3 comments about A Soldier's Story: The Life and Times of an Israeli War Hero.

1. Raful Eitan is a name that anyone who has read the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict should know. He has lived through the entire history from British Mandate Palestine to the modern State of Israel. His autobiography chronicles his life and opinions from his days in pre-1948 Palmach (Israeli Shock Troopers and Pioneers), to being a highly decorated and combat experienced paratrooper, to his days as Minister of Defense, to his service during the highly controversial Operation Peace for Galilee (the 1982 Lebanon-Syria-PLO-Israel War).

   He minces not one of his words and tells the entire tale in this 1992 paperback book's 388 pages. Every word of the book is exciting or engaging from moments of intense action to moments of intense reflection. Perhaps, one of the most interesting aspects of Eitan's outlook is that he bears the Palestinian-Arabs and other Arabs no animus or hate. He grew up with them as a Sabra (native-born Israeli) and feels sympathy towards them for the way that tyrannical Arab governments have manipulated the refugees without helping them. He hopes and prays to one day live in peace with all of the Arabs.

   Perhaps most revealing are Eitan's parting words (Page 388):

   -------------------------------

   "Most importantly, in our struggle for survival we must not grow impatient. We must remain strong and steadfast. We must wait until the winds of change that are sweeping through Eastern Europe bring similar changes to our region. We must wait until our Arab neighbors see the advantages of peace and give up their campaign to destroy us. Only through strength can peace be achieved."

   -------------------------------

   His words seem almost prophetic in these days of change in the Middle East. Arab governments are slowly seeing their governments change through death of the previous strong man (Syria) to an aging king that will soon see a change of power in his country (Jordan) to a radical government that pushed a superpower too far (Iraq). Those winds of change that transformed Eastern Europe that Eitan prophesized certainly seem to have arrived in the Middle East. We can only hope and pray that peace will finally come to stay in the troubled Middle East. And until that day arrives, we can hope and pray that Israel remains strong waiting for the arrival of peace.
   
   I highly recommend this excellent autobiography of one of Israel's most distinguished soldiers, farmers, leaders, and citizens.

   Review by: Maximillian Ben Hanan




2. Raful Eitan is a name that anyone who has read the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict should know. He has lived through the entire history from British Mandate Palestine to the modern State of Israel. His autobiography chronicles his life and opinions from his days in pre-1948 Palmach (Israeli Shock Troopers and Pioneers), to being a highly decorated and combat experienced paratrooper, to his days as Minister of Defense, to his service during the highly controversial Operation Peace for Galilee (the 1982 Lebanon-Syria-PLO-Israel War).

   He minces not one of his words and tells the entire tale in this 1992 paperback book's 388 pages. Every word of the book is exciting or engaging from moments of intense action to moments of intense reflection. Perhaps, one of the most interesting aspects of Eitan's outlook is that he bears the Palestinian-Arabs and other Arabs no animus or hate. He grew up with them as a Sabra (native-born Israeli) and feels sympathy towards them for the way that tyrannical Arab governments have manipulated the refugees without helping them. He hopes and prays to one day live in peace with all of the Arabs.

   Perhaps most revealing are Eitan's parting words (Page 388):

   -------------------------------

   "Most importantly, in our struggle for survival we must not grow impatient. We must remain strong and steadfast. We must wait until the winds of change that are sweeping through Eastern Europe bring similar changes to our region. We must wait until our Arab neighbors see the advantages of peace and give up their campaign to destroy us. Only through strength can peace be achieved."

   -------------------------------

   His words seem almost prophetic in these days of change in the Middle East. Arab governments are slowly seeing their governments change through death of the previous strong man (Syria) to an aging king that will soon see a change of power in his country (Jordan) to a radical government that pushed a superpower too far (Iraq). Those winds of change that transformed Eastern Europe that Eitan prophesized certainly seem to have arrived in the Middle East. We can only hope and pray that peace will finally come to stay in the troubled Middle East. And until that day arrives, we can hope and pray that Israel remains strong waiting for the arrival of peace.
   
   I highly recommend this excellent autobiography of one of Israel's most distinguished soldiers, farmers, leaders, and citizens.

   Review by: Maximillian Ben Hanan




3. Raful Eitan was one of Israel's greatest sons, taking part in all of Israel's wars of defence from the 1948 War of Independence to the 1982 Peace for Galilee War.
   
