Nazi Saboteurs on the Bayou, by Steven Burgauer

MWSA Review
This historical fiction is told from several geographic and character viewpoints that all affect the outcome.  It centers around the amazing Higgins boats that were critical the successful landings by American troops in World War II   The story involves U.S. Marines and Navajo code talkers, a fictional Nazi plot to sabotage production of the Higgins boats, New Orleans prostitutes,  a Mafia Don and an American crime boss who help the Allies both in Italy and in Louisiana, a Cuban banker who works with British Intelligence and the Mafia, and the brilliant minds of Bletchley Park code-breakers and Commander Ian Fleming of MI6.  Much detail is offered at each location including the struggles to get the design of the improved boats funded, the struggles to break codes, the realities of fighting in the South Pacific, and the reasons for changing to Navajos for code talking.  A good story for not only those who are interested in WWII but also for anyone who likes mystery and intrigue.
Review by Nancy Kauffman, MWSA Reviewer

Author's Synopsis
Nazi Saboteurs on the Bayou intertwines historic persons, actual events and distant locales of World War II with a fast-moving fictional Nazi plot to disrupt the manufacture of Higgins boats, the remarkable landing craft that won the war for the Allies.  Spanning the globe from amphibious landings at Guadalcanal, to the Navajo code talker school, to the exotic environs of New Orleans, to the secret world of Bletchley Park, this tautly written thriller, covering two weeks during the summer of 1942, combines a fully imagined cast of characters with the historically important figures of Andrew Higgins, members of American and British Intelligence, Navajo code talker Chester Nez, Commander Ian Fleming of MI6, along with a Polish intelligence officer, and “Silver Dollar Sam” Carolla, crime boss of New Orleans.

An old German is found dead in a New Orleans whorehouse.  Sewn into the lining of the dead man’s vest is a notebook filled with hand-drawn maps and notes about the comings and goings at military installations.  German conspirators fret that their local contact (the dead German) is overdue.  Mafia crime boss Nico Carolla, is soon drawn into the disposition of the corpse.

We move to the Pacific and meet the grandson of the dead German, PFC Brock, a U.S. Marine being trained for the landings at Guadalcanal.  Then we meet Andrew Jackson Higgins at the helm of the single most important landing craft ever built, the Higgins Boat, the steel-ramped landing craft that brought American troops to Pacific islands and to Normandy.  In his colorful manner, Higgins is instructing a class of Coast Guard newbies on how to properly drive and operate his nearly indestructible boat.  Higgins faces shortages of materials, manpower, and factory space.  The Mafia boss controls much of the labor supply.  Accommodations must be made to placate the mob family, who also have Old World connections in critical to the upcoming North African landings.

The Waffen-SS officers charged with sabotaging the Higgins Boat plant arrive, only to learn of the loss of the intelligence gathered by the dead German.  Now enter the code breakers at Bletchley Park who intercept the commando team’s messages, including one female mathematician through whose eyes we see inside Bletchley Park.

America is almost entirely dependent on Britain’s MI6 for intelligence gathering.  We meet Martina Amerada, a Cuban woman with a high-level banking responsibility, including ties to British intelligence, and who is Nico Carolla’s mistress.  Martina moves money for the crime family and provides diplomatic cover between the Palermo branch of the family and the planners of Operation Torch.  We are also introduced to the Navajo code-talker program essential to securing Marine Corps messages in the Pacific theater.

The German commando team searches for the lost notebook by visiting the whorehouses Brock has been known to frequent, which leads to a murder and later retaliation by the Mafia against the German conspirators.  Half the German commando team perishes.  US marshals are drawn into the story as bodies are discovered in the nearby bayous.  The Mafia is suspected.  When the marshals confront Carolla, the marshals are put on the trail of the commandos which leads to the death of the marshals.

Bletchley Park is busy trying to crack the code imbedded in the Himmler messages, We move back to the Pacific where grandson Brock is involved in the bloody landings ahead of Guadalcanal.  Brock is wounded and nearly dies as the remaining commando attempts to demolish the largest Higgins Boat manufacturing facility in New Orleans. With the help of British intelligence, Nico Carolla prevents the plant from being destroyed and thus becomes the hero of the story.

Operation Torch gets underway and the Higgins boats prove their indispensability to the war effort.  PFC Brock recovers from his wounds, and Martina takes possession of all intelligence related to the German commandos so the threat never becomes public knowledge.

