Troutbirder II

Troutbirder II
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Thursday, December 3, 2020

D day June 6, 1944 the climactic battle war II nice Stephen Ambrose with a brief message from Troutbirder to the ladies and a few men as well

Stephen Ambrose is one of those American authors who turned history books and those boring high school history texts into readable and exciting history/stories that the general public came to like and read as bestsellers.. They even told where there accurate information came from without all of those footnotes that slowed the excitement down. Many were turned into movies again because the words made the deeds and the people come alive Ambrose's specialty was including the broad views of the events and the consequences but the focus was on individuals whether they be famous heroes like Thomas Jefferson and Meriwether Lewis in Undaunted Courage or the little & unknown people who had their own stories to tell.  This was made possible because he read their letters and diaries and often when possible spoke to them individually.   D-Day book has the facts and figures of largest events/and projects ever created by several nations at war but the stories ordinary ranks told the  to the author that makes it real and brings it alive. 

If men are from Mars and women are from Venus & you Venusians have gotten this far, I'm sure you're already saying this is not a book I would ever consider seriously reading, some of you have even told me when I reviewed dog books like Marley  that you won't read them because the dogs always die in the end that's often true. My personal analogy to all of that is for a long time I wouldn't read books about the Holocaust for obvious reasons, but I did teach about it in my history classes and later when I found out there were more than at few deniers who said it never happened, I began to read many books about  it. So we must  never  forget so it never would happen again. but it has in several cases like that of my grandson Leo' Leo who was born in the country of Rwanda where a Holocaust did happen and the Western nations said it would never happen again were wrong mostly because it happened in Africa  and who cared/? &our lame duck President called a bunch of shithole  countries 

Okay I was invited to join Spring Valley ladies book club probably because of what I read which is I will try anything and I do so. I suppose I'm known for more than one reason as their diversity guy .

Give -Day a chance, you might not totally like it because war is hell as a famous Civil War general said but above and beyond that right now you need to read it right and I'll tell you why here and now we are in a democracy the worst form of government Churchill once said except for all the rest. these governments rests on the notion of the rule of law above any leader. They always have a

form of the Constitutional law            whereby the people vote and choose their leaders

     This book is based on the oral histories of 1,400 men who were involved in D-Day. The majority of the book deals with one 24 hour period. Midnight, June 5/6 until midnight June 6/7. I learned about D-Day growing up. Mostly this was facts and figures. I have seen several movies about D-Day. Some were good. With the exception of a few names such as Roosevelt, Churchill, Eisenhower, and Montgomery I didn't know the people involved in one of the most historic events of the 20th century. In this book you get to meet and know some of the men who were there. Citizen soldiers as Ambrose refers to them. They were the children of the Great Depression. For many of these men it was their first time in combat. I call them men but many were teenagers. In this book you meet a 15 year old (he lied about his age in order to enlist) and a 16 year old. No matter their age they were men. This is not an easy read. It is full of military terms and acronyms. I often had to flip to a map in order to try an orient myself to the events taking place. I am glad I was reading the hardback version so that I could do this easily. There were many times in the book when the horrors of war were vividly brought home. Many of the soldiers, sailors, and airmen who were involved suffered grievous wounds and continued to fight. Even those who did not suffer a physical injury saw things that stayed with them and can only be described as a living hell. They did not come as invaders. They were there to liberate. There have been many movies about D-Day and they can be entertaining but to really learn about this day in history and appreciate the men who made this happen I would recommend reading this book. And as I found the book at Goodwill and began reading it was perfectly timed simultaneously  with our countries recent decline. When I watched the evening news and realized that for four years the man who lived in the White House revered dictators who challenge freedom in the world called our soldiers losers and suckers and after our recent exercise of democracy challenge the very principle of people voting and the norms around peaceful exchange power .yes D-Day can perhaps remind us as far back as the colonists who risked  all to be free with their own nation0r  0r or other crises be they war or depressions 0r recent election where a  majority voted out the  liar  and con artist who subverts  the constitution at every opportunity  he tried to take the election out of the hands of the   voters by  falsely claiming fraud.  And so ever alert be it on the beaches   of Normandy we defend constitution so help us god

For more reviews, please visit: https://barriesummy.blogspot.com/index.html


11 comments:

  1. Good for you in that book club.

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  2. The book sounds like a perfect read for my husband who love historical non-fiction. I just ordered it from Amazon thanks to your recommendation. Glad you are diversifying the ladies book club. Take care, Ray, and keep us all well-informed!

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  3. I love history and during the years I have read both non-fiction and fiction books about wartime. If I see a historical movie, I I will investigate to see what was real and what was not. I truly believe that if we are ignorant of history, we risk our future. I don’t think that I could delve into that book right now but when life is somewhat less anxious, I would be a reader again. Right now I am listening to Christmas music and baking cookies.

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  4. As one of those Venusians, I read a lot of history, especially World War II history because my dad fought in that war. I will definitely look into this one.
    I would love to send you a copy of the book I wrote based on my dad’s letters from the Pacific front. I think you would enjoy it. If you would email me your address at soldierboydgr@gmail.com, I will send you one. Take care, Ray.

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  5. Nice! Love the book club invite. How nice to have a social outlet these days...even if it is virtual, right?

    Wishing you a very Merry Christmas, Ray!

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  6. Good review, Ray. Stay safe and take care.
    Mike

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  7. I was always impressed with the way Eisenhower was going to take full blame had the invasion failed.

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  8. My husband is a big WWII buff. I think he'd like this book, and I'm looking for holiday gift for him. Win, win. Thank you for reviewing!

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  9. This sounds like an excellent book. Though I'm a Venusian, I do like to read historical nonfiction, and I have visited the Normandy Landing Beaches twice now. What the men did was amazing, and that it all came off a testament to good planning. Eisenhower deserved all the acclaim he got.

    Happy Holidays!

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  10. I think the use of oral histories as a basis for the book would attract me. As a history major I was never drawn to the World Wars. Greek and Roman history were a stronger draw for me, but the professor loved to go through all the major battles and I remember we had to draw all of the battle plans on our tests. He taught with a pipe clinched in his teeth at times, but he was one the best college professors I had. - Margy

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  11. You are right about the important role books play in making us remember the mistakes of the past. To reach my historical novel, I've been reading lots of academic books and historical novels, but you're reminding me to look at historical nonfiction too.

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