Chennault: A Rebel in China by Lt. Col. Richard P. Voorhies Jr

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MWSA Review

Chennault: A Rebel in China is a brief history of Claire Lee Chennault's pre-Flying-Tigers life. It chronicles his life from childhood in a small, extremely rural area of Louisiana in the 1890s, through his personal tragedies and his education, to his love of flying. It describes his relentless determination to become the best pursuit pilot of his time, and his frustration when he fails greatly influences the direction of Army aviation in the 1920s and '30s. The book follows him as he retires from the Army Air Corps and accepts a job in China, where his true genius could flourish. This book is for those wanting to know what influenced Chennault's personality from birth through his pre-China military service. For these lesser-known years, the book fills in considerable detail.

Review by Jamie Thompson (July 2021)

 

Author's Synopsis
Before Claire Lee Chennault could achieve success with the Flying Tigers, he had to learn how to lead and what to teach. This book examines the unique influences which created this remarkable, prescient military aviation pioneer. 

From his youth working on a family farm near a small Louisiana town, the book traces the influence of growing up in the American South, where Southern generals became his heroes. His education, both as a student and as a teacher, gave confidence but left him uneasy socially.

His love of flying enabled a military career, beginning just after World War I. His 20-year career in the Army Air Corps developed his flying skills. Later work with the Flying Trapeze honed his theories on combat flying and brought him fame. But his devotion to pursuit planes and his convictions about the future of aerial warfare brought controversy. 

Cast loose from the military as a result, he went to China in the nick of time to help the Chinese Air Force oppose the Japanese invasion in 1937. He gained knowledge of Japanese tactics and equipment, and learned painful lessons there, which eventually enabled him to lead the Flying Tigers to their successes.

This book covers those formative years and illustrates Chennault’s early time in China with maps and photos.

ISBN/ASIN: 978-1945333194

Book Format(s): Soft cover

Review Genre: Nonfiction—Memoir/Biography

Number of Pages: 186

100 Days in Vietnam by Matthew Tallon

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MWSA Review
In their book, 100 Days in Vietnam, Joseph and Matthew Tallon give us an in-depth look into the life of a true survivor and patriot. Lt Col Joseph F. Tallon served as a Mohawk pilot with the US Army in Vietnam in the waning days of that long war. As the conflict was nearing its end, enemy fire struck Joseph's airplane just after takeoff, causing it to crash before he could return it to the runway. The crash killed his crew member and left Joseph with severe injuries and burns all over his body. The book provides us sufficient background to know Joseph before the crash and to understand that his love for his new bride gave him the strength to hang on and the will to survive. Months of medical treatment took him from Vietnam, to the Philippines, and ultimately to the burn center at Lackland AFB, Texas. Despite the injury and medical discharge from the Army, his desire to serve enabled him to retain his commission in the Reserves until he retired years later. Matthew, Joseph's son, must be given credit for working with his father and getting the many letters, notes, diary entries, etc. finally organized in a fashion to be made into this book, along with making a number of observations of his own. I enjoyed reading this book and my hat's off to Joseph.

Review by Bob Doerr (July 2021)

 

Author's Synopsis
As American troops continue their steady exodus on the last day of their ground war in Vietnam, Lieutenant Joe Tallon is shot down by an enemy missile. Forced to eject at a dangerously low altitude from their OV-1 Mohawk, Joe and his tactical observer, Specialist-5 Daniel Richards, land in the flaming wreckage. Lieutenant Tallon survives but Specialist Richards does not. Stateside, Lieutenant Tallon begins to heal and proceed with his life—but the loss of his tactical observer is never far from his mind. Forty years later, Joe embarks on a quest to bring recognition to the sacrifice of Daniel Richards and secure a Purple Heart for his family.

Painstakingly recreated from wartime letters and remembrances and contextualized by contemporary news accounts, 100 Days in Vietnam is a collaboration between Joe and his son Matt—also an Army veteran. Here we experience the war through the emotions of the man who survived it: the drudgery and monotony of airfield life, the heartache of a newlywed missing his wife, the terror of combat missions, the agony of injury and rehabilitation, and the bittersweet relief from the completion of his final mission to bring recognition to his fallen comrade.

ISBN/ASIN: 978-1-64663-255-8, 978-1-64663-257-2, 978-1-64663-256-5

Book Format(s): Hard cover, Soft cover, ePub/iBook

Review Genre: Nonfiction—Memoir/Biography

Number of Pages: 321

Military Wives in Arizona Territory by Jan Cleere

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MWSA Review
Unlike many formal histories which put theory and context front and center, Military Wives in Arizona Territory by Jan Cleere honors the first-hand experiences of women who followed their military spouses to the remote outposts in the American West. The book gives an authentic, immediate account of their travel to and from the outposts, life on the frontier and their homes.

The author has assembled letters, diaries, interviews, published books, and unpublished manuscripts to allow the women to tell their stories directly, and in their own words. The author does provide some context, but does not overshadow the women's own descriptions of their experience.

Each section focuses on a particular woman or group of women. It usually begins with a recounting of their journey across the country. Sometimes beginning with a long train ride or sea voyage through the Panama Canal, the women then moved with wagon trains or by oxen carts through dangerous territories. They speak of their fears: the attacks by Indian tribes, loss of their husbands through battle or accident, and the illnesses which took many along the way.

The book also contrasts the privileged life left behind in the East with the deprivation and rough conditions in the remote outposts. Although most of the women were officers' wives and therefore afforded more than soldiers' families, those privileges might be the use of boxes covered with linen to make up tables and chairs. They recount the creativity necessary to entertain visiting dignitaries or even to feed their families when food supplies were uncertain.

Military Wives powerfully shows the devotion, duty, creativity and grit of women who chose to share life on the frontier with their husbands. It provides a valuable and vivid window into life during a critical period in our history. I would recommend this book to readers who enjoy authentic, first-person history, and those with particular interest in women's history and frontier military history.