ISBN/ASIN:
978-0692808122 / 978-1370981212 / B01MYLUNUK
Book Format(s): Soft cover, ePub, Kindle
Genre(s): Historical Fiction, Mystery/Thriller
Number of Pages: 324

First watch the short, video book trailer, then enjoy the book:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQs2pwr89RI

A Passel of Trouble -- The Saga of loyalist Partisan David Fanning, by Joe Epley

MWSA Review
When Americans recall their first brush with the history of the American Revolution—for most of us way back in elementary school—one of the lessons remembered is likely to be that the country was divided into thirds.  One third of Americans supported independence, a third opposed it, and the final third was undecided or uncommitted.  

Most scholars now agree that although this bit of historical "common knowledge" was based on a letter President John Adams wrote in 1815; it appears that Adams was referring to the French Revolution and not the American one.  Even if less than a third of Americans were on the side of the British, and given our understandable focus on the “winning side,” it's easy to forget that there were tens of thousands of Americans who sided with England before, during and after the Revolution.  The Loyalist perspective is not normally the focus of historical fiction covering the period.

Joe Epley’s Passel of Trouble takes this relatively untraveled road by concentrating on the life of an actual Loyalist soldier named David Fanning.  To help transport the reader back in time to this tumultuous period of American history, Epley often uses the voice of a friend of David Fanning to serve as narrator.  

The first half of the book covers young Fanning’s introduction to the struggle by the Loyalists to defeat fellow countrymen intent on breaking all bonds with mother England.  Most of the action takes place in North and South Carolina.  Later on, as the enthusiastic young man continues to experience the horrors of war, we see a different man emerge—a war-hardened veteran.  By the end of the book—once the Loyalist cause seems lost—the protagonist strikes out in ways anything but heroic.

If the reader is expecting a chance to enjoy empathizing with a “good guy” on the losing side of the conflict, Passel of Trouble will not make it easy to do so.  Instead, Epley provides a detailed and unflinching look at how war has the devastating power to turn a once-honorable civilian soldier into a revenge-seeking killer.  

Thoroughly researched and filled with fascinating historical detail, Epley has given us a solid contribution to our understanding of this period and an interesting look into a part of the American Independence conflict not often explored.

By John Cathcart, MWSA Awards Director and Reviewer
 

Author's Synopsis:
"A Passel of Trouble" is a story that crackles with excitement -- bold action, narrow escapes -- set against the backdrop of the American struggle for independence. This exciting American Revolutionary War thriller is based on the actual exploits of one of the most courageous and notorious Loyalist partisans in the Carolinas -- David Fanning. When the Revolution started in 1775, Fanning fought in the first battle in the south at Ninety Six, South Carolina. For the next three and a half years, he was on the run except for fourteen times when captured by the patriot forces. His escapes were bodacious, his ability to survive in the backcountry wilderness under harsh conditions extraordinary. The last two years of the war found him in central North Carolina where his leadership and spectacular actions won admiration from the British, who made him a militia colonel. He was a hero to the Tory families in the region and a hated, vicious scoundrel to Americans fighting for independence. Historian James Watterson, in his biography of Governor Thomas Burke, who was captured by Fanning, wrote: “Fanning’s tactics defied suppression. His clandestine movements, executed usually by night over remote and difficult terrain, were exceptionally hard to contain.” Why did he side with the British? How did this uneducated teenage sergeant develop into a crafty and treacherous partisan leader who often outwitted superior size forces? How did the Quakers influence his actions? These are just some of the intriguing stories within the saga of David Fanning. Award-winning author and playwright Bob Inman calls the book "a compelling tale, mighty well told." Another noted author and attorney, Scott Syfert, said A Passel of Trouble is "A rollicking good read, but never at the expense of historical accuracy."

ISBN/ASIN: 9781535188821
Book Format(s): Soft cover, Kindle
Genre(s): Historical Fiction
Number of Pages: 432

Crap Shoot, by Robert Moriarty

MWSA Review
Crap Shoot, by Robert Moriarty—available exclusively in e-book format and almost short-story in length—covers two main events in the main character's life.  The book's opening chapter puts you in the cockpit of a Marine F-4B on a mission near the coast of North Vietnam in 1968.  In the following six chapters, the reader is transported back via flashback to the protagonist's initial training as a Marine Aviation Cadet—focusing on the budding fighter pilot's forays into bar hopping, craps shooting, and women chasing.  In the final two chapters, you'll return to that same F-4 cockpit and complete the combat mission you started at the outset.