   
   He was also a farmer and later a member of the Knesset and a leader of great vision.
   Raful Eitan died under strange circumstances off the port of Ashdod in a drowning incident on 23 November 2004.
   
   In this book Raful tells of his life from his birth into poverty at Moshav Tel Adashim.
   Eitan describes life on the Moshav where he was born during the 1929 Arab pogroms against Jewish communities in the Land of Israel, and witnessed the 1936 pogroms at the age of seven, witnessing murder and the burning of fields and Jewish houses by Arab mobs.
   The book is written with great humour, passion and love of his people and homeland.
   In 1939, at the age of ten, he joined the Gadna, the youth wing of the Hagannah Jewish Defence organization.
   In 1947 he joined the Palmach, the Haganah's elite striking force and describes the Arab atrocities he witnessed, after Arab armies and terror bands had attacked the Jews of Palestine, after the UN voted for the creation of a tiny Jewish State.
   A convoy bringing supplies to troops and Jewish civilians came under fire from an Arab ambush near the village of Hulda on the road to Jerusalem.
   "It was a terrible slaughter. We were not organized for a counter attack and could not even rescue our wounded. During the day and most of the night the wounded were abandoned to our attackers.Once the attackers had left, we went to retrieve the bodies of our beloved compatriots and discovered their burned and mutilated bodies. One of the drivers, who managed to hide from the Arabs, told us that the Arabs had abused the wounded and then poured fuel on them and burned them alive. This was the first time I had been exposed to this type of atrocity and it taught me that the Arab soldier came from a different culture, with a different fighting ethic".
   Eitan describes how the Israeli army always does all they can to avoid the loss of the lives of enemy civilians, even risking the lives of their own soldiers to do this.
   Never has any army, in any conflict, been so scrupulous in trying to avoid the spilling of the blood of noncombatants as the Israelis.
   Eitan candidly describes the feelings and opinons about various Israeli millitary leaders such as Moshe Dayan, David 'Dado' Eleazar, and Ariel 'Arik' Sharon.
   He makes no bones about his dislike for Moshe Dayan.
   
   Eitan descibes his anger at a foreign camera crew that taunted the Israeli forces at the beginning of the 1973 Yom Kippur War, at a particularly difficult phase of the war for the Israelis.
   The Syrians had attacked the Jews on the holiest day of the Jewish Calendar, and the Israelis had done nothing to deserve the foreign crews spiteful laughter.
   This is a clear example of the unethical and vicious prejudice of the world media towards Israel and her people.
   He expresses his anger and pain at what he witnessed of the Arab terror attacks on Israeli children at Ma'alot in 1974, where PFLP terrorists slaughtered 22 innocent Jewish children, without regard to their age and innocence.
   He also expresses the heartbreak at the gruesome site of a murder by Arab terrorists of a Jewish mother and her two small children at Nahariya. that same year.
   As Chief of Staff, Eitan played a very large role in fostering a relationship between the Christian Lebanese suffering under the yolk of the bloody Syrian and PLO occupation. Tens of thousands of Christian Lebanese men, women and children were massacred in cold blood by the Syrians, the PLO and the Moslem Lebanese between 1975 and the 1982 Peace for Galilee War.
   In 1976 , under orders of Yasser Arafat, thousands of Christian Lebanese men, women and children were massacred at the Christian village of Damour.
   The killings that took place at Sabra and Shatilla of Palestinians, when the Christians captured these terror camps , were in retaliation for the murder of Christian Lebanese people's leader Bashir Gemayel, and for the years of bloodshed inflicted on the Christians under the yolk of the PLO and their Syrian allies.
   Eitan explains in a chapter in this book how Israel was guilty of no blame whatsoever for the Sabra and Shatilla incidents, despite the feeding frenzy of the world media and even the Israeli Left during the fall out after that battle.
   He also describes how the alliance between Israel and the Christian Lebanese was a natural one in the light of the fact that the Arabs would never recognize the rights of Christians in Lebanon just as they would never recognize the right to exist of the Jews of Israel.
   In fact this is what is at the heart of all conflicts in the region. The refusal of 300 million Moslem Arabs to recognize the human rights and self-determination of minorites in the Middle East and North Africa such as the Jews, Christian Lebanese, Kurds, Druze, Berbers, Copts , Assyrians, Chaldeans, Yazidis, Black South Sudanese, Bahais, Zoroastrians etc.
   Eitan condemns the blatant lies of the world media during the Peace for Galilee War, when Eitan served as Israeli Chief of Staff, that Israel deliberately bombed civilian areas (when the truth is that Israel took care to never hurt civilians, even if it meant refraining from attacking the PLO terrorists, who hid among civilians, and knew that the Israelis would never attack them if it meant causing civilian casualties.
   Compare this to the policy of Arab terrorists which has always been to target the young, the innocent, the weak and vulnerable.
   In the Palestinian refugees fathers who refused to take up arms on behalf of the terrorists were frequently punished by the PLO killing his children before his eyes.
   In the last chapter in the book, Eitan gives us insight into hos own analysis of the conflict, and what can be done.
   He points out that " The Arabs have never accepted the fact that Israel exists as an independent sovereign state in the Middle East. Since we declared our independence the Arabs and Palestinians have tried many different startegies in their efforts to destroy our small Jewish country...During the 1920s the the Arabs used to engage in pogrom-like assaults on Jewish villages. In the 1930s the Arabs embarked on the "Great Arab Revolt". In the 1950s and early 1960s the "fedayin" used to cross into Israel and murder civilians. In the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s, the PLO terrorist campaign was waged without any considerations given to the concept of innocence. In the 1980s the Arabs initiated "the intifada", a violent uprising directed towards all Jews, civilian and soldier".
   
