My Vietnam: A Gift to My Daughter by Jack Billups

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MWSA Review

My Vietnam: A Gift to My Daughter is an interesting memoir written by Jack Billups. From the beginning of his incredible story, I felt like Mr. Billups was sitting across the table from me as we had coffee and cookies. His narration reminded me of my neighbor, a humble man who served in Vietnam and became a quiet highly decorated hero. The two men have that in common.

The request of Jack’s daughter Naomi for her father to write his story of his time in Vietnam touched my heart. Her question set into motion a journey 50 years into the past as a "grunt" in the steamy jungles of Vietnam. After contacting several of the men with whom he served, Jack had compiled an accurate timeline and accounting of his time “in country.”

Four months later, with Jack’s memoir completed, Naomi asked another question. "Hey Dad, let's go to Vietnam, just you and me?" Could the ghosts of his Vietnam past morph into a father and daughter blessing in the present?

My Vietnam: A Gift to My Daughter is a heartwarming, compelling memoir that reconciles America and Vietnam, then and now, including the culture shock of seeing Vietnam as it exists today.”

Review by Nancy Panko (March 2024)
 

Author's Synopsis

"Hey Dad, instead of a gift, would you share your Vietnam experiences with me?" My daughter's request set into motion a journey 50 years into the past as a "grunt" in the steamy jungles of Vietnam.

Four months later with my memoir completed, Naomi called to say, "Dad, this was the best gift I've ever received, I liked it so much, I read it a second time!" Then another question, "Hey Dad, let's go back to Vietnam, just you and me?" Could the ghosts of Vietnam's past morph into a father and daughter blessing in the present?

This journey will put the reader into the boots of a grunt with vivid detail. Surrounding Jack's tour in Vietnam are the experiences and events that defined that unique period in American history.

Then, the eye-opening revelation of present day Vietnam as Jack and Naomi return to the places where her father fought and survived near the Ho Chi Minh trail.

Format(s) for review: Paper and Kindle

Review Genre: Nonfiction—Memoir/Biography

Number of Pages: 472

Word Count: 94,341

The Line of Splendor by Salina B Baker

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MWSA Review

The Line of Splendor by Salina B Baker is a 610-page book set during the American Revolutionary War. The book provides lots of details about the misery of the American troops as the various states tried to come together as a country. There was no American army—only militias and short-term contractors, most of whom were poorly prepared to do battle. Only Nathaniel Greene’s Rhode Islanders had some semblance of military order and discipline, thanks to his brief training before the war. The book also shows how the interference of politicians negatively impacted General Washington’s ability to carry on the battle. In addition to all the military information, the personal side of not only Greene’s life but that of other officers, including George Washington, is detailed. At times, it is difficult to follow the timeline of the story because dates are not always given. Many of the minor skirmishes could have been summarized rather than being detailed. Sometimes the story omits explanations of why characters acted as they did.

Review by Nancy Kauffman (March 2024)
 

Author's Synopsis

When the first shots of the American Revolutionary War were fired in Massachusetts on April 19, 1775, thirty-two-year-old Nathanael Greene, a self-educated Quaker with no military experience, dismayed his family and marched toward Boston as general of the Rhode Island provincial army. General George Washington recognized his unwavering belief in American independence and the qualities that catapulted him to a major general in the Continental Army.

From the hard lessons learned on the battlefields of New York, to his appointment as Quartermaster General during the harsh winter at Valley Forge, his role in convicting the British spy who colluded to obtain the plans to West Point, to the godsend who took command of the ragged remnants of the Southern Continental Army, Nathanael Greene’s complex perseverance and brilliant strategies broke military doctrines.

This is the story of the man who rose to become a national hero by resuscitating and then propelling the American states to victory in their war for independence and the personal cost of that war.

Format(s) for review: Paper and Kindle

Review Genre: Fiction—Historical Fiction

Number of Pages: 622

Word Count: 193,129

Vietnam Combat: Firefights and Writing History by Robin Bartlett

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MWSA Review

Vietnam Combat: Firefights and Writing History is an excellent, well-written combat memoir about one young American’s time in Vietnam. Only 22 at the time, Lieutenant Bartlett is put out in the field with the First Cavalry Division in Vietnam at the height of the war. Though a graduate of Airborne school and Ranger school, this is his baptism by fire. How Bartlett navigates the path between FNG and experienced combat leader is an intense, harrowing, horrifying, and sometimes humorous journey that any Vietnam veteran or small unit combat leader will appreciate.

Bartlett doesn’t pull any punches. He gives the good, the bad, and the ugly—often in the same chapter. He is honest about his mistakes, and speaks with candor about the situations and actions of Army leadership that he encounters. He is also blunt about his combat experience, and the fear and terror he felt while doing his job. His writing gives insight into himself as well as vivifies the experience of a platoon commander for those that have not experienced it.

Vietnam veterans (grunts in particular) and those who enjoy combat memoirs will enjoy this book.

Review by Rob Ballister (March 2024)
 

Author's Synopsis

More than 50 years after the Vietnam War, Bartlet's vivid combat experiences are brought to light in a fast-moving, well-written, first-person narrative expressing the horror, fear, anguish, and sometimes illogical humor of that war.