Review by Barb Evenson (June 2021)
 

Author's Synopsis
When the US Army ordered troops into Arizona Territory in the nineteenth century to protect and defend newly established settlements, military men often brought their wives and families, particularly officers who might be stationed in the west for years. Most of the women were from refined, eastern-bred families with little knowledge of the territory. Their letters, diaries, and journals from their years on army posts reveal untold hardships and challenges. They learned to cope with the sparseness, the heat, sickness, and danger, including wildlife they never imagined. These women were bold, brave, and compassionate. They became an integral part of military posts that peppered the West and played an important role in civilizing the untamed frontier. Combining their words with original research and tracing their movements from post to post, this collection of historical narratives explores the tragedies and triumphs that early military wives experienced.

ISBN/ASIN: 9781493052943

Book Format(s): Hard cover, Kindle

Review Genre: Nonfiction—History

Number of Pages: 199

Sheltered: When a Boy Becomes a Legend by Jacob Paul Patchen

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MWSA Review
James, a young teenager, finds himself alone in the world during a national insurrection led by home-grown anti-freedom terrorists and their juvenile ignorant recruits. James survives in a bunker built and stocked by his father, a former Marine. During many months of living off rations and hunting, James recalls all the lessons his father taught him. When insurgents come to sack his family home, he defends it and is forced to use his firearms. Eventually, he becomes a leader of a ragtag group of hurt and frightened children who call themselves The Risers. Their goal is to rise up, take back their country, and restore the freedoms they once enjoyed.

During his fight with the terrorists, James learns his sister has survived, as well as his father, who he thought had deserted the family. But Dad had been fighting the internal enemy in secret.
As the story comes to a climax, James defends the shattered school he and the other Risers call home, and together, they set out on a tactical plan to free prisoners (freedom-loving Americans who appreciate American beliefs and values) held in concentration camps by the internal enemy. In the process, he learns much about himself and even more about his father.

Ultimately, it is James who becomes the legend as he refuses to stoop to barbarism. He recognizes the trauma that years of being a warrior have inflicted on his father, and it is his father who recognizes his son’s innate leadership skills. James had been a sheltered child, but he now shelters other children and nurtures his beliefs during a time of crisis. In this timely tale of national turmoil, he evolves from a child caring about waging fake battles with Nerf ball guns to a reluctant defender of freedom using real bullets and armament.

As a cautionary tale that reflects the current state of tyranny at play in the United States, this dystopian novel is not just for teenagers or young adults. Nor is it only for male members of society. Women also play important warrior roles in taking back their country. Anyone who loves our country will appreciate what could happen, if we let it, and author Jacob Paul Patchen pretty much lets us see what that would be like.

Review by Patricia Walkow (June 2021)
 

Author's Synopsis
“We are all given a space in life to fill, a roaring emptiness in time… and it’s how you choose to fill that void, that will determine the difference in becoming a man or a legend.” That’s what my father said to me a few years ago before he walked out on Mom, Emily, and me. If I would have had any sense back then, I would have asked him exactly what that meant. Instead, I’m out here learning it the hard way – dodging bullets and bombs while America is at war – my friends fighting back with all we have, while trying to keep these orphaned children safe and our dreams alive.

They call us The Risers. Well, okay… so we call ourselves “The Risers.” But either way, we’re out here doing everything we can just to survive and rise up from our nation’s ashes with honor, integrity, and justice. Now, with smoky memories of a lost childhood, and the horrible, lingering, cardboard taste of MRE crackers (still left over from living in Dad’s bomb shelter), my mini army and me march forward, taking back what was once taken for granted.

But to be honest, I’m really just out here winging it. Wish me luck.

ISBN/ASIN: 978-1952816352, B08V8D282P

Book Format(s): Soft cover, Kindle, ePub/iBook

Review Genre: Children & Young Adult—Young Adult (fiction or non-fiction)

Number of Pages: 158

The Other Veterans of World War II by Rona Simmons

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MWSA Review
Many hundreds of soldiers, airmen, and sailors behind battle lines support the few carrying the rifle forward into combat. These unrecognized and inconspicuous warriors fade into the background but are there with everything from bullets to beer. They move combatants to or from the battlefields and bandage bodies or bury the dead. Author Rona Simmons looks behind the frontlines—revealing some even more daring accounts of those who did not engage in combat officially, never marching in the parade of accolades—to capture nineteen personal stories, seventy-five years following World War II.

Daughter of a WW II fighter pilot, Rona Simmons, writing The Other Veterans of World War II, brings to life memories of “heroes” who were not in the trenches. This book honors unsung veterans with details garnered through the author’s interviews, supported with families’ records and photos. This excellently crafted book, including an appendix, notes, selected bibliography, and index, is divided into parts. Each part begins with a history-setting preamble explaining the conditions behind the personal accounts in the following short series. Simmons completes each personal story with a brief epilogue detailing their life following their war experience. The nineteen stories reveal that unsung supporting troops contributed as much to victory as the soldier aiming a gun. This book is an essential example of stories that needed to be told. Further, this book offers, by example, an ideal form, from meticulous research and captivating writing, for others to tell their stories.

Review by Tom Beard (July 2021)

 

Author's Synopsis
For decades, the dramatic stories of World War II soldiers have been the stuff of memoirs, interviews, novels, documentaries, and feature films. Yet the men and women who served in less visible roles, never engaging in physical combat, have received scant attention.

Convinced that their depiction as pencil pushers, grease monkeys, or cowards was far from the truth, Rona Simmons embarked on a quest to discover the real story from the noncombat veterans themselves. She sat across from 19 veterans or their children, read their letters and journals, looked at photos, and touched their mementos: pieces of shrapnel, a Japanese sword, a porcelain tea set, a pair of wooden shoes, a marquisette wedding gown.

Compiling these veterans’ stories, Simmons follows them as they report for service, complete their training, and often ship out to stations thousands of miles from home. She shares their dreams to see combat and disappointment at receiving noncombat positions, as well as their selflessness and yearning for home. Ultimately, Simmons finds the noncombat veterans had far more in common with the front line soldiers than differences.

