who was there from the early days of North Africa until the end of the war and how he expains the use or missuse of the mobile self-propelled M7 Priest artillery units he was assigned to. The battles are seen from the view point of this young artillery commander and should be taken in context with more detailed books that cover each individual battle. An example of this is the loss of personnel and vehicles during the Sicily campaign. When reading the book you get the impression that all the casualties were caused by the Germans & Italians. If you read other accounts of the action in books such as The Battle for Sicily by Mitcham he details how some of these casualties were caused by the enemy and some by a mistaken attack by US A-36 aircraft.
Finally I have two minor complaints against the publisher:
1: Maps of North Africa, Sicily, Omaha Beach and the push into Europe would have helped in following the story. No Maps are included in the book.
2: Why do you have a picture of US Marines assaulting a beach on the cover? Would it be that hard to find a picture of a US Army M7 Priest self-propelled gun in action.
A great read written by someone who was there.
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Title: Visions from a Foxhole : A Rifleman in Patton's Ghost Corps by WILLIAM FOLEY ISBN: 0891418121 Publisher: Presidio Press Pub. Date: 03 June, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: Major General Maurice Rose: World War II's Greatest Forgotten Commander by Steven L. Ossad, Don R. Marsh, Martin Blumenson ISBN: 0878333088 Publisher: Taylor Pub Pub. Date: August, 2003 List Price(USD): $27.95 |
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Title: Terrible Terry Allen : Combat General of World War II - The Life of an American Soldier by Gerald Astor ISBN: 0891417605 Publisher: Presidio Press Pub. Date: 01 April, 2003 List Price(USD): $25.95 |
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Title: Tank Driver: With the 11th Armored from the Battle of the Bulge to Ve Day by J. Ted Hartman, Ted J. Hartman ISBN: 0253342112 Publisher: Indiana University Press Pub. Date: June, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: The Last Kilometer: Marching to Victory in Europe with the Big Red One, 1944-1945 by A. Preston Price ISBN: 1557504342 Publisher: Naval Institute Press Pub. Date: 12 March, 2002 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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