Legends Live On: Vietnam War, Desert Storm, and Berlin Wall Eras

MWSA Review

LEGENDS LIVE ON is the fourth and final novel in the R. Samuel Baty series tracing the fifty year period from World War II through the Korean and Vietnam Wars to the reunification of Germany.Our tour guide for this historical trek is Jennifer Haraldsson, a nurse who provides the reader a realistic walk down memory lane for those who have lived through this turbulent period and an important tutorial for those who haven't.

In LEGENDS LIVE ON, the year is now 1962 and we pick up the life of Haraldsson who has moved on from her earlier assignment in field units in WWII and Korea and is now the chief nurse at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.  A down to earth, real life character, Haraldsson has many of the problems we all do. She is a wife, mother of two, as well as working full time as a nurse with all of the frustrations that brings.

Over the course of this book, Haraldsson is promoted to general officer and even is encouraged to make a run for the United States Senate.

Baty touches on all the important events of this time period: the Kennedy assassination, the challenges the war in Vietnam posed to President Johnson, the traumas of the Iranian Hostage situation for President Carter, and the attempted assassination of President Reagan.  He successfully threads his characters into the events of the time period in a way I found believable and interesting.

Through this entire trauma, Haraldsson keeps her calm and helps the reader view these events through her own eyes.

I suggest you join Jennifer Haraldsson as she provides the eyes and ears for us in a way that is not to be missed.

Reviewed by: Don Helin (2014)

Author's Summary

Jennifer Haraldsson Sherman is now a Wife and Mother. She is also an Army Nurse serving in the Washington, DC area. With Vietnam heating up, she is uncomfortable thinking of the young Americans who will be going there to fight and die. She feels an obligation to once again serve her country, but she knows she will have to get the approval of her family first. In Eastern Germany, Jennifer's old flame, Otto Bruner, is working hard for German reunification. He has to be careful, though, as his bosses in East Germany believe Communism is the way to go. Underneath, Otto strongly disagrees. One only has to compare the standard of living between East and West Germany to know that Otto's secret feelings are correct. In this fascinating and hair-raising story, the author lays out the many challenges that are inherent in one of the most exciting periods in the history of the United States. As he did with previous novels in the series, the author ties the challenges faced by the leading characters with the most powerful people of the era. The novel includes U.S. Presidents from John F. Kennedy to George Herman Walker Bush. The result is a thriller with many twists and turns which brings the key surviving characters together in what can truly be considered the end of an era. This book is a must-read for all those who love a gripping story.