"Readers who want to learn what it was like for a twenty-two-year-old lieutenant to lead even younger Americans in combat, in miserable conditions, and where no one wanted to be the last man to die, there is no better place to begin than 'Vietnam Combat.'" From "On Point, The Journal of the Army History, Vol. 28, No. 4."

Format(s) for review: Paper and Kindle

Review Genre: Nonfiction—Memoir/Biography

Number of Pages: 288

Word Count: 129,000

The Road to Empire by John Wemlinger

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MWSA Review

The Road to Empire is author John Wemlinger’s semi-autobiographical novel of his years as a career Army officer. Wemlinger, a Vietnam veteran, has chosen a more contemporary period using the 9/11 attack on America as the linchpin for Jack Rigley’s 20-year journey from high school graduation through the many stops required by military professionals to his eventual rise to full bird colonel and brigade command.

This is not a military-only story. Empire is the small northern Michigan town where Jack and Annie spend their childhood. Despite living around the world, this is where their roots are planted. The genre of many of Wemlinger’s books could best be described as military-romance. He never forgets the story about wives, children, and other family members and the price they pay to support their loved ones.

Jack Rigley tells his story in the first person, occasionally alternating chapters narrated by his wife, Annie, who openly shares her joys, challenges, and frustrations living within the military framework. During Jack’s long deployments and intense training periods, Annie must run the household, raise the children, and deal with a dysfunctional extended family while trying to have a life of her own.

Rigley’s year spent learning to be a helicopter pilot is intense. The reader shares Rigley’s stress and anxiety, the successes and failures he experiences with his fellow pilot candidates, and the signs of leadership he often provides.

The story focuses on Rigley and his fellow officers; however, it’s the warrant officers (Chief) and senior NCOs (Top) who are often the quiet heroes. Wemlinger has great respect for the junior ranks.

Jack and Annie’s lives eventually come full circle, leading to the book’s title: The Road to Empire. They face significant health and family issues that require them to make life decisions that are never easy. This is a story of love, challenge, loyalty, and closure.

Review by James Elsener (February 2024)
 

Author's Synopsis

Army helicopter pilot Jack Rigley and his wife, Annie, face the trials of life in the military; lack of family support; separations caused by long deployments to dangerous combat zones, relocations to meet the needs of the service, deaths of loved ones, and the tug of heartstrings frimly rooted where each grew up, in Empire, Michigan. Ultimately, Jack will be forced to make a difficult choice; family or career.

Format(s) for review: Paper and Kindle

Review Genre: Fiction—Romance

Number of Pages: 259

Word Count: 75,000

Growing Up Army by Robert R. Heath Sr.

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MWSA Review

Growing Up Army is a remarkable and heartwarming read that both military and non-military can enjoy. The enduring term Army Brats is brilliantly explained and gives the story context. The adventures of a globe-trotting military family started in the 1930s about a career Army family with nine siblings and continues over time to the adulthood of the siblings. Serving a career in the army myself with three of my own Army Brats, I found this book entertaining and relatable. It presented shared personal and cultural experiences relatable for all generations of military children. The story is wonderfully told and uses reality and levity to engage the reader and convey personal and cultural experiences that in some instances dramatically and humorously draw the reader into an understanding of what it was, and is, to be an Army Brat.

Review by Warren Martin (April 2024)
 

Author's Synopsis

Shortly after Dick and Jinny started dating, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and soon afterwards, Dick was drafted into the army. Not long before being sent into the war, Dick offered to provide Jinny with her own kindergarten if she would quit teachers college and marry him. She did, and Brat #1 arrived while he was in Sardinia. The rest of the 9-member Brat Platoon arrived in different places around the world as Dick continued his career serving our country. The Brats proved to be highly adventurous as they experienced many different peoples, languages and cultures while growing up army. This historical memoir chronicles the historical aspects of Dick's time in WWII, the many places in which he served our country, and the wild and crazy adventures of the Brat Platoon.

Format(s) for review: Paper and Kindle

Review Genre: Nonfiction—Memoir/Biography

Number of Pages: 290

Word Count: 96,181

The Widow and the Warrior by John Wemlinger

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MWSA Review

Author John Wemlinger’s The Widow and the Warrior takes readers on a thrilling ride from Washington, D.C., to Michigan and through the deep south. The story keeps readers on the edge of their seats, not sure where the next hit will come from. With a cast of both likeable and remarkably unlikeable characters, the plot includes interesting and unexpected twists that keep the pages turning.

A family mystery, a large inheritance, and political intrigue come together to bring out the best and the worst of people in this story. Old and new military and intelligence alliances deepen to help pinpoint players across the country involved in an elaborate scheme for power and control. The author has some of his characters act in unpredictable ways, which keeps readers guessing throughout. I highly recommend this suspenseful military and political thriller.

Review by Valerie Ormond (February 2024)


 

Author's Synopsis

Set in Frankfort, Michigan, along the shores of Lake Michigan, The Widow and the Warrior is the story of one wealthy family's tragic 130-year history. Anna Shane, national political editor of The Washington Post, is poised on the brink of turning that tragic history into triumph until a secret society and a greedy relative conspire to have her murdered. Shawn O'Toole, an ex-Special Forces operator who was forced to retire rather than possibly face a court-martial is called to protect her. To do that, however, Shawn finds himself having to use some of the very same vigilante tactics that cost him his career in the military.