   He points out that Arab governments do not care that peace would mean they could divert attention away from purchase of and building up of weapons and redirect the money towards education and social upliftment.
   They see the goal of Israel's destruction as more important than the welfare of their own people, and have brainwashed their people to see their suffering as sacrifices in the jihad against the hated "Zionist, imperialist enemy".
   Eitan rejects the idea of gving up parts of the land of Israel for peace, pointing out that this would only help and encourage the Arabs to close in to destroy Israel comletely. Eitan sees the Munich Agreement of 1938, ceding Sudetenland to Hitler, as the first time the land for peace formula
   had been tried.
   He reminds us that the Arabs attacked Israel three times in 1948, 1956 and 1967 and engaged in thousands of raids against Israeli women and children, before Judea, Samaria and Gaza were even liberated by Israel.
   Eitan urges that Israel remain strong and not give in to the terror of the Arabs or the pressure of the enemies of Israel. That Israel must encourage settlements and immigration and encourage large Jewish families by improvimg livimg conditions.
   Israel must remain strong and steadfast and stick to a fierce policy of deterrence against Arab terror and belligerancy.
   "We must wait until our Arab neighbours see the the advantages of peace and give up their campaign to destroy us. Only through strength can peace be achieved".
   It is a tragedy that this great hero is no longer with us in Israel's great hour of need.

4 comments about The Old Breed of Marine: A World War II Diary.

1. I've read all the classic books on Guadalcanal, but this was the most detailed, most real, most gripping of them all. You can tell the author was there with the bombs falling and bullets flying because it was written while it was all happening.

   There are some scenes that are just unforgettable, like when a private gets scared and shoots in the dark at what he thought was a Jap, but shoots a Sgt. Casey instead right through the chest. Then Casey's buddy needs to be restrained from killing the private.

   Or when a Ranger didn't like an order he got from an officer, so he shot and killed the officer. Then another Marine pulled his pistol and killed the Ranger. Later on, the Marine who killed the Ranger ended up in a bloody fistfight with the author in the pitch black night over a grudge. They were swinging at each other without being able to see each other.

   There are lots of historical notes that tie together what the author witnessed with what was going on all over the island. What's really impressive is that the author's account differs from the official Marine Corps account in a few places where it's clear that the author's account is the correct one.

   The book has a lot more to it than just Guadalcanal. It covers from January 1941 through the end of 1945. The rest of the book is written just as well and is just as interesting as the part on Guadalcanal, but the part on Guadalcanal, which is the biggest section in the book, really rocks.




2. My Dad was in the 1st Marine Division, also landing on Guadal Canal on August 7, 1942. Dad rarely talked about the war. I was a late-comer for my parents and was only 12 years old when Dad died in 1981, when he was 59. The year before he died, he started writing a journal of his war experiences, but didn't finish it. We also have an audio tape which my brother made interviewing him, but it, too, was unfinished.
   
   Sgt. Felber's diary has helped me to realize things that Dad went through that I wasn't aware of --for instance the nearly constant rain. And, then there are some incidents that Dad mentioned, too, and it was exciting to see them in print!
   