Simmons’s extensive research gives us a more complete picture of the war effort, bringing long-overdue appreciation for the men and women whose everyday tasks, unexpected acts of sacrifice, and faith and humor contributed mightily to the ultimate outcome of World War II.

ISBN/ASIN: 978-1606353981, 1606353985, B085J29NBL

Book Format(s): Hard cover, Kindle

Review Genre: Nonfiction—History

Number of Pages: 240

The Cotillion Brigade by Glen Craney

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MWSA Review
The Cotillion Brigade by Glen Graney is a historical fiction novel about the Civil War, based on two people who came to prominence during the war. The book begins in 1856, well before the war starts, but during the time when political unrest was seething. Readers will recognize, in the dialogue and actions of the main characters, many of the issues that led to the secession of eleven Southern states. The author concurrently develops the two main characters, whose fate is intertwined at a critical point in history, April 1865. 

Nannie is a frivolous self-centered Southern girl, intent on catching a husband. Hugh LaGrange is a Wisconsin farmer who has been manipulated into becoming a reluctant abolitionist. Time elapses and events unfold to reveal how Nannie Colquitt becomes a mature, gracious, and intelligent woman who forms a “brigade” of Southern women intent on defending their homes, since all able-bodied men of their town have enlisted or been conscripted. Meanwhile Hugh is mentored to become an intellectual and fearless cavalry officer … fearless, that is, until faced by Nannie’s company of women who are disciplined, trained, and drilled.

The Civil War produced great examples of perseverance and sacrifice as well as examples of greed and excess, with both ends of the spectrum explored in the book. The simultaneous development of a Northerner and a Southerner allowed for two diametrically opposed point-of-view characters to demonstrate the nuances of the two divergent political views, allowing for an even-handed treatment of the war. Evidence of meticulous research abounded. 

The style of writing, using expressions, vocabulary, and sentence structure consistent with the era, allows the reader to enter a slower paced world. I occasionally had to look up unfamiliar or archaic words. If anything, this enhanced the read, allowing me to read more contemplatively. In addition, the written word allows readers to envision events, entering the creative endeavor alongside the author. Of note, I found that the scene with the train bringing the wounded to LaGrange, Georgia, to be more powerful than a similar movie scene in Gone with the Wind.  It is historical fiction at its best: solid research combined with great storytelling. 

Review by Betsy Beard

 

Author's Synopsis
Georgia burns. Sherman’s Yankees are closing in. Will the women of LaGrange run or fight? Based on the true story of the celebrated Nancy Hart Rifles, The Cotillion Brigade is a sweeping epic of the Civil War’s ravages on family and love, the resilient bonds of sisterhood amid devastation, and the miracle of reconciliation between bitter enemies.

1856. Sixteen-year-old Nannie Colquitt Hill makes her debut in the antebellum society of the Chattahoochee River plantations. A thousand miles to the north, a Wisconsin farm boy, Hugh LaGrange, joins an Abolitionist crusade to ban slavery in Bleeding Kansas. Five years later, secession and total war against the homefronts of Dixie hurl them toward a confrontation unrivaled in American history.

Nannie defies the traditions of Southern gentility by forming a women’s militia and drilling it four long years to prepare for battle. With their men dead, wounded, or retreating with the Confederate armies, only Captain Nannie and her Fighting Nancies stand between their beloved homes and the Yankee torches.

Hardened into a slashing Union cavalry colonel, Hugh duels Rebel generals Joseph Wheeler and Nathan Bedford Forrest across Tennessee and Alabama. As the war churns to a bloody climax, he is ordered to drive a burning stake deep into the heart of the Confederacy. 

Yet one Georgia town—which by mocking coincidence bears Hugh’s last name—stands defiant in his path. Read the remarkable story of the Southern women who formed America’s most famous female militia and the Union officer whose life they changed forever.

ISBN/ASIN: 9780996154116, 9780996154123, B08XJ4Z3DM

Book Format(s): Soft cover, Kindle, ePub/iBook, Audiobook

Review Genre: Fiction—Historical Fiction

Number of Pages: 399

A Scribe Dies In Brooklyn by Marvin Wolf

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MWSA Review
A Scribe Dies in Brooklyn by Marvin J. Wolf is the second in a series whose lead character is Rabbi Ben, aptly described in the text as “not your bubbe’s rebbe,” a Jewish paladin, and a rabbi knight errant. This well-written mystery contains a lot of history, which does not affect the flow of the story.

The book begins with a clue, set in 2007, that relates to the title of the book. A hint in Chapter One gives some insight into Rabbi Ben’s personal life. Chapter Two begins the complex story of Ben’s hunt for missing invaluable papers. The last page relates clearly to the prologue and the intriguing world of geopolitics.

Review by Nancy Kauffman (May 2021)
 

Author's Synopsis
Lured to a clandestine meeting with the President of Israel, Rabbi Ben Maimon is asked to find the long-missing third of the Aleppo Codex, the oldest and most authoritative copy of the Hebrew Bible—more than 1,000 years old and rivaled in historical importance only by the Dead Sea Scrolls. Intact until the 1947 sacking of the Great Synagogue of Aleppo, Syria, its surviving pages are now in the Hebrew Museum in Jerusalem. But Ben is told that the missing pages have reportedly surfaced in Brooklyn’s Syrian Jewish community, only to vanish again. It’s a job that only Ben can handle.

Plunging into an ingrown and quasi-medieval culture, Ben learns that others seek the Codex, and they don’t play nice. His guide to all things Aleppo-On-Gravesend Bay is Miryam Benkamel, the sassy, sexy, and smart grand-niece of the late and increasingly mysterious man rumored to have smuggled the missing Codex pages out of Syria. Ben must dig deep in his black fedora for tricks to outsmart those who want the pages for themselves. Sparks fly as Ben and Miryam work together to solve the decades-old mystery, and Rabbi Ben feels the heat...in more ways than one.