Strap on your G-suit and oxygen mask and get ready for a wild and bumpy ride to a very different era.  Crap Shoot transports the reader to a time when any "blue-eyed, Marine fighter pilot" might say "it will be a cold day in hell before the Marine Corps lets a woman into the cockpit of a jet fighter," and not raise an eyebrow.  You'll find plenty of action and experience life among a very elite section of the military—the world of the Marine combat fighter pilot.  Not surprisingly—given the book's title—you'll also learn quite a bit about shooting craps.  

Moriarty's writing style is frank, direct and at once familiar and anachronistic.  Men—and yes, this was a period of time when an American fighter cockpit was exclusively a men's club—would use a self-assured, jargon-filled language that fit the rarified world in which they lived.  Their salty language was occasionally sprinkled with a mixture of Southeast Asian expressions that became a part of everyday conversation: "If I decided to didi mau I wasn't about to pin on any new hero medals."

There was a time and place where that sentence would need no explanation.  I spent the first part of my USAF flying career listening to words like those from the Vietnam combat veterans with whom I flew.  Over the years I got used to hearing—and still remember—expressions like "Sawadi kap" or "Layo Layo."  They became part of the lexicon—a connection to a different time and a different place.  Although the expression didi mau didn't ring any bells for me, a quick online search confirmed that the it comes from Vietnamese—Di, go; and Di Mau: Go quickly.  

Moriarty's authentic language and especially his depiction of aerial combat exudes authenticity—perhaps bafflingly so for those unfamiliar with the specialized lingo.  That same macho spirit and language might be a bit jarring to some.

If you're ready to climb into your trusty F-4 Phantom and go for a quick joyride chasing after MIGs—or the occasional beautiful craps player—you might want to give Crap Shoot a try.

By John Cathcart, MWSA Awards Director and Reviewer

Author's Synopsis: 
A young Marine fighter-pilot faces the worst odds imaginable over the flak-filled skies of North Vietnam when three enemy fighters jump him. Should he fight when all seems hopeless or turn and run to safety so he might return to fight another day? What are the odds of him making it home to his beloved wife?

Author: Robert Moriarty
ISBN/ASIN: B01A7BXEQI
Book Format(s):  Kindle
Genre(s): Fiction, Historical Fiction
Number of Pages: 57
 

Animal Parts, by David Knop

MWSA Review
Cannibals, spirits and a protagonist with personal problems spell adventure in David Knop’s latest mystery.

Cochiti Pueblo Police Officer Peter Romero, a former Marine, tries to balance his life as a cop and his Indian heritage with his disintegrating marriage and his attraction to an FBI agent. 

Is any cop ready to tackle unknown killers that bite and disembowel their victims? Romero searches for the killers but has a difficult time explaining the mysterious help of a mountain lion he killed. As he delves deeper into the spirit world of his ancestors, he finds more questions that answers. He also finds that he has been chosen to rid the world of an evil that started generations earlier.

The author shares his knowledge of, and respect for, Native American mythology and history. This action is fast-paced and the characters believable in this third Peter Romero mystery.

by Pat Avery, MWSA Reviewer

Author's Synopsis:
A Cochiti Pueblo cop chases beastlike poachers murdering humans and seeks retribution for the spirit of a cougar in this thriller. New Mexico Game and Fish enlists Peter Romero to track and kill a mountain lion responsible for a hiker’s death and someone else injured. He succeeds, only to have Cougar, the animal’s spirit, appear later and demand vengeance against others who’ve murdered his mate and children. Pueblo governor Herbert Trujillo next sends Romero after poachers, who turn out to be hunters removing and selling specific parts from animals. The poachers take a shot at Romero once he’s on their trail, but during a subsequent confrontation, the cop sees what he describes as a creature with “serpent eyes” and “jagged dogteeth.” And there’s more than one of what he determines are cannibalistic windigos, whose murder victims likewise include humans. Romero works with FBI Special Agent Jean Reel on an investigation that takes them to Oklahoma, while the cop’s attraction to Reel complicates his goal of mending ties with estranged wife, Constancia. The fact that fellow law enforcers aren’t buying Romero’s windigo assertion doesn’t stop him from finding a way to slay the beasts. He’ll just have to prove that the men he suspects are murderous cannibals. Regardless, the protagonist fully believes what he sees, and he’s devoted to stopping the murderers, despite a fear that he’ll spend life in prison for offing reputed humans.