Format(s) for review: Paper and Kindle

Review Genre: Fiction—Mystery/Thriller/Crime

Number of Pages: 308

Word Count: 80,000

Leadership: Outdated Theories And Emerging Non-Traditional Leadership by Dr. Warren D. Martin

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MWSA Review

Dr. Martin shares with us this well-researched qualitative study to determine if modern senior leaders are using leadership models as taught by academic institutions or some other non-traditional model. His question: Why have organizational leaders transitioned from conventional leadership models to more non-traditional models of their own design?

To answer this question, he selected several senior leaders from many different career fields. He put them through an interview with both standardized and open-ended questions to ascertain how they practiced leadership. He then compared the data regarding each self-expressed leadership style to existing styles and noted some significant unexpected findings. With a well-thought-out, methodical approach and irrefutable data, this study will be interesting to anyone who considers themselves a student of leadership.

Review by Rob Ballister (February 2024)
 

Author's Synopsis

Qualitative Leadership study that examined outdated leadership theories and the phenomenon of organizational leaders transitioning from academically recommended leadership theories to their own non-traditional leadership practices. Continual change was identified as an ongoing phenomenon. Current leadership theories are outdated and not keeping pace with continual change, vast technological advancements, and expectations by stakeholders for transparency.

An eye opener for leadership and management professionals.

Format(s) for review: Paper and Kindle

Review Genre: Nonfiction—How to/Business

Number of Pages: 179

Word Count: 33,000

An Imperfect Plan by Addison McKnight

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MWSA Review

An Imperfect Plan by Addison McKnight, the pen name of Nicole Moleti and Krista Wells, is a mystery/thriller involving two women of completely different backgrounds with a similar desire. Because of how they were raised, both women have their own motivations on how to realize their dreams, and for the actions they take to achieve them.

Colette DeLuca and Greta O’Brien are the two main characters, who are sometimes hard to like. The two women live parallel lives for a good part of the book. The authors devote alternating chapters to Colette and Greta and their various relationships. A reader can’t help but wonder what one has to do with the other.

The one thing the women have in common is that each is desperate to be a mother. Because of their backgrounds and life circumstances, Greta will stop at nothing to achieve that goal. Colette has what she thinks is a viable plan. As the authors point out, “All it takes is one lie for the best-laid plans to go awry.”

When their lives finally do intersect through tragedy, both Colette and Greta, and their families, will never be the same. After overcoming betrayal, manipulation, lies, and deceit, the two women find that a common loss is cause for a tentative relationship.

Expect to be surprised, angered, perhaps shocked, and at times, saddened when you read An Imperfect Plan.

Review by Nancy Panko (March 2023)
 

Author's Synopsis

All it takes is one lie for the best-laid plans to go awry.

After decades of pushing away traumatic memories from childhood, Colette De Luca is ready to start a family of her own. It’ll be healthy, a wish come true, with a man she believes is the love of her life. Thankfully, she thought ahead when she was younger and froze her eggs for this very moment.

Greta O’Brien, a wealthy hedge-fund manager, is forced to confront the making of her own family when tragedy strikes her twin teenage sons. As she debates whether to confess a betrayal to her husband, the ripple effects of the family’s devastating circumstances begin to spread far beyond their home.

These two women, hopeful, disillusioned, and desperate, are on an emotional decades-long journey to motherhood by any means necessary. Strangers whose lives explode in the wake of a shocking event―and converge in more ways than one―Colette and Greta are forced to face the twists of fate and the choices they’ve made.

Format(s) for review: Paper and Kindle

Review Genre: Fiction—Mystery/Thriller

Number of Pages: 381

Word Count: 80,000

When the Violin Weeps by Glenn Starkey

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MWSA Review

In When the Violin Weeps, author Glenn Starkey relates the story of symphony violinist Jacob Liebermann, a Jewish resident of the Warsaw ghetto. In their early thirties, he and his wife Hannah are shipped to the Treblinka concentration/death camp. On arrival at the camp, Hannah is sent to the gas chamber, and Jacob survives as a slave laborer. A sadistic SS Officer, Klaus Hermann, confiscates Jacob’s violin and requires him to play it from time to time, especially when a prisoner is being tortured to death.

Grieving the loss of his wife, his freedom, and the life he once enjoyed, Jacob questions his faith in God and grows more hateful day-by-day. With a band of other slave laborers, he escapes the camp and spends many months in the deep woods with other resistance fighters. Through the remainder of the war and into the 1960s, Jacob finds his way across Eastern Europe to Palestine, and lives through the birth of Israel. But his hatred for Klaus Hermann never abates. His desire for vengeance and, to some extent, justice only grows, yet his belief in God has been destroyed.

At the birth of Israel and during its early years, Jacob becomes a fighter, though he never thought he would be one. He joins Mossad, the national intelligence agency of Israel, and is instrumental in capturing Nazi war criminals wherever they are in the world. Klaus Hermann, living in South America after World War II, remains free, and Jacob wrestles with what he will do when he finds him.

Glenn Starkey’s well-researched historical novel rings true with every word, and sadly, Jacob’s story is one of millions – Jews, gypsies, Slavic peoples, and others targeted for outright extermination or death via forced labor.