ISBN/ASIN: B01MYH1990, 978-0989960021

Book Format(s): Soft cover, Kindle

Review Genre: Fiction—Mystery/Thriller

Number of Pages: 432

The Silver Waterfall: A Novel of the Battle of Midway by Kevin Miller

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MWSA Review
The World War II battle for Midway Island is a classic war event told repeatedly since, with variations based on previously unknown or overlooked information. The story is so powerful and consequential that it appears in books, a movie, and now as a fictionalized account in Keven Miller’s, The Silver Waterfall. The author brings alive actual participants, both American and Japanese, in a fast-pace, action-packed version where aircrewmen to admirals, from both sides, expose their personal feelings in this deadly battle between ships and airplanes. Senior officers, some now famous, playing the life and death chess game come alive on the pages through author-imposed conversations as they endeavor to execute their next move based on questionable or missing vital information as the battle progresses over a critical three days.

Miller’s fictionalizing of the real participants brings crewmembers and leaders alive by revealing accounts of their emotions and reactions to events. Aircrewmen, innocent yet to death, expressed their sudden shock at witnessing friends’ instant, mid-air deaths. Leaders withholding depression from the loss of entire aircraft squadrons and eventually aircraft carriers, were exposed through their fictional thoughts. Rapid pace delivery in writing style arouses an intensity and page-turning urge. Captain Miller, USN (Ret), with his years as a naval aviator flying combat aircraft from carriers, in command, and on command staffs, brings cockpit and command reality to his characters. His further association with the Naval Aviation Museum Foundation allowed him access not only to rare documents, but individuals knowledgeable with the battle’s history.

The addition of maps, for readers not familiar with the battle, could make the verbally described movements of both task forces and aircraft divisions more clearly understood. Dive bombing by a squadron of SBD Dauntless was described as a “silver waterfall” as the individual aircraft, three seconds apart, screamed nearly straight down at 240 knots toward the vulnerable ship-target, changing the course of war.

Review by Tom Beard (May 2021)

 

Author's Synopsis
In the desolate middle of the largest ocean on earth, two great navies met, one bent on conclusive battle, the other lying in ambush. 

Six months after Pearl Harbor, Yamamoto again crossed the Pacific with the most powerful naval armada the world had ever seen, this time to finish the job. Nimitz waited for him with what he had, placed exactly where he needed it.

Both admirals depended on their fliers, some veterans of battle, others raw and unproven. Striking first meant decisive victory.

The Silver Waterfall is a factual historic fiction novel of Midway told by today's master of carrier aviation fiction about the men who fought in one of the most pivotal and epic naval battles in world history.

ISBN/ASIN: B087WRXHZC, B08CS34W9V, 978-1640621145, 978-1640621152

Book Format(s): Hard cover, Soft cover, Kindle, Audiobook

Review Genre: Fiction—Historical Fiction

Number of Pages: 325

The Jøssing Affair by J. L. Oakley

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MWSA Review

​The Jossing Affair by J.L. Oakley brings the reader into a lesser-known part of World War II, the work of the Norwegian Resistance during Norway’s occupation by Germany. Readers will appreciate the depth and breadth of research which informs the 500+ page novel, and its clever use of German and Norwegian language throughout amplifies the sense of conflict between invader and defender, and the stifled humanity within the German ranks.  

The story details efforts of the extensive network of men and women who undermined the occupation forces and moved supplies and people to safety. The book also brings to life the brutality of some of the German command, the deadly effect of Norwegian traitors, and the underlying conflict between serving the Reich and having compassion and morality.  

Oakley provides the reader with a satisfying historical novel, filled with details about the German occupation, the Norwegian countryside, and its cities. I was particularly struck by the way the details were worked comfortably into the narrative. For instance, before a meeting between Resistance members in a church, one character reminisces briefly about a childhood visit and an important event that took place there.   

Hitler had decided that the blonde and blue-eyed Norwegians were part of the master Aryan race, and should be preserved in general for breeding stock. German troops occupied the country. But with absolute power, many Germans treated its citizens with contempt and harmed them with impunity. The consequences for Resistance members who were caught were savage; Oakley does not shy away from detailing these, creating a genuine sense of danger and high stakes from start to finish. Throughout the book, we see many different forms of bravery and resistance. In a particularly chilling scene, two women volunteer themselves for rape, to protect a young girl and other townswomen from harm. The torture of patriots is also described. 

The many characters were well-designed, their motivations and backgrounds slowly revealed over the course of the novel. Even minor characters had some depth, and surprising minor and major plot twists kept the novel from falling into predictability. The underlying love story mirrors the broader conflict between doing whatever is necessary in war and following gentler feelings of love, compassion, and trust.  

Even after Hitler's suicide, the Germans continued to cling to Norway. We see their desperate last moves, the restraint showed by the Norwegians in arresting rather than killing German war criminals, and the resolution of the love story.  

The Jossing Affair is a complex read, one which will provide the reader with a deeper understanding of the costs of war for all involved. 

​Review by Barb Evenson (July 2020)​

Author's Synopsis

British-trained Norwegian intelligence agent Tore Haugland has enough worries when he is sent to a tiny fishing hamlet on the west coast of Norway to set up a line to receive arms and agents from England via the “Shetland Bus.” Posing as a deaf fisherman, his mission is complicated when he falls in love with Anna Fromme, the German widow of an old family friend. Accused of betraying her husband, she has a small daughter and secrets of her own. Though the Allies have liberated France and the Netherlands, the most zealous of the Nazis hang on in Norway, sending out agents to disembowel local resistance groups. If Haugland fails it could not only cost him his life, but those of the fishermen who have joined him. When Haugland is betrayed and left for dead, he will not only have to find the one who betrayed him and destroyed his network, but also prove that the one he loved was not the informer.