Author: David Knop
ISBN/ASIN: 978-1-944785-79-6
Book Format(s): Soft cover
Genre(s): Mystery/Thriller
Number of Pages: 260

Sin Eater, by John Schembra

MWSA Review:
Starting in the 18th-century, some northern European cultures believed in a
mysterious figure known as a sin eater, who, by consuming a ritual meal
over the body of a person who had just died, absorbed all the sins of the
deceased, thus allowing his purified soul to escape eternal punishment for
his misdeeds. The practice continued through much of the 19th century,
particularly in Appalachia,  but faded and then disappeared in more modern
times. In John Schembra’s Sin Eater, the author has resurrected the
legends and transformed this shadowy figure into a modern day serial killer
who does not wait for death to provide his clients. This new sin eater
stalks the terminally ill and helpfully releases them from sins and life
simultaneously.

When the sin eater murders a chemistry professor on the grounds of a small
college, Sarah, an over-qualified campus policewoman, and Nico, a
socially-inept young history professor, team up to hunt down the
black-cloaked figure who threatens their school and community. If you
prefer your mysteries to tell a straight-forward story without too many
confusing dead ends and false leads, you’ll like this quick and easy read.
And if you prefer your police procedurals with a twist of romance and more
than a whiff of the supernatural, you may find this little book the perfect
way to spend a cold winter’s night.
By Carolyn Schriber, MWSA Reviewer

Author's Synopsis:
The shocking murder of a professor at San Donorio State College brings the city police to investigate, with Campus Police Officer Sarah Ferris as the college liaison. Sarah's friend, Nico Guardino, a history professor at the college, gets drawn into helping and while Nico and Sarah struggle to find the murderer, the killing continues. As Nico is inexorably drawn deeper and deeper into the investigation, he begins getting flashes of visions and deep feelings of dread that he knows are somehow connected to the murderer. He feels the connection becoming stronger, but how and why remains unknown. His visions and feelings are becoming more and more disturbing as the investigation progresses... 

Author: John Schembra
ISBN/ASIN: 978-1925191929 ASIN # B01M0TWRHH
Book Format(s): Hard cover, Soft cover, ePub, Kindle
Genre(s): Fiction, Mystery/Thriller
Number of Pages: 200

The War Within, the Story of Josef, by Patricia Walkow

 MWSA Review

The War Within, The Story of Josef: A young man's wartime journey through cruelty and kindness, hatred and love, despair and hope.

Patricia Walkow expertly weaves a biography into a book that reads like a classic novel. In The War Within, the Story of Josef, we meet Walkow’s father-in-law during his time as a slave laborer for the Third Reich. Conscripted in his native Poland in 1939, Josef works first in construction on roads in the vicinity of the concentration camps. He’s then shipped to Germany to work in a factory. There, a deadly accident with a barrel incapacitates him severely enough that he cannot work. He will be executed by his captors when they discover his injury.

In defiance of the rules, Willie Mirz, a German ambulance driver, arranges for Josef to receive medical care by a German doctor and recover in a German home for a long enough time that Josef begins to fall into love with a German girl. This is a side to Nazi Germany that is rarely reported. Josef struggles not only with the amputation of his leg, but also with the concept of receiving aid from compassionate Germans at a time and place where they could be imprisoned or worse for helping him.

As Josef adjusts to losing a leg and grows to appreciate and understand his benefactors, he asks the question, “Heart to heart, are there any enemies?” It’s a profound and deeply philosophical question for a young enslaved Pole to ask. And it truly is the heart of this well-written and insightful book. Other threads that make up the warp and woof of this remarkable story are the themes of determination, courage, hope, fear, despair, love, joy, and new beginnings.

Meticulously researched and skillfully written, this novel begs us to depart from what we think we know and open our hearts to what can be. Josef Walkow and Willie Mirz have shown us the way. Patricia Walkow has faithfully recorded it. What will be our response as we make our choices throughout our lives?

