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Title: Lasting Valor by Vernon J. Baker, Ken Olsen ISBN: 1-885478-30-5 Publisher: Genesis Nonfiction Pub. Date: 01 December, 1997 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.69 (13 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Takes courage to put this book down - a must read.
Comment: Okay, so I originally bought "Lasting Valor" to put on my coffee table in the hopes I would seem more interesting to visitors and perhaps just a wee bit erudite too. But then I read it (as you must) and realized, damn, this book is GREAT. Written in the first person by World War II military veteran Vernon Baker (with journalist Ken Olsen and a superb foreward by General Colin Powell)), this is a tale of how it was to be black in an army that, while it hated you, needed you as cannon fodder. Part of this saga came to light last year when Baker was belatedly given the U.S Medal of Honor for his previously ignored acts of heroism. But the full irony of this "recognition" - more an empty apology that comes far too late for the nineteen men that Baker saw die on a ridge in Northern Italy - can only be understood when you read this book, not the short, simplified newspaper articles. I am neither a military buff nor particularly a fan of memoirs, but I could not put down this book - which is clearly meant for everyone - black, white, young, old, democrat, republican. Most gripping is the tale of betrayal by white commanders who left (yes, literally walked away from) Baker and his men when the battle got too intense ("I still hear a German commander scream Feuer, howitzer shells whistling in, followed by the whish, whish, whish of mortars, the trees around us shredding....") and then the maddeningly smooth cover-up of that cowardice by the army. There is a wry edge to Baker's voice that hovers somewhere between wise and bitter and this only makes the book more interesting - for all those who think that a nice shiny medal can absolve the injustice and the horror, Baker asks you to think again.
Rating: 4
Summary: Great addition to "stuff we should have been taught."
Comment: A timely book that adds to current discussions about race. Like the story of La Amistad, Vernon Baker's story is one that should have been heard by a lot more people a lot sooner. Baker and Olsen make us understand what it was like to be a black soldier in a white man's army and just as importantly, the unglamorous difficulties of being a soldier in often no-win situations.
The story weaves between taught World War II battle scenes to growing up in small-town Wyoming. If you like stories about real people of character who unflinchingly tell a tale, you will like this book. It adds yet another refreshing perspective not only to the race discussion, but the realities of war.
Rating: 5
Summary: It's Not What Happens to You: It's What You Do With It
Comment: I purchased this book to tap into the life lessons of another black leader.
And I really gained more than I expected. Vernon Baker talks about race, and how being Black during WWII, while in the army also meant having to work harder to prove yourself than his white commanders had to.
While these racial problems still exist everywhere, and everyday, on many levels, the difference is that Baker's behind, and everyone one of his troop's behind was on the line, just because they had to make a difference in times when their white leaders used them to cover up the fact that they were cowards. To be in, and part of the team, if you will, they had to be braver than their cowardly commanders who really didn't want them there.
Another interesting point in this story is, "The American Army mostly ignored its black combat troops along the Western Front while the French hailed their valor and awarded the Cross of War, to every member of three all-black regiments. Most American history books fail to record any of this, and the Army certainly didn't bring it up."
"Lasting Valor," he gives details that weaving WWII battles, his Wyoming upbringing, and the women who came into his life (his traditionally thinking male identity), into one story that will touch everyone's heart.
Also, this book ends in a message similar to Herman Wouk's message, from "War and Remembrance," when it states, "War, however, is the most regrettable proving ground. For the sake of my nineteen comrades, I hope no man, black, white, or any color, ever again has the opportunity to earn the Medal of Honor. War is not honor. Those who rush to launch conflict, and those who seek to create heroes from it, should remember war's legacy. You have to be there to appreciate its horrors. And die to forget them."
I'd love to see this book become required reading for high school students, throughout America.
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Title: Unlikeliest Hero by Booton Herndon ISBN: 0816305277 Publisher: Pacific Press Publishing Association Pub. Date: August, 1982 List Price(USD): $5.95 |
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