ISBN/ASIN: 978-0997323702,  B01D8XL7PM
Book Format(s): Soft cover, Kindle
Review Genre: Fiction—Historical Fiction
Number of Pages: 546

The Custer Conspiracy by Dennis Koller

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MWSA Review

The Custer Conspiracy by Dennis Koller is a fun read with an interesting historical what-if twist. The book is largely plot driven in the present day, with the motivation for the thriller reaching forward in time from the Battle of Little Bighorn, or Custer’s last stand. When Matt Conroy (San Francisco Police Department homicide investigator Tom McGuire’s good friend) is killed, Tom is allowed to join the FBI investigation until they are told to stand down. Refusing to let it go, Tom works with a CIA agent, military personnel, and former military members to uncover a far-reaching conspiracy and catch the killer. The team struggles to get in front of the continued mayhem, as one of the team members is captured and held for ransom. This is a fast-paced story that takes the reader on a roller coaster ride of events, and kept me engaged up until the solving of the initial murder and disposition of the murderer. The epilogue provides information on how the Custer conspiracy developed, but for me, it took a back seat to the present-day investigation and chase. 

Since this is the third in the Tom McGuire series, the focus is primarily on his character development, but it would have been nice to more fully explore the female protagonist, Katelyn, rather than portraying her as a ravishingly fabulous CIA agent who would use sex to obtain info from an American citizen. Meanwhile, the book kept me interested and paging swiftly to the end.

Review by Betsy Beard (July 2020) 

Author's Synopsis

A week after uncovering the secret of what really happened at the Battle of the Little Big Horn, history professor Matt Conway was lying in a morgue with the back of his head blown off.

SFPD homicide inspector Tom McGuire, a long-time friend of Conroy's, volunteers to assist the FBI in bringing the killer to justice. The FBI, however, is ordered to stand down for "national security" reasons.

They thought that would be the end of it. They were wrong.

Tom McGuire was not about to stand down. Not for anyone, not for any reason. That decision put him in the crosshairs of one of the world's most secretive, and therefore most dangerous, organizations. It's rich and powerful members will stop at nothing to make sure their 144-year-old secret remains hidden. 

Drawn into a labyrinth of conspiracies over a century old. Tom McGuire has just walked into his worst nightmares.

ISBN/ASIN: ISBN 9780998080802
Book Format(s): Soft cover, Kindle
Review Genre: Fiction—Mystery/Thriller
Number of Pages: 338

Money Eater: Bernard Otto Kuehn by Valarie J. Anderson

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MWSA Review

Money Eater is an account of a minor but still important person in pre-war Hawaii. It is an outstanding overview of a person who could have been a dangerous spy if he hadn't been such a lazy grifter. The book is well documented and deserves a place on my book shelf. It is a short book, which leaves one feeling like there could be more: more information on his son in Germany; more about his wife, step daughter and son’s activities in Hawaii; and at least some information on his exile in Argentina after the war until his return to Germany. But it’s a very good history of a man who managed to pocket quite a bit of money from Germany and Japan. It is easy to dislike Kuehn, not for his espionage activities but for his "playing" spy while supplying no real tangible intelligence. I'll definitely be thumbing through this again. My only complaints are the photos could be larger and a map of his area of operations would be helpful.

Review by John Ira Russell (June 2020)

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Author's Synopsis

The Money Eater exposes the depth of Japan’s espionage effort before the Pearl Harbor attack. Sleeper agent Bernard Otto Kuehn, uses his children and hides the truth from his gullible wife for money and ill-begotten fame.  Take a journey into America’s past and into the heart of a narcissist.

ISBN/ASIN: B07R8R7MVT,1072957647
Book Format(s): Soft cover, Kindle
Review Genre: Nonfiction—History
Number of Pages: 95

When Heroes Flew by Buzz Bernard

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MWSA Review

H.W. “Buzz” Bernard scores with his new novel, When Heroes Flew. In August of 1943, the Allies undertake Operation Tidal Wave to restrict the flow of petroleum products to the German army in hopes of ending the war. To do so, they decide on a complex plan that uses high altitude bombers dropping explosives from tree-top level in hopes of catching the German defenses off guard. The plan requires hundreds of brave men, and one brave woman, and they all won’t make it home. Opposing them is the Luftwaffe, depleted by casualties but still willing to fight. Who lives and who dies will be decided by airmanship, guts, and just plain luck.

I particularly liked how the author wove two personal stories into this very well done work. On one side is Captain Al Lycoming, the commander of a B-24 Liberator crew flying the mission. On the other, Hauptmann (Captain) Egon Richter, a squadron commander for some very junior German fighter pilots. Lycoming’s crew and Richter’s squadron fight it out in the skies over the Ionian Sea, but Bernard does a tremendous job of focusing on the people in the fight, not just the aircraft.

The author also did extensive research to make sure the feel of flying a B-24 comes through, and the technical details are spot on for both the American and German aircraft. There is plenty of action, solid characters, and thought provoking moments regarding morality in warfare. All in all, a difficult book to put down. Fans of World War II, specifically aviation, or fans of historical combat fiction will enjoy this book. Well written and highly recommended.

Review by Rob Ballister (June 2020)

 

Author's Synopsis

For B-24 bomber pilot Al Lycoming, the mission was history in the making. For Women’s Airforce Service Pilot Vivian Wright, it was a chance to put her skills to the ultimate test...and share in the burden of combat.

Dispatched to Benghazi on mysterious orders, Al Lycoming finds nearly 200 other B-24 bombers being assembled...and a top secret assignment that will catapult them all into seemingly impenetrable Nazi defenses.

Their mission: a daring low-level attack on Hitler’s extensive oil refineries.

But when his co-pilot falls ill at the last moment, Al secretly finds help from an unlikely source—Vivian.

Together, the two fly towards dark skies filled with enemy flak and fighters...and into the pages of history.

With perspectives from American and German pilots alike, When Heroes Flew weaves together one of the most dangerous and incredible aerial operations of World War Two with a riveting tale of bravery, suspense, and self-sacrifice.