By Betsy Beard, MWSA Reviewer

Author's Synopsis:
The War Within, the Story of Josef, is a creative nonfiction biography of Josef, a teenage Christian Polish slave laborer, forced to work in Nazi Germany during World War II. The setting is Nazi Germany, French Occupied Germany after the end of World War II, and New York City. The span of years for the story is 1943-1954. Josef was a real person, and experienced all of the events in the story. At the outset of the story, Josef awakens after his left leg was amputated due to an accident in the factory where he worked in Southern Germany. A talented mechanic, even at his young age, Josef has a natural ability to understand, repair and fabricate machinery. Because of his usefulness, his life is spared, although slave laborers are normally considered expendable, and when injured, are summarily executed. German citizens are prohibited from helping slave laborers. Yet, Willie, a German ambulance driver only a few years older than Josef, saves Josef's life by taking him to the hospital and allowing him to recuperate in his own home. Willie lives with his mother, Sonya, a loyal German. Through the course of his recuperation, Josef fights his hatred of the Germans; Sonya roils with emotion as she comes to see the injured boy as a human being, rather than an enemy, and Willie questions his own motivations for helping the young Pole. Ella, a young German girl who is a cook and maid in a nearby house, befriends Josef. She struggles with her own mother's decision to remove her from school, forcing her to work as a servant. Josef and Ella fall in love and keep their love a secret through the war. When the war ends, they remain in French-occupied Germany, marry, and start a family.

Author: Patricia Walkow
ISBN/ASIN: 978-1519181015
Book Format(s): Soft cover
Genre(s): Biography
Number of Pages: 357

The Art of Peace, by Robert Moriarty

MWSA Review
In his book The Art of Peace, author Robert Moriarty tells us about his experiences in the Marines and, in particular, his experiences in the Vietnam War. His writing style helps the reader easily visualize the events as they unfolded in his life. The author is very blunt in portraying his feelings as a young man who looked forward to proving himself in combat and then pointing out how those feelings changed as he became more aware of the duplicity within the military and government leadership directing the war. One might not agree with everything the author says, but he lays out a very provocative argument that the Vietnam conflict was based on a desire by senior leaders to get involved in another war and not the Gulf of Tonkin crisis.

This is a good book for anyone with an interest in learning more about close air support during the war in Vietnam or an interest in Marine air power in  general. Moriarty’s wide range of skill with a variety of military aircraft gives him significant credibility. The book also provides an interesting look at the psychology of combat veterans and their perceptions of leadership and rear echelon support personnel.

As I have mentioned, a couple different themes run through the book. The author did a thorough job covering both of them.

by Bob Doerr, MWSA Reviewer
 

Author's Synopsis:
This is a reflection on the current status of the US military from the youngest Naval Aviator during the Vietnam Era, a veteran of 832 combat missions in various fixed wing aircraft during 20 months in Vietnam. It is both an autobiography and a commentary on war from someone who was a warrior.

Author: Robert Moriarty
ISBN/ASIN: 1533153930
Book Format(s): Soft cover, Kindle
Genre(s): Nonfiction, History, Memoir
Number of Pages: 281
 

The Road to War: Duty & Drill, Courage & Capture, by Steven Burgauer

MWSA Review
In The Road to War, author Steven Burgauer weaves a cohesive representation of the diaries of Captain William C. Frodsham, Jr., an Army Officer and POW camp survivor of World War II.

The book’s subtitle, Duty & Drill, Courage & Capture, is aptly named: From December 8, 1941—the day after the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor—to August 9, 1945, we accompany Captain Frodsham through his call to duty, basic training, Officers Candidate School, deployment to the European theater of war, Omaha Beach, skirmishes through French hedgerows, capture by the Germans, life in various stalags in Poland, liberation by the Russians, and his return home.
Having visited the D-day landing beaches several times, Captain Frodsham’s memoir offers me a front-row seat to the experiences of a very real soldier on that beach. I find it humbling.

In the early stages of the Captain’s memoirs, the reader sees him as an enthusiastic recruit, an ace at almost all of his training, and a cocky young man. As the war progresses and he has still not seen combat duty, he looks forward to deployment overseas. A good section of the book is dedicated to “Drill” and explains his various assignments and posts. Perhaps a bit too much, but it is tolerable.

The Captain mellows the closer he gets to actual battle, and his cockiness dissipates as he faces the brutal reality of loss of some of his men, injury, blood, and capture. His descriptions of life as a Prisoner of War (POW) are also quite interesting and made me appreciate the work of the Red Cross more than I had before I read the book.

Insights into the military lives of officers vs. enlisted soldiers are offered, and to a reader such as myself who never served in the military, the stratified structure of military life is quite revealing. Most of the time, military terms are explained throughout the book, although there are a few instances where I had to look up some things. I wished for a cheat sheet to look up the differences among squad, platoons, companies, brigades, regiments, and so on. There was a reference to a specific bureaucratic form, too, and I had to research it. There was a minor copyediting error or two, and reading the text on the photos was difficult.

