War Stories of the Battle of the Bulge by Michael Green and James D. Brown

Michael Green and James D. Brown have put together a fascinating book titled “War Stories of the Battle of the Bulge.”  If you are looking for a definitive book on The Battle of the Bulge this is not it.  If you want a powerful account of the battle from the mouths of those who were there, this is it.  The authors do a great job of telling the the story with first-person accounts from the American soldiers, both officers and enlisted. Their stories are spellbinding. You will keep turning the pages.

The book is divided into four sections: The Germans Attack, The Americans Fight Back, Christmas in the Ardennes, and Closing the Gap. The book's structure follows the ebb and flow of the battle.  The source material is drawn for the 'Bulge Bugle”, the quarterly newsletter of the Veterans of the Battle of the Bulge Association, first person accounts from members of the association, and the files of the U.S. Army Military Historical Institute.  We learn of the failure of higher command to realize this area of the Ardennes (Losheim Gap) had three times previously in history been used as an attack route.  The fact it was so poorly defended is nearly criminal.

The cold weather of the battle was mentioned by almost everyone in their accounts.  Cold, tired, miserable, under equipped, were comments included in almost every story.  I knew the 106th Infantry Division had lost two regiments, but had not realized they had over 6,500 taken POWs during the battle. We are reminded again and again that the individual heroism of the soldier made the difference over the course of the battle.

One of my favorite stories was found from pages 40 - 72 “Charles Haug, B Company, 112th Infantry Regiment, 28th Infantry Division”. It was from  the files of the U.S. Army Military Historical Institute.  The story is a breath taking account of being pushed back by the Germans.   James A. Steinhaufel of C Company, 134th Infantry Regiment, 35th Infantry Division tells the tale of his units chilling encounter with the much feared German Tiger Tank. His story leaves you feeling you were there.

I highly recommend the book.  It is one you will want to read from cover to cover.  The stories are generally only a few pages long.  This would be a excellent resource for any public library to add to its collection. It is also a great way to get a feel for what you father or grand father went through if he was one of the men that confronted the 250,000 German soldiers as they made their last major attack against the Allied Forces.  Read and reviewed by Jimmie A. Kepler May 2010.

Save the Last Bullet for Yourself: A Soldier of Fortune in the Balkans and Somalia by Rob Krott

Hollywood typically paints a picture of glamor, riches, and women awaiting mercenaries. “Save the Last Bullet for Yourself: A Soldier of Fortune in the Balkans and Somalia” by Rob Krott corrects the myth. You will find how Rob Krott made the journey from private in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard in 1980 to becoming a US Army second lieutenant through the National Guard-ROTC early commissioning program in 1983. He graduated in 1985 with a bachelor of arts in history from Saint Bonaventure University. You go with him as he attends Harvard University for three semesters while stationed at Fort Devins, Massachusetts. You will learn how he had the journey from US Army officer to soldier of fortune.

As I started reading the book it immediately became apparent how little I knew of the geography of the Balkans and Somalia. I went looking for maps in the book to help me out with the locations he talked about. There were no maps. In future additions of the book it would be helpful to have a map of the areas discussed.

I was amazed at how amateurish the local leaders and military were. How foreigners were treated as “cannon fodder” instead of having their talents put to good use in training the locals. It was interesting to be told that almost everyone had a weapon. The variety of and quality of weapons used was an eye opener to me.

I appreciated the grittiness of the book. It had numerous small unit engagements given in detail. His description of Somalia caught my attention. “You didn’t have to go looking for trouble, like I had with the Bostswanans, to find it in Somalia. It usually came looking for you.”

I was surprised to learn about the number of highly decorated and qualified former US Army personnel serving in key training roles. Men like Peck who had been a Special Forces Team commander and exec in Vietnam. He had been a US Army Ranger School instructor, instructor at West Point, Delta Force member, served in Granada. I learned the roles of Dutch, English, and German mercenaries.

Rob Krott paints a vivid future of what a career mercenary's future has for him."...McKenzie's head was mounted on a pole outside the hut ...Nearby lay his emasculated body, identified by his distinctive military tattoos. ... Bob McKenzie had soldiered through Africa's most violent bush wars in the 1970s and 1980s, survived numerous mercenary contracts around the world and close combat operations during a major offensive in the Balkans, only to die in an unimportant skirmish on an unnamed hillside in an unknown African backwater."