ISBN/ASIN: 978-1951249977, 978-1951249984, B0849QV396
Book Format(s): Hard cover, Soft cover, Kindle, Audiobook
Review Genre: Fiction—Historical Fiction
Number of Pages: 286

Bernard Montgomery's Art of War by Zita Steele

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MWSA Review

Author and military historian Zita Steele certainly did her homework in giving us Bernard Montgomery's Art of War. Not a biography, although the book lets the reader know quite a bit about the man, this is a well organized compilation of Montgomery's thoughts and writings on his approach to war. Montgomery served as a young British officer during World War I and then later as a top general in World War II. He was also a student of warfare, believing that to be really good at leading in war, one had to be an expert on past masters of the art. Steele organized Montgomery's views and beliefs in ten chapters, each focused on a different topic. These topics include his core principles, approaches to battle, the spirit of the warrior, battle management, and more. Montgomery's teachings should be mandatory reading material for all young officers, and this book can give you a quick primer. I recommend it.

Review by Bob Doerr (June 2020)

Author's Synopsis

This book is a complete guide to the military philosophy of one of Great Britain's most successful military leaders, Bernard Law Montgomery. Arranged in the style of Sun Tzu's "Art of War" and "The Book of Five Rings" by Miyamoto Musashi, the book presents core principles written by Montgomery on his approach to the art of war in a single concise volume.

A seasoned combat veteran, accomplished writer, and victorious general, Montgomery dedicated his life to the study and mastery of military arts. The many topics covered include his beliefs and teachings on morale, leadership, and fighting techniques. The book features a detailed introduction to Montgomery's career and philosophy by author Zita Steele, with information highlighting his regiment, experiences, achievements and command style. Illustrated with photos, it also features a reading list of books recommended by Montgomery, an avid military historian.

Released for the 75th anniversary of VE Day, "Bernard Montgomery's Art of War" contains useful instructions and reflections for anyone interested in military science, leadership, politics or history. It also can be used as a lifestyle guide.

"This book brings Monty up with the great leaders of history, his contribution to the final Victory in WWII has never been really appreciated and this book rights that wrong. The leadership chapters should be strongly recommended for any future military leader (or politician) and military historian. As a former soldier I can related to many of the leadership aspects mentioned in the book, the things I did right or wrong!" - Major David Seeney, Retired, late Royal Warwickshire Regiment and Airborne Forces, Chairman of Friends of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers Museum (Royal Warwickshire)

ISBN/ASIN: B088BGKMG4, 1941184359, 978-1941184356
Book Format(s): Soft cover, Kindle
Review Genre: Nonfiction—History
Number of Pages: 212

The Last Word by Ron Miner

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MWSA Review

In Ron Miner’s The Last Word, the author guides the reader on a fact-filled journey into personal remembrances of long-ago battles in an era before most of us were born—deftly describing places we have only read about in history books. 

The year is 2038. Reporter Dan Callahan, from the small-town Winona Bulletin, is assigned to interview the last known surviving veteran of World War II:  112-year-old Navy aviation machinist/gunner Owen Trimbel. As he makes the three-hundred-mile trip across the state in his iCar with his artificial intelligence assistant Samantha, Dan wonders why he was chosen and not some fancy hot-shot journalist from the big Minnesota dailies. 

Dan has done his research, and his questions are ready for the interviewee. But he is not prepared for who awaits him. Owen is far from a frail, run-of-the-mill centenarian. From the beginning, Dan is mesmerized by the stories woven from this remarkable warrior’s memory—witnessing the attack on Pearl Harbor and enlisting at age 15, transiting the Panama Canal on a troopship, flying onboard the Navy’s Catalinas with the famed Black Cat Squadron and later the B-24 Liberator, and traveling throughout the Pacific Theatre. Owen shares his warm and often heart-wrenching personal life experiences—tapping into emotions that had been locked away for many years. He revels in the joy and love he has for his wife, daughter, and his rural Minnesota upbringing. Dan soon realizes he has been given a unique gift, and his respect and admiration for the older man grows stronger with each conversation. 

Miner has done a masterful job in transporting the reader on the ride of a lifetime—an exceedingly long and rich lifetime. His characters are likable, real, and well-developed. The details in Owen’s stories are vivid, and his language colorful and humorous. Despite some minor technical glitches, readers will devour the tale until its unexpected end.    

Review by Sandi Cathcart (July 2020)

Author's Synopsis

A small town journalist is tasked with the most important assignment of his life––a conversation with the last surviving World War II veteran.  And the man is willing to talk.  

Gleaned from real life filmed interviews with ten squadron members, this novel is a poignant tale of a life well lived, and an evocative legacy of rescue missions and night flight from New Guinea to the Mariana Islands of World War II’s South Pacific.

Dan Callahan’s next three days take him on a pilgrimage of over one hundred years in the life of Owen Trimbel, a Great Depression-era Minnesota farm boy.  Owen’s story begins with an unforgettable visit to an uncle’s home near Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Over the next hours and days, he enchants Dan with his collective wisdom, humor, and philosophy––from the intricacies of attaching a plow to a mule to firing the .50 caliber machine guns from his PBY Catalina’s waist hatches. 

Dan soon realizes that he currently occupies a rare instant in the trajectory of history: he can actually speak with an individual who lived the World War II experience––and it is something that will end with Owen.  

The Last Word takes us on missions over an endless sea, lacing together stories of duty, friendship, responsibility, and ninety-year-old secrets.

ISBN/ASIN: 978-0-578-67537-4
Book Format(s): Soft cover
Review Genre: Fiction—Historical Fiction
Number of Pages: 275

The Birdhouse Man by Rick DeStefanis

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MWSA Review

The Birdhouse Man by Rick Destefanis is an interesting, well written story that brings together a Vietnam veteran, an Iraq War veteran, and his daughter. In many ways, all three are now alone in life. Sam, a veteran of the Vietnam War is a widower and lives alone. Claire, the Iraq War veteran's daughter, is a college student whose mother and grandfather have passed away. Her father suffers from a traumatic brain injury and abandoned the family when Claire was young. He is homeless, and his whereabouts are unknown. Claire convinces Sam to help her with her college thesis on the Vietnam War, something her grandfather was doing until he passed away. In doing so, Sam opens up and faces the memories of many combat experiences he had not talked about in years. Claire develops a better understanding of what her grandfather and Sam went through during the war. During the interviews, Sam convinces Claire that they should look for her father. This is a good book that brings to light the hardship of combat and its aftermath. I recommend it. 