These are minor inconveniences, however, because Mr. Burgauer’s book is highly engaging, and it is a memoir worth reading for its insights into human altruism, courage under fire, and adaptability to extremely difficult situations. It flows well, and is both enlightening and heartfelt.

Reading it, I found author Burgauer constructed a window into Captain Fordsham’s psyche and soul.

by Patricia Walkow, MWSA Reviewer

Author's Synopsis:
A riveting first-person account of a brave young man caught up in a cataclysmic World War. This is the story of Captain William C. Frodsham, Jr., who — shortly after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor — enlisted in the U.S. Army Infantry, where he excelled in basic training, became a junior officer, and eventually led a combat boat team ashore on OMAHA BEACH. Six days later, in French hedgerow country and under withering German fire, Frodsham was wounded and taken prisoner. He spent the next year as a German POW, where he suffered great deprivation before finally being liberated by advancing Russian forces. His training, his courage, his capture. The reader is taken for a first-person tour of the times at home and then tunneled into a vastly different world on the battlefield and in a German prisoner-of-war camp. A truly remarkable story.

Author: Steven Burgauer
ISBN/ASIN: ISBN-13: 9781530012510, ISBN-10: 1530012511
Book Format(s): Soft cover, Kindle
Genre(s): Memoir
Number of Pages: 292

They Called Me Doc, by Larry C Miller

MWSA Review
Larry Miller's THEY CALLED ME DOC is an honest, intimate look into what has to be one of the hardest jobs in the military; that of a combat corpsman among infantry Marines in combat.

Miller does an excellent job of setting the story, providing a history lesson at the beginning of many of the major stages of the book so the reader understands the background.  When that is established, he goes full bore into the meat of his experiences, and pulls no punches.  He draws the reader in almost to the point where the reader can smell the smoke and the blood.  It's a vivid accounting of war, including the positives of lives saved, and the agony of those lost, told from the point of view of someone right there in either case.  Along the way, there are also anecdotes and stories of camaraderie that any vet will immediately recognize, regardless of when they served.

Hospital corpsman, grunts, or anyone who enjoys military memoirs will find this a worthwhile read, and those unfamiliar with corpsmen will gain a great understanding of those who were called ""Doc."

Review by Rob Ballister, MWSA Awards Director and Reviewer

Author's Synopsis
I have waited for over 45 years to tell this story, initially because I just wanted to forget the war and get on with making a living and raising a family. The other reason is that 45 years ago the American fighting man was not held in very high esteem and no one was ready to hear anything good about the Vietnam War or the men who fought and died there. This book is less about me and more about the sacrifice, incredible hardships, and heroic actions displayed by the Marine Grunts that I had the privilege to treat during battles on the DMZ. This is really their story.

Author: Larry C Miller
ISBN-13: 9781530012510, ISBN-10: 1530012511
Book Format(s): Soft cover, Kindle
Genre(s): Memoir
Number of Pages: 292

The Honor Was Mine: A Look Inside the Struggles of Military Veterans, by Elizabeth Heaney

MWSA Review
“The Honor Was Mine: A Look Inside the Struggles of Military Veterans” by Elizabeth Heaney, is a thought-provoking, occasionally humorous and incredibly moving memoir.  A civilian therapist for many years, Ms. Heaney decides a change is needed in her life.  She leaves her well-established practice, her home, her friends and signs up as a contract civilian counselor with the Department of Defense.  The author begins work in a program begun after the onset of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars to provide strictly confidential counseling on military bases.  She starts with little knowledge of the military; and her baptism by fire provides for some interesting scenarios.  Gradually, she is able to adapt and reaches out to soldiers and spouses in need—often in creative and ingenious ways.

The many moving stories describing her encounters with specific soldiers and spouses are heart-wrenching.  What solace do you give soldiers leaving their families for a year-long deployment?  What comfort can you provide the spouses and families of those left behind?  What psychological/emotional challenges do soldiers face after being in a war zone for a year—perhaps losing comrades, fighting an unconventional or unseen enemy and living with adrenaline rush 24/7?  What fears lurk in the minds of those family members who cannot share the nightmares and horrors of war?  How can a family survive and prosper when they seriously question whether they and their returning hero can ever return to some sense of normalcy?   Can the wounds, both physical and mental, heal?  Sometimes there are answers…sometimes not.  Each case, each story is unique.  And, what toll does secondary PTSD have on those providing the counseling?