The book reads easily in the way it is crafted, although there is much violence in it. It is a story no one who reads it will forget. Mr. Starkey deftly weaves in the history of the newly-minted state of Israel, and hints at the role of the Catholic Church in helping former Nazis flee to South America.

For those unfamiliar with Nazi (and Stalinist) depravities of World War II, this book is an eye-opener. For those familiar with the war, it is a reminder of what blind adherence to ideology and control of the media can do to an otherwise reasonable populace. As such, it resonates well with our time, when a noisy, dictatorial media is making ordinary people fearful of not following the “party line.” The Nazis did this. Could it be happening again? Mr. Starkey’s is a book not only to read, but to study, lest we repeat history.

Review by Pat Walkow (March 2023)

Author's Synopsis

Forcing Warsaw's massive Jewish population into an overcrowded ghetto to starve was Nazi Germany's first undertaking after invading Poland. Next came the merciless transports to the Treblinka extermination center. When Jacob Lieberman's wife Hanna is murdered in a gas chamber, the former Warsaw Philharmonic violinist fell into an abyss of insanity. But he keeps his promise to her to survive the Nazi atrocities at all costs.

Through months as a slave laborer, escaping from the death camp, and fighting for the underground, Jacob lives for the day of reckoning with Klaus Hermann, the SS officer that killed his wife. After a harrowing trek to freedom in Palestine and joining Jewish resistance groups to combat a new enemy, Jacob makes the country home. He becomes one of Israel's first Mossad agents. Then fate brings him face to face with the devil incarnate.

"When the Violin Weeps" is based upon real lives, the disturbing true events of the Holocaust in World War II, and on through the struggles to create the State of Israel. It is the story of appalling crimes against humanity, mankind at its best and worst, and the courageous strength to live and fight against overwhelming odds.

Format(s) for review: Paper and Kindle

Review Genre: Fiction—Historical Fiction

Number of Pages: 269

Word Count: 81,000

Twelve O'Clock Haiku: Leadership Lessons from Old War Movies & New Poems by Randy Brown

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MWSA Review

​In this short work, the author gives readers a ​53-page analysis of the movie, Twelve O’Clock High, and includes 12 haiku poems. His discussion ranges from “lessons learned” and “maximum effort” to comparing day and night bombing in the first years of World War II. ​A good presentation, but little poetry. The poems themselves are thought provoking and in places disturbing, which is what you would expect given the subject matter.

The author is a talented writer and his self-described obsession with the movie, Twelve O’Clock High, comes through in the musings and essays about military lessons learned in the first half of this work. His passion for the subject is evident. However, readers thinking this is a book of poetry may be disappointed. Readers with little familiarity with Twelve O’Clock High can be at a loss, unable to fully grasp much of what the author is attempting to convey. 

Review by George ​J. ​Bryjak (March 2023)

 

Author's Synopsis

In a cheeky critique of the classic American airpower narrative “Twelve O’Clock High,” award-winning soldier-poet, essayist, and humorist Randy Brown explores what it means to be a leader or follower at war—morally, physically, and psychologically. The book is packed full of insights into military life, as viewed through the lenses of war movies, history, and the author’s personal experiences as a one-time U.S. Army-trained “lessons-learned analyst.”

“I started out to write 12 haiku poems about a favorite old war movie,” says the author, “but my ‘whimsical experiment in minimalist war poetry’ mutated into a ‘maximum effort’ mix of memory, media, and military culture!” TWELVE O’CLOCK HAIKU: Leadership Lessons from Old War Movies & New Poems now comprises a salvo of provocative poetry, a companion essay about the film, and resources for enthusiasts of World War II aircraft, history, and movies.

Format(s) for review: Paper and Kindle

Review Genre: Poetry book

Number of Pages: 114

Word Count: 17,500

Writ Reveal by Ethan Burroughs

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MWSA Review

Writ Reveal by Ethan Burroughs is the second in a series featuring protagonist Clayton Haley. It seems Haley, a U.S. State Department employee, attracts trouble wherever he goes. This time he is sent to Kuwait, where an enemy from a previous book targets him for death. Mild-mannered Haley is drawn into a maelstrom of Middle East intrigue as he seeks to repatriate Iraqi soldiers who died in Kuwait during the first Gulf War in 1990 and discovers artifacts buried with the soldiers. Mayhem ensues but not before the reader is thoroughly acquainted with the cuisine of the region. The action is slow to start as the author seeks to educate the reading public about the region, its religion, its players, its language, and its culture. Military terms and various languages (translated in brackets) slow the read somewhat. Those who enjoy learning about other cultures and customs will find a wealth of information about little known aspects of the history, beliefs, and politics of the Middle East. 

Review by Betsy Beard (April 2023)

 

Author's Synopsis

The thrilling sequel to Messianic Reveal, Writ Reveal takes protagonist Clayton Haley deeper into Middle Eastern conspiracy and intrigue, ferrying him up the Tigris into modern and ancient Baghdad, and stirring a combustible mix of politics and religion with deadly consequences.

Clayton Haley’s journey as a U.S. foreign service officer continues into the disconnected destinies of modern Kuwait and ancient Baghdad in search of a truth—one that is scripted on ancient sacred palimpsests, providing rare scrutiny into the exploitation of one of the world’s largest religions.