Review by Bob Doerr (July 2020)

Author's Synopsis

Sam Walker pulls no punches when he tells his Vietnam War story to college journalism student, Claire Cunningham. As Sam shares his unapologetic and unvarnished viewpoint, he begins to suspect Claire’s thesis work isn’t her only reason for interviewing him. When his tale unfolds, the seventy-three-year-old veteran and the young woman discover they are both grappling with questions, loss, and loneliness, but believe that together they may find some answers to help bring the closure that has eluded them.

ISBN/ASIN: 978-1-7331833-4-5
Book Format(s): Hard cover, Kindle
Review Genre: Fiction—Historical Fiction
Number of Pages: 332

At Daddy's Hands: Courage Knows No Age by Jacob Paul Patchen

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MWSA Review

​Author Jacob Paul Patchen has given us a soul-searching story in his book, At Daddy's Hands, Courage Knows No Age.

This is a story of a family suffering physical and sexual abuse at the hands of the husband and father. Author Patchen, an experienced case manager in a mental and behavioral health facility for adjudicated youths, has applied his knowledge and work experience in writing this book. He has seen this in the real world. Although a work of fiction, the book brings home the brutal reality of life in a home ruled by a monster. It also addresses the harsh reality of a society and a legal system where proving such abuse can often be hard. Once the entire family is broken, can there be any escape? In many ways, this was a hard book for me to read. I knew it was a work of fiction, but my heart still went out to this family. This book covers a topic many of us don't want to face, but we need to. I recommend this book.

Review​ by Bob Doerr​ (June 2020)​

Author's Synopsis

In public, Jim Handler is a well-respected, small-town hero, and homicide detective who solved the case of the Will’s Creek Massacre. But at home, in the shadows, Jim’s childhood demons come alive to feast upon his family in the form of sexual, physical, and mental abuse.

But his three teenage children have had enough. They have devised a plan for redemption.

Empowered by the legal system’s lack of accountability, a judge who offers a quiet and meager plea deal to save face, Jim feels enabled to do whatever he wants to his family. With no one to keep Jim in check, this cycle of sexual and physical abuse is rampant. It is up to Nikki, Tyler, and Ally to end the evil that is devouring the Handler family.

ISBN/ASIN: 978-1684333448, B07T939VCP, B086V4BP2F
Book Format(s): Soft cover, Kindle, Audiobook
Review Genre: Fiction—Mystery/Thriller
Number of Pages: 151

You Are Always With Me: A Poem for Those at Home When a Loved One Deploys by Daniel Berry, Illustrator: Brian Azhar

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MWSA Review

You Are Always With Me by Daniel L. Berry is a little gem of a book, offering in lyrical rhyming couplets and charming illustrations a sort of love letter to a child separated from a parent on deployment. Beginning and ending with the words, “You are always with me,” the poem addresses the variety of emotions the child might feel—such as uncertainty, sadness, guilt, fear, and loneliness—and offers gentle reminders of how thoughts and dreams and letters and phone calls can help those who are physically separated stay emotionally connected. The illustrations by Brian Azhar are warmly appealing. The muted colors—greens, blues, browns, golds—add to the quiet, contemplative quality of the poem. The characters, illustrated as animals instead of humans, are easy for anyone to identify with. The varied physical expressions and gestures of the two main characters—sweet-faced but by no means saccharine-sweet rabbits—convey the emotions named in the text. The book is somewhat limited by the illustrations of the narrator, which limit the parent-figure to a father, and a slightly jarring rhythm caused by the varying numbers of syllables in the couplets (which, however, slow reading could smooth over). All in all, this is a wonderful book to read aloud to a young child separated from a parent. And it’s a book an eager child will undoubtedly memorize and “read” along with, time after time.

Review by Nancy Arbuthnot (June 2020)

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Author's Synopsis

A beautifully illustrated children’s book designed to help deployed service members, and the deployed civilians who support them, connect with their loved-ones.

Written by an author who has worked in support of the military overseas, “You Are Always With Me” is an illustrated rhyming poem intended for those at home when a service member or civilian deploys. The poem reassures those encountering this separation by addressing the emotions they often feel: 

- Abandonment
- Anger
- Confusion
- Sadness
- Fear for their deployed loved one

“You Are Always With Me” depicts two cartoon rabbits, one leaving for deployment, and the other staying home. The book contains a personalized dedication page, and is a perfect gift for any loved-one coping with separation during deployment, to include:

- Children
- Husband or wife
- Girlfriend or boyfriend
- Niece or nephew

Although many women service members deploy, as do many civilians, most of the books on this subject are intended for families of male soldiers.  “You are Always With Me” is unique in that it is appropriate for any branch of service, and any age, race, or gender.

From deployment through homecoming, this book is indispensable in helping those who serve bridge the distance to connect in a meaningful way with those they love.

ISBN/ASIN: 9781734718102, 9781734718126
Book Format(s): Softcover, hardcover
Review Genre: Children & Young Adult—Picture Book
Number of Pages: 24

The Brownsville Texas Incident of 1906: The True and Tragic Story of a Black Battalion's Wrongful Disgrace and Ultimate Redemption by Lt Colonel Ret William Baker, Foreword: Dr. Bettye Foster Baker

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MWSA Review

Lieutenant Colonel (ret) William Baker’s The Brownsville Texas Incident of 1906 is a thought provoking and educational work about the injustice done to 167 black soldiers in 1906, and one man’s fight to bring them some modicum of justice.

In 1906, a battalion of the 25th infantry regiment, an all black unit (except for the officers), was posted to Fort Brown, in Brownsville, Texas. The unit had a proud history, and had seen combat and fought heroically in the Philippines and in Cuba, but Texas wanted no part of them. The men were subjected to discrimination almost immediately. Then, on a dark night, several raiders shot up the town and everyone swore the black soldiers committed the act. Six investigations in total were conducted, but they were all racially biased, and President Teddy Roosevelt drummed out all 167 black soldiers with dishonorable discharges. The men had no trial, no chance to face their accusers, and all the evidence that could exonerate them was dismissed.