   Although it is a bittersweet journey to realize things Dad endured during the war, it also makes me feel even closer to him (although we were very close). I salute and thank you, Sgt. Felber for fighting for my freedom and for sharing your diary with us. God speed



3. I just finished this book and compared to E. Sledge's With the old breed at Pelelieu and Okinawa, it is tedious and rather uninteresting. More time is spent by the author telling the reader what time they had chow than anything of major interest going on while he was at Guadalcanal, etc. Life in the rear echelon was, no doubt, tedious and boring, and this diary reflects that. I would not recommend this book to anyone unless they have nothing better to do some afternoon.



4. This a true story of a man who served his country and performed his duties to the best of his abilities. Having said that, this is not a story of a Marine who served on the line. If you're looking for that, try E. B. Sledge's "With the Old Breed", or "On the Canal" by Ore J. Marion. Felber spent most of his time writing reports, shaving and taking baths, eating food from a field kitchen, or hitching rides to the front to take pictures. Again, this is not to dismiss his services to the country, but if you're looking for accounts from the line, this isn't it. It does provide some historical perspective of the behind the lines activities, so if you looking for that, this fills that niche.

2 comments about Memoirs of Robert E. Lee: His Military and Personal History.

1. Long knew Lee in the pre-war army and was with him in notth-west Va. and the sea coast defenses in '61 through Appotamox. As his milt. secretary, Long drew on his own resources as well as those of Taylor and Venable also on Lee's staff, in addition to corrospondance with Lee's family members after the war. When one wonders why Lee resigned his commission to offer service to his Virginia, one can readily find the answers in this text....As a professional soldier being above politics, Lee merely was"doing his duty" to Vriginia and his family. Who won was not as important as duty, in the life and times of Lee. One can readily understand the resolve displayed by Kempe, Gordon, Armistead and others after reviewing the text. A recommended reading for any serious student of history studying the period



2. One time when Lee was on his travels, a woman ran from her house, grabbing his arm and dragging him into her front arm. She told of how her grandfather had plant the tree in the front yard, how it had grown so tall and perfect. The tree was now nothing but dead limbs. She told how the dreadful Yankees came and stayed in her home, and they destroy the tree for fun and target practise. To her the tree was her 'red badge of courage', and she was proud to show Lee how terrible the in justice the Yankees visited up her, how she suffered. Lee quietly told her to cut it down. Not the reaction the woman hoped for, but so like Lee. When the war ended, it ended. He made sure there the war did not devolve from armies fighting armies, into a situation similar to Northern Ireland, local resistance prolonging the fighting, likely bringing down swift retribution from the Northern Reformations.

   Lee started his memoirs, but never finished, and at his death, the part of history was never really addressed by Lee. There have been many like Longstreet who wrote about the war, but not Lee.

   His father had been Lighthorse Harry Lee, a friend of George Washington and a Revolutionary War Hero - a role that would have been Lee's had the Confederacy won. Instead of helping to forge a new nation of independence as his father had, by the simple act of the South losing, he was on the 'wrong side'. Instead of hero, he was a rebel. Lee was troubled deeply by his decision to leave the Union Army and take up leadership for the Army of Northern Virginia. He was the husband of Mary Ann Randolph Custis, great-granddaughter of Washington. Arlington, our national cemetery that is so honoured, was her plantation, and the dead originally put there was done so as an insult to the Lee family.

   Lee was a brilliant tactician, did what so few did before him, divide his army in the face of superior forces, and succeeded until the fiasco at Gettysburg in Pickett's Charge.

   Since Lee could not or would not complete his memoirs, A.L. Long, with backing of Lee and later his family, took up the role, an amazing chore since most of his work was done when he was losing his sight, and the writings accomplished with a slate used for the blind. Long was military secretary to Lee and the vast amount of information was unpublished before this work. The papers were collected with the assistance of Marcus J. Wright, formerly Brig. General of the Army of Tennessee and Agent for the Collections of Confederate Records.

   This books provides a wealth of information on a gentleman, a husband, a father, a lady's man, but first and foremost a soldier and leader.

   I highly recommend this for anyone wanting a clear pictures of Robert E. Lee.

2 comments about Soldier Boy.