Haley’s exhumation efforts of those who died in war lead to the discovery of a map that was stolen in the 1990 Iraqi looting of the Kuwaiti national archives. This map points to the long-forgotten Round City of Baghdad, which is said to contain treasures lost to humanity in the 1258 destruction of the city by Mongols. Haley’s efforts, bolstered by an unruly team of Green Berets and intelligence friends, don’t go without opposition—a spectral Bin Laden empire scion counters his every move in a desire to foment tribal uprisings against nouveau colonialism while carrying out an avowed revenge against Haley for thwarting his Messianic Reveal.

Format(s) for review: Paper and Kindle

Review Genre: Mystery/thriller

Number of Pages: 300

Word Count: 74,000

Lexie's Gift by John R. Stoeffler

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MWSA Review

First-grader Lexie, saddened by her classmate and best friend's tears caused by Susan's father, an army soldier being deployed, discovers a plan and executes it. Susan's father will miss her next birthday and the family's Christmas celebration. More importantly, Susan's father won't be at her bedside to hug, kiss, and tuck her in at night. Lexie, inspired by her younger cousin Kanon's "Comfy-Dumfy" pillow and memories of her own "Lambie" pillow, gets an idea. Lexie's Gift author John Stoeffler, with illustrations by Jeanine-Jonee, leads the young readers along with Lexie as she plans to ease Susan's sadness. Lexie executes the idea by bringing the gift to Susan. The story is inspirational, reflecting a project the author started in 2008, where he, with his wife's and volunteers' assistance, created and shipped "Sweet Dream Pillows” to more than 13,000 children of deployed U.S. armed forces parents.

Review by Tom Beard (March 2023)

 

Author's Synopsis

This is the story of a little girl, Lexie, whose best friend's father is in the Army and is called to active duty. Susan, the friend, is so sad that her dad will miss her birthday and Christmas and won't be there to hug, kiss and tuck her in at bedtime. Lexie wishes she could do something to comfort Susan while her father is away. With a little help, Lexie makes the perfect gift for Susan: a pillow with her father's picture printed on it. Susan is thrilled, and the girls decide to make more picture pillows for others like her and in doing so discover it is more fun to give than to receive.

 This story is based on a project started in 2008 by the author and his wife. In all, they and their volunteers made and shipped free what they called "Sweet Dreams Pillows" to over 13,000 children of deployed members of the U.S. Armed Forces.

Format(s) for review: Paper and Kindle

Review Genre: Children & Young Adult—Picture Book

Number of Pages:  29

Word Count: 2600

Dispatches From The Cowgirl: Through The Looking Glass With A Navy Diplomat's Wife by Julie Tully

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MWSA Review

Dispatches from the Cowgirl: Through the Looking Glass with a Navy Diplomat’s Wife by Julie Tully is an engaging read from beginning to end. In letters written to family and friends, Tully showed them, in vivid detail, places they would most likely never see. Entries from her diary and those letters she wrote grew into this memoir.

Julie Tully was born into a cattle ranching family in northern California. For more than a third of her life she worked the cattle or marketed the beef. Tully explains, “I am a girl of the land who married a man of the sea.” From her perspective, she writes of extraordinary events and everyday life during her time as a military spouse in Africa.

To Julie, the diplomatic post is more than a job. She and husband John actively immerse themselves in the customs of the country. In short, they bloom where they are planted. Following the example his parents set for him, their young son Quinn spends his early school years learning to speak French and making friends with other expat children and locals who staff the embassy in which they live. A supposed two-year assignment for her family in Sub-Saharan Africa soon turns into an eight-year adventure in Cameroon, Nigeria, and Djibouti. In a world where diplomacy is key, Julie Tully, in her cowboy boots, charms the embassy staff and foreign diplomats in every assignment with her genuine demeanor.

Looking back over the words she wrote, Julie Tully sees a big picture of how she found purpose as the spouse of a diplomat in Africa after leaving her career to become a full-time mom and a traveling Navy spouse. She quotes Lewis Carroll, who writes in Alice in Wonderland: “Actually, the best gift you could have given her was a lifetime of adventure.”

Review by Nancy Panko (February 2023)

 

Author's Synopsis

Would you move to Africa? For Julie Tully, a cowgirl who married a United States naval officer, the answer was a no-brainer: Yes!

Leaving her career and everything she knew behind to follow her husband, Julie was rapidly approaching forty and wondering, “What is my place in the world?” Enter Africa, the continent she had dreamed of since childhood, a chance to reinvigorate her life. A supposed two-year assignment for her family in Sub-Saharan Africa soon turns into an eight-year adventure in Cameroon, Nigeria, and Djibouti and sees Julie become an unofficial diplomat as wife to a military attaché. In a world where diplomacy is key, Julie becomes the person she was meant to be.

Julie’s memoir is a real-life Alice in Wonderland tale. A cowgirl falls into Africa like Alice fell into Wonderland, taking you on a voyage of discovery and into the little-known world of an American military spouse serving amongst the world’s diplomatic corps. One moment, you’ll laugh out loud as Julie takes her first step onto the African continent and begins setting up their home in Cameroon. The next, you’ll gasp in shock as a terrorist bomb shakes their house in Nigeria.