The book doesn’t explain the politics of the local situation, the biodiversity, or give a big picture strategic viewpoint. It is a very good you are there on the ground memoir of a hired grunt toting his rifle to two of the 1990s hotspots. I recommend “Save the Last Bullet for Yourself” by Rob Krott.

Casemate Publishing, 2008; Read and Reviewed by Jimmie Aaron Kepler January 2010.

Save the Last Bullet for Yourself: A Soldier of Fortune in the Balkans and Somalia by Rob Krott

Hollywood typically paints a picture of glamor, riches, and women awaiting mercenaries. “Save the Last Bullet for Yourself: A Soldier of Fortune in the Balkans and Somalia” by Rob Krott corrects the myth. You will find how Rob Krott made the journey from private in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard in 1980 to becoming a US Army second lieutenant through the National Guard-ROTC early commissioning program in 1983. He graduated in 1985 with a bachelor of arts in history from Saint Bonaventure University. You go with him as he attends Harvard University for three semesters while stationed at Fort Devins, Massachusetts. You will learn how he had the journey from US Army officer to soldier of fortune.

As I started reading the book it immediately became apparent how little I knew of the geography of the Balkans and Somalia. I went looking for maps in the book to help me out with the locations he talked about. There were no maps. In future additions of the book it would be helpful to have a map of the areas discussed.

I was amazed at how amateurish the local leaders and military were. How foreigners were treated as “cannon fodder” instead of having their talents put to good use in training the locals. It was interesting to be told that almost everyone had a weapon. The variety of and quality of weapons used was an eye opener to me.

I appreciated the grittiness of the book. It had numerous small unit engagements given in detail. His description of Somalia caught my attention. “You didn’t have to go looking for trouble, like I had with the Bostswanans, to find it in Somalia. It usually came looking for you.”

I was surprised to learn about the number of highly decorated and qualified former US Army personnel serving in key training roles. Men like Peck who had been a Special Forces Team commander and exec in Vietnam. He had been a US Army Ranger School instructor, instructor at West Point, Delta Force member, served in Granada. I learned the roles of Dutch, English, and German mercenaries.

Rob Krott paints a vivid future of what a career mercenary's future has for him."...McKenzie's head was mounted on a pole outside the hut ...Nearby lay his emasculated body, identified by his distinctive military tattoos. ... Bob McKenzie had soldiered through Africa's most violent bush wars in the 1970s and 1980s, survived numerous mercenary contracts around the world and close combat operations during a major offensive in the Balkans, only to die in an unimportant skirmish on an unnamed hillside in an unknown African backwater."

The book doesn’t explain the politics of the local situation, the biodiversity, or give a big picture strategic viewpoint. It is a very good you are there on the ground memoir of a hired grunt toting his rifle to two of the 1990s hotspots. I recommend “Save the Last Bullet for Yourself” by Rob Krott.

Casemate Publishing, 2008; Read and Reviewed by Jimmie Aaron Kepler January 2010.

Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin

This is as good a book as I have ever read. It is extremely readable. Doris Kearns Goodwin has written a book that is alive - a story of personalities -- in a way a giant drama. The stories of Illinois’ Abraham Lincoln, New York's William H. Seward, Ohio's Salmon P. Chase and Edwin Stanton, Pennsylvania's Simon Cameron and Missouri's Edward Bates fill the pages of this great book. The book gives back ground on the lives of all the men. It gives use the story of the civil war from inside the cabinet and White House. It is a work for the ages that may well earn Doris Kearns Goodwin another Pulitzer Prize in History. Team of Rivals is worth the purchase price. No matter how many books you have read on Lincoln or the civil war, your education is incomplete until you read Team of Rivals. The book is a must for every personal, public, and educational institution library.

Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin

This is as good a book as I have ever read. It is extremely readable. Doris Kearns Goodwin has written a book that is alive - a story of personalities -- in a way a giant drama. The stories of Illinois’ Abraham Lincoln, New York's William H. Seward, Ohio's Salmon P. Chase and Edwin Stanton, Pennsylvania's Simon Cameron and Missouri's Edward Bates fill the pages of this great book. The book gives back ground on the lives of all the men. It gives use the story of the civil war from inside the cabinet and White House. It is a work for the ages that may well earn Doris Kearns Goodwin another Pulitzer Prize in History. Team of Rivals is worth the purchase price. No matter how many books you have read on Lincoln or the civil war, your education is incomplete until you read Team of Rivals. The book is a must for every personal, public, and educational institution library.