Ms. Heaney tries her best to answer these and many other questions with honesty and professionalism.  She struggles to educate herself on the military world and to help the soldiers feel at ease with her enough to share their burden.  Along the way, she has her eyes opened to the courage, honor and dedication exhibited by our warriors.   

This book is well written.  As the spouse of a 20-year veteran and a caseworker for the American Red Cross, many of these stories hit home for me.  I was brought to tears at several points in the book—a soldier trying to come to grips with his buddy’s death; a young private holding his child for the first time; the care a fallen soldier’s possessions receive; the excitement of a small child seeing her father after a year; the heartbreak of a marriage that didn’t survive the overwhelming stress of repeated deployments.  I could feel each soldier and/or spouse’s pain and anxiety through her words.  

Before reading the book, I was unaware that such a program existed.  I am grateful to know about it now.   This book should be mandatory reading for military and civilian alike, and will definitely appeal to those in and outside of the service. 
Review by Sandi Cowper, MWSA Reviewer
 

Author's Synopsis
The Honor Was Mine by Elizabeth Heaney The Honor Was Mine carries readers into the lives and hearts of combat veterans who face the daunting task of finding their way back home. Elizabeth Heaney, a psychotherapist with thirty years of experience, arrives at her first military base with no previous exposure to the military, and no grasp of military culture. Gone are her comfortable counseling offices with polished wood floors and soft lighting; she now works in cement block rooms and motor pools, in hallways and parking lots. Her ignorance of the military leads her to address an officer by the wrong rank, mistakenly stand in a restricted area, and has her head spinning during acronym-filled chats with soldiers. Counseling sessions are also different than anything she is used to. Unlike her private-practice clients who arrived to sessions eager to share, Heaney discovers that the warriors’ reticence and pride make vulnerable conversations tenuous and difficult. She must learn to listen differently and inquire more carefully as she feels her way into their world. Paul tells her he’s been home for five days and isn’t sure how to talk to his wife: a year-long deployment doing solitary work left him more comfortable with silence. A staff sergeant meticulously prepares a dress uniform for his buddy’s funeral and speaks in hushed tones about the fine soldier he was. Deborah, a commander’s wife, sits on a park bench and talks about going to eighty-seven memorial services. These conversations introduce Heaney to the astounding burdens soldiers carry as they return from combat. One turning point comes as she speaks with SGT Devereaux. They stand in his cluttered, closet-like office, and he begins by joking about his struggles with PTSD. As Heaney gently invites him to say more, Devereaux becomes skittish and begins to stammer. Then he tells the story of his goofy, gregarious nineteen-year-old friend who went out on a mission and never came back. Devereaux’s voice fails him as his eyes fill with tears; in the silence, Heaney begins to fully realize how much pain is hidden in the hearts of our warriors. Over the years, Heaney speaks with privates and commanders, infantrymen and engineers, soldiers fresh out of boot camp, weary warriors who’d been deployed numerous times, and service members from every branch of the military. She helps them bridge the gap between war and home, working with those who have battles scenes burned into their memory, who fight debilitating battles within themselves, and who fear their hearts and psyches may be broken forever. Increasingly, Heaney becomes overwhelmed and scared as she realizes the steadiness she must maintain in order to listen to what the warriors need to say. As she returns to her temporary housing each night, the image of having spent her day “catching hearts falling through the air” haunts her. Eventually, she must come to terms – or not - with how the depth of the soldiers’ needs will never be met within the parameters of her job, which instruct her to help veterans with “short-term daily living skills.” Moving back and forth between the soldiers’ stories—told in their own words—and her own story of change, Heaney plays the roles of observer and helper, outsider and intimate. The Honor Was Mine gives readers an opportunity to sit next to her and hear the intimate accounts, not of what happens in war but of the heart wounds that fester but too often remain unspoken and unheard. Until now. The Honor Was Mine shows readers why the phrase “Thank you for your service” is not enough to bridge the divide between war and home. A deeper listening and larger compassion is necessary if our service members are ever going to truly come home.    

Author: Elizabeth Heaney
ISBN/ASIN: 978-1503935747
Book Format(s): Soft cover, Audiobook, Kindle
Genre(s): Creative Nonfiction, Memoir
Number of Pages: 286