Part travelogue, and part midlife coming-of-age story, Dispatches from the Cowgirl takes you to the Africa that Julie experienced. Complete with all its beauty and flaws, it’s the Africa that continues to capture the attention of the world’s military powers and the Africa she struggled to say goodbye to.

Format(s) for review: Paper and Kindle

Review Genre: Nonfiction—Memoir/Biography

Number of Pages: 335

Word Count: 86,610

Rucksack Grunt by Robert Kuhn

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MWSA Review

Rucksack Grunt is the story of one man's Viet Nam experience as a soldier with the US Army. Robert Kuhn, the author, was that young man, and he tells a tale not unlike what many young teenagers in that era had to endure. Eighteen years old and unsettled with not much direction for his life, Author Kuhn enlisted in the army. Right away he questions his decision, but there is no turning back. The only thing he is sure of is his love for his girlfriend. His decision, however, is taking him away from her.  Like most enlistees at the time, he soon finds himself in the infantry and heading to Viet Nam. While there, he is exposed to artillery fire landing nearby, sniper fire zinging by too close, and more than one contact with the enemy. His biggest threat, though, turned out to be from a mosquito. The author contracted malaria and had to be sent to a hospital for treatment.  His dream was to survive and return home to marry his sweetheart, but would she wait for him? Author Kuhn's story is a quick read and well worth reading.

Review by Bob Doerr (March 2023)

 

Author's Synopsis

RUCKSACK GRUNT - A VIETNAM VETERAN'S MEMOIR

A Vietnam War Memoir with an Underlying Love Story.

A narrative about a naïve teenage boy’s evolutionary journey from his safe suburban neighborhood in Pennsylvania to the dangerous Central Highlands in Vietnam to becoming a Vietnam War Veteran as he remembers it and still struggles today to understand it all.

The events of this narrative take place from 1969-1972, beginning with a young teenage boy’s love for and his marriage proposal to his high school sweetheart. Robert then decided that the best path to obtaining an education and a “real” job needed to support their future marriage was through an easy short stint in the US Army. Little did the naïve teenager know that the path to accomplishing his goals would take him through the dangerous jungles and rice paddies of Vietnam during the latter years of the war. Although not a blood and guts war story, this first-hand emotional account details the many traumatic and sometimes distressing encounters of Robert Kuhn, the “rucksack carrying grunt” who served with the 1st Battalion 22nd Infantry unit during his Vietnam tour of duty.

Format(s) for review: Paper and Kindle

Review Genre: Nonfiction—Memoir/Biography

Number of Pages: 186

Word Count: 34005

Letters from Vietnam by Dennis Hoy

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MWSA Review

Although titled Letters from Vietnam, Dennis Hoy’s book is much more than a cut-and-pasted scrapbook of wartime correspondence. In fact, there are almost no direct quotes from any of the letters Hoy wrote during his combat tour in Vietnam in 1967-1968. Instead, Hoy uses the letters to jog his memory about events now 50-plus years in the past. As a result, his descriptions of his experiences in Vietnam are vivid and credible. 

Hoy’s unassuming, almost folksy prose adds to this memoir’s authenticity and readability. After covering his wartime experiences as a “grunt” in Vietnam, Hoy wraps things up by sharing his thoughts about the war and describing the highlights of his life after his return to “the world” after completing his tour. In addition to being an honest look at his wartime experiences in Vietnam, what sets this book apart from many other Vietnam memoirs is the evident love and affection Hoy displays for his wife, Beth, throughout its pages. 

Review by John Cathcart (April 2023)

 

Author's Synopsis

Letters from Vietnam is the memoir of a Vietnam War army infantryman, based on letters he wrote home to his new wife and his parents that give an on-the-ground view of combat, and a soldier's life beyond combat, through the eyes of a Silver Star recipient.

Format(s) for review: Paper and Kindle

Review Genre: Nonfiction—Memoir/Biography

Number of Pages: 150

Word Count: Not submitted

Stories from the Front: Pain, Betrayal, and Resilience on the MST Battlefield by Colonel Lisa Carrington Firmin, USAF (Ret.)

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MWSA Review

Stories from the Front: Pain, Betrayal, and Resilience on the MST Battlefield by Colonel Lisa Carrington Firmin, USAF (Ret.) is a difficult read for anyone with a beating heart. Colonel Firmin tells the stories of herself and thirteen others, all survivors of military sexual trauma. (MST). The diverse group—representing all branches of the military, all races, ethnicities, and sexual orientation, from Vietnam to the present—suffered at the hands of their fellow soldiers, sailors, airmen, coast guardsmen, and marines.

Feelings of shame, anger, helplessness, and sometimes suicidal thoughts are common to the abused, especially when they realize there is no one to stand up for them. Years of hazing, bullying, misogyny, sexual harassment, assault and rape with little or no recourse takes its toll on the body, mind, and spirit. Healing begins when victims can open up to speak of the atrocities they endured while serving in a job they loved, and to see their abuser punished. Survivors are to be lauded for the courage they mustered to speak out.

Colonel Firmin’s book should be read by every newly commissioned officer and the most senior officers in any branch of service. Unfortunately, each testimony exposed a weakness in the chain of command to understand the ramifications of MST. Our military leaders need to stand up to abusers and to mete out punishment no matter how senior the abuser.