1. It was Donald Trump's endorsement that first caught my eye, but after reading a few pages, I was enrapt in the true story of a boy's journey through life in a military school and the lessons he learns along the way. His association with Donald trump reveals a side of Trump not seen by most. I feel this book should be on every high school mandatory reading list. It is fun reading and teaches valuable lessons.



2. This is a great book for the high school student who is looking for direction and motivation in their life.
   
   I knew him as a teacher and he had a great positive impact on students. I'm sure this book will do the same for a new generation of students.

1 comments about Grant and Lee: Victorious American and Vanquished Virginian.

1. I'd like to congratulate Mr. Bonekemper for writing 'the book that had to be written.' Grant's reputation has only very slowly recovered from the trashing it took during the decades following the Civil War. Mr. Bonekemper presents us here with the kind of analysis and statistical material that points to a very different picture than we are used to having of these two Generals. Expanding on what he has already mentioned in his other books on these two Generals, 'How Robert E. Lee Lost the Civil War' and 'A Victor Not a Butcher', Bonekemper presents us with a compelling and very readable comparison account of the two generals. The scholarship is bright and worth noting, the writing is excellent. I haven't been this pleased since my reading of Bruce Catton.

5 comments about The Fool Lieutenant; a Personal Account of D-Day and WWII.

1. Excellent personal account of an elite Ranger. Edlin has been credited for almost single-handedly capturing 800 german soldiers and is a decorated soldier. This book shows the heart in soul of the volunteer Rangers. A real page turner.



2. I happened on to this book by chance and am glad I did. I served with the 2nd Ranger Bn in the 80's and consider myself pretty good on Ranger History but, I had never heard of "The Fool Lieutenant". Bob Edlin is truely an American hero and anyone who is interested in WWII or the Rangers should definitely read this story. Mr. Edlin captures the essence of the dedication, the selflessness and the comaraderie that is embodied in the American Ranger both past and present.



3. The Fool Lieutenant is one of several WWII 1st person accounts of veteran's memories of combat in Europe and the Italian campaigns. These stories need to be told and read to let younger generations know what their fathers did to make the world safer for them today. My father never talked about the war to me except in generalities I know most were the same way around their children.



4. Personal narratives of World War 2 are pretty common, but this one was more personal to me since I knew the guy. Bob Edlin ran Edlin's Auction House here in Corpus Christi. A small kindly old man who probably didn't weigh 120 pounds soaking wet, you would never dream he captured 800 Germans single handedly. I never knew anything about him until I looked at the certificates on one wall of the auction house. A purple heart on June 6 1944! He was at D-day? I always wanted to ask him his story, but didn't want to pry. He didn't brag about his exploits, didn't even mention them. I wish I would've talked to him some more, he passed away a few years ago. But at any rate he, with the help of Marcia Moen and Margo Heinen, put his story down in paper, and it makes for fine reading. There were millions of Bob Edlins in the war, and we can never thank them enough. Pass the history on to the future generations, we owe it to them.



5. Outstanding first-person account of experiences in World War II. Amazing, hard to believe its true. Reads quickly and easily. I give it two thumbs up, plus the big toes, too.

No comments about Billy Mitchell: Evangelist of Airpower (Shapers of America).

5 comments about Lieutenant Ramsey's War: From Horse Soldier to Guerrilla Commander (Memories of War).

1. This book describes what barely can be described. The hardships, the fear, the exhaustion, the hunger, the brutality, the uncertainty of ones fate. It's all right here, and all are apt descriptions of the life of Lt. Ramsey from the fall of Bataan until the time in 1945 that Gen MacArthur returned to liberate the Phillipines.

   Lt. Ramsey (who was promotoed to Lt. Colonel over the course of his service in the jungle) was a very important leader of the resistance. He personally exchanged a few messages over the radio with MacArthur himself, and it was years before Ramsey even knew that MacArthur was getting his messages, as he went without radio contact for the first two years of the war.

   Many of Ramsey's fellow resistance leaders, some of them officers he served with, or under, prior to the war, were captured, tortured, and beheaded. Informants were everywhere, and every move was a risk. Yet Ramsey never sat still, and his years were spent traveling, at great risk, throughout the Phillipines and organizing the resistance. Many close calls with the Kempa-tei, the Japanese secret police, followed. Ramsey eventually became the most wanted man on the island, after many of his fellow leaders were captured. He eventually went on to command a force of 40,000 resistance fighters.