Seventy years later, LtCol Baker, working in the Army’s Equal Opportunity Office, had a chance to do something about it. Despite opposition and an attitude by some to “let sleeping dogs lie,” Baker worked tirelessly to clear the soldiers’ names and get some sort of compensation to those still living and their widows.

I appreciated how the author broke the book into two parts. First, he constructed a plausible re-enactment of what happened that evening from documents and research, making the event much more interesting than if he had just relayed it third person. The second part is told in first person as he relates what he had to do to get justice for the soldiers. Sadly, the author died weeks after completing the manuscript and did not see it published.

This is a great story of moral courage and eventual justice. Those interested in the history of race relations in the military and social justice in general will find this compelling.

Review by Rob Ballister (July 2020)
 

Author's Synopsis

Terror at Midnight

At Midnight, August 13, 1906, unidentified bandits raid the town of Brownsville, Texas, where the First Battalion, Twenty-fifth Infantry of the United States Army, a unit of 167 black men, is stationed at Fort Brown. The raiders unleash a 10-minute barrage of bullets that kills a young bartender, wounds a police lieutenant, breaks windows, studs the sides of houses, fells a horse out from under its rider and causes wide-spread panic among the white townspeople.

President Theodore Roosevelt charged that all 167 black soldiers were responsible for the carnage. The men signed affidavits swearing their innocence, yet were subsequently discharged without honor and without trial. Their pain and suffering did not end with that humiliation. They also lost their pensions and were barred from any future government service.

Worst of all, they were forever stigmatized with the dishonor of a crime they never committed—a tragic mistake that set Colonel Baker on a decades-long quest for justice. When Americans are charged with the commission of a crime, they are entitled to a trial and all of the rights associated therewith. Innocence before guilt. Due process of law. These basics of constitutional protection cannot, should not, be superseded by anyone, including the President of the United States. In addition, the underlying theme of redemptive justice—craving it, pursuing it and finally getting it—flows throughout this book. It is never too late to correct injustice.

This story, chronicled here in three sections, illustrates that powerful truth. Together, they form the chronicle of Colonel Baker’s fight to exonerate the innocent, and the ultimate triumph of justice denied.

ISBN/ASIN: 978-1-943267-71-2, 978-1-943267-92-7
Book Format(s): Hard cover, Soft cover, Kindle
Review Genre: Nonfiction—History
Number of Pages: 504

No Tougher Duty, No Greater Honor by Christian Bussler

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MWSA Review

No Tougher Duty, No Greater Honor: A Memoir of a Mortuary Affairs Marine by GySgt L. Christian Bussler (Ret.) is a memoir covering the Marine Reservist author’s three deployments in Iraq. Each deployment is given separate billing, resulting in three parts to the book.

Part One details Bussler’s first deployment to Iraq in 2003 at the tip of the spear. It covers the time from notification that he is being activated to the time he returns home. Volunteering for a second deployment in 2004, Bussler returns to Iraq (Part Two), where he is subsequently wounded in action. Part Three details the third deployment for which Bussler volunteered in 2005. In this deployment, Bussler more fully explains the job of the Mortuary Affairs military specialty. His best writing can be seen in his relationship to the angels (deceased service members) he prepares for transit back home to the United States. This portion of the book is breathtakingly vulnerable and intensely emotional, displaying a deep thought process that was compelling and insightful.

The author is adept at setting the scene and describing events, so much so that sometimes the reader feels he is there in the blistering heat, amid the uncertainty, frustration, and grief. Included photos help to set the scene and convey the deep respect the author has for those who have died in combat. A final proofread would have caught many of the errors I noted in this otherwise stellar work. 

Review by Betsy Beard (July 2020)

 

Author's Synopsis

A truly unforgettable autobiographical account of war from a brand new perspective, one of a Marine Reservist assigned to recover fallen US service members off of the battlefields of Iraq and send them home with honor. This superbly written and gripping story begins a few months before the Iraq war in 2002 where Christian Bussler worked as an everyday postal letter carrier in Springfield, Ohio. With a single phone call, his life is thrust onto the world stage as an active participant on the frontlines of the war torn desert battlefields of Iraq. Christian’s descriptions of his experiences are so vividly yet tastefully written, the reader could easily visualize a despotic regime crumble before him, or accompany his foot patrol down the streets of terrorist held cities, feel the sweat run down your face as his team searches for the fallen on the streets of Ramadi, and feel the deep sorrow of his loss after he learns of the death of a friend. These are the true stories that are never spoken, written by a Marine who was there, to return the fallen home with honor. 

ISBN/ASIN: 9781546604938, 1546604936
Book Format(s): Soft cover, Kindle, Audiobook
Review Genre: Nonfiction—Memoir/Biography
Number of Pages: 514

My Purple Heart by Frank Taylor

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MWSA Review

My Purple Heart presents a relevant history of Vietnam from the 19th century that crosses a Southern boy’s unanticipated path to Vietnam. In this memoir, college educated author, F.E. Taylor—married and employed in his field of study—abruptly faces the draft right before his 23rd birthday. His fate includes the fight in Vietnam and return home. In subsequent decades, Taylor only spoke about the war experience once in fifty years. 

The book is dedicated to those who wrote him and sent packages while he was in the war and hospital. They and other readers will find a buried treasure, filled with researched history and an almost forgotten warrior's plight. 

Review by Hodge Wood (June 2020)

Author's Synopsis

A WWII baby, growing up during the Cold War unknowably trains to be a warrior, is surprised when drafted to fight in Vietnam.

Disillusioned by what he experienced he makes on statement about the War and remained silent for fifty years.

The story ends as he looks back to gain understanding about himself and the War,

ISBN/ASIN: 978-1-73265-390-0
Book Format(s): Soft cover
Review Genre: Nonfiction—Memoir/Biography
Number of Pages: 270