Review by Nancy Panko (April 2023)
 

Author's Synopsis

Bronze Star-decorated combat commander Colonel Lisa Carrington Firmin outlines her own experiences with military sexual trauma (MST) and recounts the stories of 13 others: veterans as well as active duty women and men who are bravely sharing their stories of sexual assault and sexual harassment while serving in the United States military. Stories from the Front authentically captures experiences and carefully tells their stories of trauma and the resilience and empowerment they display in their lives.

By including the lived experiences of a diverse group representing all military branches, ranks, eras of service, wars, races, and ethnicities, from Vietnam to the present day, Stories from the Front documents how men and women suffered at the hands of their fellow sailors, coasties, airmen, soldiers, and Marines. Eerily similar in the retelling, their experiences with MST range from hazing, bullying, misogyny, and sexual harassment to sexual assault and rape. Stories from the Front also includes incidents of race, ethnic, gender and sexual orientation disparities. Many of the book’s participants have never previously shared the full details of these experiences or spoken publicly before.

After serving 30 years in the Air Force, and as its most senior-ranking Latina officer upon retirement, Colonel Carrington Firmin was horrified by the appalling murder of a fellow Latina, Army Specialist Vanessa Guillén, in April 2020. Vanessa’s horrific death became the catalyst for repressed memories of the colonel’s own sexual assault during initial training and the repeated sexual harassment she endured early in her career and catapulted her on a soul-searching journey to document her own and others’ experiences and to advocate for change within the armed services.

The colonel is proud of her service and the strong bonds she had with so many military professionals but acknowledges that now was the time to share the full reality of all that she experienced and endured in hopes of educating others, letting many know they are not alone and to advocate for change for all members of the military, not just some.

Format(s) for review: Paper Only

Review Genre: Nonfiction—Memoir/Biography

Number of Pages: 264

Word Count: 76,949

Defenders of the Rock: Sacrifice, courage, and honor, in the defense of the Philippines during World War II by Tim Deal, Spencer Huyck, Ashley Deal

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MWSA Review

Defenders of the Rock is sobering compilation of twenty-four individual stories of American heroes who defended the Philippines at the very beginning of World War Two. From these stories emerges a comprehensive narrative of the service and sacrifice of soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, one coastguardsman, military nurses, and civilians who withstood the Imperial Japanese attack on the Philippine archipelago. The stories include the aftermath of the horrendous Bataan Death March for most, escape and resistance for some, and the deprivation during internment for military women and American civilians.

Because the book is written in a precise biographical style, you can read one section at a time. Given the grim fates of most of the people depicted, being able to only read a few sections at a time is benefit to the reader. Despite the somber nature of the book’s subject, it is inspirational and uplifting to learn from and recall the stories of the defenders of the Philippines.

Review by Terry Lloyd (April 2023)

 

Author's Synopsis

Defenders of the Rock preserves the stories of twenty-four individuals who were in the Philippines on December 8, 1941, when war came to the island nation. Their island way of life was shattered in an instant, when the first Japanese bombs exploded. Each story provides a unique perspective on what was occurring to those who were defending the Philippines as they fought back the invaders. They prayed that help would come, but it never arrived. The surrender of the Philippines occurred at noon on Wednesday, May 6, 1942. Of the twenty-four, some would escape capture only to die later during the war, others would become prisoners of war and survive, and others would die in captivity. Some would be tortured and live, while one of them was executed. These twenty-four serve as ambassadors whose courage, honor, and sacrifice represent the thousands of other similar stories we could not include.

Format(s) for review: Paper Only

Review Genre: Nonfiction—History

Number of Pages: 385

Word Count: 66,855

FNG: a Black Spear novel by Benjamin Spada

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MWSA Review

Benjamin Spada hits it out of the park with his debut novel FNG: A Black Spear Novel. The American government has run its share of off-the-books “black ops,” but none blacker than “Black Spear.” Even among the military, no one seems to be sure if they exist. But exist they do, and when the really bad guys come calling, Black Spear is our best defense. Made up of only the absolute best operators, this small unit operates in five-man squads whose only rules of engagement are “accomplish the mission,” and they do so by all means necessary. When conventional forces and sworn lawmakers can’t get their hands dirty, it’s time to send in Black Spear.

A disgruntled veteran has a vision for revenge against the government, and has gained a following of other former servicemen along with access to one very dangerous bioweapon. Black Spear’s Cerebrus Team is down a man and pulls in a recruit for one tremendously action-packed first day. Black Spear has no rules to follow but their own, but will it be enough to stop a madman with a deadly bioweapon and an intense thirst for vengeance?

This story is a non-stop thrill ride from the first page. The heroes are likable, the villains deplorable, and the action fast-moving, graphic, and exciting. It’s very much like the “A-team” of the 80s TV show on steroids. Fans of spec-ops stories or techno-thrillers should enjoy this very much. Personally, I can’t wait for the next one!