   The leader of the Kempa-tei, General Baba, personally conducted many of the raids and had a picture of Ramsey on his desk. Many times Ramsey was only yards from Japanese troops.

   Of course, when this all started, Ramsey had no clue how to wage guerrilla war. But he learned, through trial and error, and it is amazing that he even survived the war. If that isn't enough, this is a man who survived having his appendix removed in the jungle by a doctor who had no morphine to numb the pain!

   This is the kind of stuff Hollywood needs to make movies about. Instead we are stuck with the same dumbed down, recycled nonsense that apparently someone finds entertaining. And sadly the exploits of this true American hero go largely unknown by the majority of this country. I'm glad I am no longer one of them.




2. From 1960-64 I worked with Ramsay almost daily as a member of the US Embassy in Tokyo while he was VP for Hughes Aircraft in Tokyo. Hughes and two other US companies were bidding on a large joint US/Japan air weapons control project that Hughes in 1963 won. During this time he never once mentioned his guerrila activites during WW II except except a for small clue when he got for my wife and me a Visa during a visit by him to the PI Embassy to visit Clark after the PI govt had refused them through regular channels. During the visit to Clark I asked a number of citizens if they had heard of Ed Ramsay and with little exception they said he was a National Hero. After reading a summary of Lt Ramsay's War in the Readeer's Digest I obtained the un-abridged version and agree with the comments of others about his disclipine and dedication to his country he exhibited in setting up and operating a highly effective guerilla force in the Philippines at great risk to himself and those that worked with him. The book has now been republished and is well worth reading.
   Bill Millis



3. Col. Ramsey, on foot in the junlges of the Philippines, with only the help of the kind Philippine people----puts war in human terms and visions I can relate to. People suffer with death, starvation, torn off body parts, and disease. Horrible. As a teacher I may use this book to tap into my student's 'schema,' or mental map, to help them visulize the realities of war as being the dreadful scarifice it is, rather that some sort of unreal view of war as a "star wars" game.



4. Too self aggrandizing -- not objective and contradicts some of what other guerillas have written.



5. This IS A FANTASTIC BOOK. Not only as a autobiography, BUT AS A RECORD of HISTORY. Ed Ramsey tells the story of his experiences in the 26th Calvary in the Philippines during World War II. He was the man who lead the last Horse Calvary Charge against the Japanese. Ed tells his story in glorious detail. He shares his inner most thoughts and emotions. Teaching us how a young Lt. learned how to become the leader of an army of secret agents, jungle fighters and saboteurs. Something he had never come in contact with before. He made it up as he went. Some of his decisions had to be harsh if he was to survive. This book opens up to us a world which little was known about before, and because of that heros went unacknownledged and villians undespised. But we will not forget them now because of you Col. Ramsey. Thank you for what you did then and thank you for what you have written now. You are an American Hero in the true sense of the word.

2 comments about Trench Knives and Mustard Gas: With the 42nd Rainbow Division in France (C. A. Brannen Series, No. 6).

1. Trench Knives And Mustard Gas: With The 42nd Rainbow Division In France by historian Hugh S. Thompson consists of his personal memoirs of fighting in the trenches of World War I. Informed and informative, this is the story of a young man who entered the U.S. Army in 1918 as an officer and served with the 42nd Rainbow Division -- which was one of the first units to secure a sector of the line along the Western Front and experience the horror of mustard gas attacks by the Germans. Thompson barely survived the lethal battles of Lorraine, Champagne, and St. Mithiel, suffering severe wounds to the arm, leg, and back on three separate occasions. He was eventually awarded the Silver Star, the French Legion of Merit, and the Purple Heart with three Oak Leaf Clusters. Ably written with a personal intensity and realism, this battlefield memoir was originally published in 1934 in the "Chattanooga Times". This new edition from Texas A&M University Press has been enhanced with a superb introduction by historian, academician, and World War I expert Robert H. Ferrell. Vivid, insightful, and very strongly recommended reading, this memoir (Thompson died in 1961) is an enduring tribute to the hardships and horrors, comraderie and dedication, that were so characteristics of life and death on the western battlefields of World War I.



2. This book came very highly recommended from Amazon readers but I disagree. The writing is hard to understand, 1918 was'nt that long ago,there's no need for the hard to understand language. Also he does'nt describe other characters well, More confusion! mediocre story about a topic that doesn't have nearly as much written about it as ww2.

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

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



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



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



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



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