Review by Rob Ballister (March2023)

 

Author's Synopsis

FNG: NOUN. INFORMAL. MILITARY TERM, "F****** NEW GUY":

A PERSON JUST OUT OF TRAINING OR NEWLY TRANSFERRED INTO THE UNIT, WHO EITHER HASN'T PROVED THEIR WORTH OR DOESN'T KNOW HOW TO OPERATE PROPERLY DUE TO LACK OF EXPERIENCE. 

"Welcome to Black Spear." With these four words Cole West is immediately thrust into the shadowy world of the military's most deadly black-ops program. No warning. No training. No choice but to buckle up as Black Spear conscripts him to fight against a paramilitary group of renegade veterans known only as "Terminal." Terminal is no ragtag militia but a veritable private army of disgruntled soldiers with one mission: Stop at nothing to topple the government they think failed them. 

Armed with a highly volatile bioweapon capable of absorbing the properties of other contagions, they plan to wash the country clean through an ocean of blood. It's up to Cole West and Black Spear to prevent Terminal's terrorist attacks and stop the insurrection before it can happen. To survive in Black Spear, West will have to prove himself. But even on day one, there are no second chances...

Format(s) for review: Paper and Kindle

Review Genre: Fiction—Mystery/Thriller

Number of Pages: 328

Word Count: 86700

Ninety Day Wonder by Lynn Ellen Doxon

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MWSA Review

Ninety Day Wonder by Lynn Ellen Doxon is a look at the trajectory of one man’s life changed by an outbreak of war. High school chemistry teacher Gene Sinclair’s carefully laid out plans to get into medical school are thwarted the day he receives his draft notice from the U.S. Army. He reconciles that serving his country is a temporary diversion and that he’ll serve his year and re-apply to medical school.

After basic training, Sinclair is sent to train on coastal artillery but he yearns to get into sone area of the medical corps. Eventually, he’s assigned to the pharmacy training program. but the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor necessitates him returning to artillery. From there, Gene is chosen to attend the ninety-day Officer’s Training School.

During his officer training, Sinclair meets southern belle Sarah Gale, eventually falling head over heels in love before he’s commissioned as an antiaircraft artillery officer. Gene struggles with conflicting feelings as an officer when it comes to leading his men. When Sarah joins the WAACs they are unable to see each other because she is an enlisted servicewoman and he is an officer. Somehow, they manage to overcome that obstacle. Separated by continents, Sarah and Gene stay in touch by letters. After a Japanese air raid in Darwin, Australia, Gene is assigned to deploy to parts unknown, leaving us to wait until the next book comes out to resolve my unanswered questions.

Review by Nancy Panko (March 2023)

 

Author's Synopsis

On the eve of World War II Gene Sinclair is drafted, ruining his plans to become a doctor. Gene adapts to army life, but still dreams of being a doctor, until the attack on Pearl Harbor. He is sent to Officer's Training School to become a "Ninety Day Wonder" junior officer for coastal artillery. Gene struggles to understand his place in the army, which becomes more complicated when he falls in love with Sarah Gale while at OTS.

Format(s) for review: Paper and Kindle

Review Genre: Fiction—Historical Fiction

Number of Pages: 368

Word Count: 120244

Payback by Joseph Badal

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MWSA Review

Joseph Badal’s Payback is an action-packed thriller of revenge—often gory murders—and deep friendship. Badal’s characters come to life. Whether you love them or hate them, you can’t wait to find out what happens. Then, just when you think the story is over there’s another twist in the road, and a whole new adventure.

Bruno Pedace’s investment banking bosses attempt to frame him, but he gets out by the skin of his teeth, taking “insurance” with him. For the next eight years he sits on millions of dollars’ worth of documents, bonds, and cash, living on the fringes of society, afraid of his own shadow. Enter Janet Jenkins, an advocate at a women’s shelter, who saves him during a mugging. From that day their friendship begins and Pedace embarks on a metamorphosis, from victim to avenger.

Bruno contrives a very dangerous, intricate, technologically ambitious plan to destroy his former employers. As brave as he is, however, his timidity precludes him from telling Janet that he loves her. Janet is dragged into Bruno’s life of conspiracies, corruption, blackmail, kidnapping, and assassinations. Bruno ingratiates himself into Janet’s life at the shelter, ultimately helping countless women, with his grandiose philanthropic plan.

Payback is a story about revenge and dignity, and the courage we amass from each other.

Review by Sue Rushford (February 2023)

 

Author's Synopsis

When Bruno Pedace learns that his investment banking partners are setting him up to take the fall for their own corrupt practices, he does what he has always done—run away. But the documents he takes with him put a target on his back. He changes his name and, for nine years, goes underground, until an assassin tracks him down in California and badly injures him.

Befriended by Janet Jenkins, a courageous woman who works in a battered women’s shelter, Bruno, for the first time in his life, with Janet’s help, fights back. He constructs an ingenious financial scheme to get payback for the crimes perpetrated by his former partners.

In PAYBACK, award-winning, Amazon #1 best-selling author Joseph Badal weaves a story about a sympathetic protagonist who, when pushed too far, finally pushes back. This is a story about revenge that includes assassins, corrupt Wall Street investment bankers, a Mafia capo, Asian gangs, and heroic cops. And, to top it all off, it is a story about friendship and love.

Format(s) for review: Paper and Kindle

Review Genre: Fiction—Mystery/Thriller

Number of Pages: 310

Word Count: 79,337