Anthology

Any anthology of stories, essays, columns, or non-fiction.

Surviving the Folded Flag: Parents of war share stories of coping, courage, & faith

Title: Surviving the Folded Flag: Parents of war share stories of coping, courage, & faith
Author: Deborah Tainsh
Genre: Non-Fiction, Anthology
Reviewer: Charlene Rubush

ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): 193461713X

Author of Heart of a Hawk and Gold Star mom Deborah Tainsh has gathered essays from more than twenty-five parents who received the dreaded news that their child had died in military service. These invaluable stories show how today's military families are surviving the folded flag and give a glimpse into the lives of fallen service members as Gold Star parents tell the stories and celebrate the lives of their fallen heroes.

Surviving also includes advice for other Gold Star families, their friends, and family members.

Bonus essays from a casualty assistance officer and a former soldier give deeper insight into how wartime death affects comrades left behind.

Author(s) Mentioned: 
Tainsh, Deborah

Fire in the Night: Creative Essays from an Iraq War Vet

Title: Fire in the Night: Creative Essays from an Iraq War Vet
Author: Lee Kelley
Genre: Non-Fiction, Anthology
Reviewer: Joyce Faulkner

ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): 1438235488

Already a freelance writer, Lee started a blog when he was sent to Iraq in 2005. His family and friends expected to read of his experiences, and a blog was the perfect medium. A hometown reporter visited his unit in Iraq, and Lee ended up on the front page of the Salt Lake Tribune. That's how it all began. Since then, he's been in the top 10 military blogs on milblogging.com for years, featured in TIME magazine, read some of his essays on radio shows, and even been on the local news in Salt Lake City, Utah. Through it all, readers have been very supportive of Lee's writing and he has received thousands of queries about when he might publish a book. Here are 53 of the most popular essays. They have been adapted from the blog, and writing that he's done in other forums, such as The New York Times and Doonesbury.com. All of the work in this book was either written while he was still in Iraq or as a direct result of his experiences there.

Author(s) Mentioned: 
Kelley, Lee

Uncle John's Bathroom Reader Salutes the Armed Forces

Title: Uncle John's Bathroom Reader Salutes the Armed Forces
Author: Andrew Lubin
Genre: Non-Fiction, Anthology
Reviewer: Rob Ballister

ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): 1592239803

Uncle John takes aim at providing the heroic, historic, and entertaining stories of America’s five armed forces: Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard. Read about:

* A history of the draft
* Dog tags then and now
* Medal of Honor winners
* MASH: the true story
* Doolittle's Raid
* What it takes to pass the tests to be in the Special Forces
* Cartoon soldiers—Sad Sack, Sergeant Rock, and Beetle Bailey
* Start of Semper Fi
* The original Flying Tiger
* War (TV) is hell
* The birth of camoflauge and khaki
* And much more!

Author(s) Mentioned: 
Lubin, Andrew

By Dammit, We're Marines! Veterans' Stories of the Heroism, Horror, and Humor in World War II on the Pacific Front

Title: By Dammit, We're Marines! Veterans' Stories of the Heroism, Horror, and Humor in World War II on the Pacific Front
Author: Gail Chatfield
Genre: Non-Fiction, Anthology
Reviewer: Mike Mullins

ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): 097790394X

Technology changes with every war, but the universal human experience of combat remains the same. Marines and soldiers from the battlefields of Valley Forge to the streets of Fallujah understand patriotism, fear, death, loneliness, and the humor that helps them through the rough times. By Dammit, We're Marines! is a collection of eye witness accounts by 52 veterans who served on the Pacific Front during World War II. When ordered to secure another Japanese-held island, these Marines grabbed their M-1 rifles, climbed down rope ladders into the waiting landing craft, and hit the beaches. They faced not only an embedded, well-equipped enemy, but also flesh shredding coral reefs, malarial and dengue fever-ridden jungles, mosquito and crocodile-infested swamps, and a noxious moonscape sulfur island. The author's father was one of those Marines who fought on Bougainville, Guam, and Iwo Jima. He died when she was 15 and never shared his wartime stories. Wanting to learn more, Chatfield sought out veterans of those conflicts. Their stories offer a literary archeological dig of sorts into 1940's culture and technology. Body armor was a canvas shirt with a metal covered copy of the Bible in the breast pocket. Camouflage clothing was do-it-yourself burlap suits stippled with Max Factor women's make-up. Cutting edge medicine was sulfa tablets to treat infection and blood plasma shipped in glass bottles to field hospitals. Canvas hammocks stacked 8-10 high served as bunks aboard overcrowded ships. They used salt water soap for salt water baths and were issued OPA tickets, V-mail, C-rations, K-rations, and helmets that served as sinks and saucepans. Creating the safest foxhole took some ingenuity and a few discarded tank parts. Most of the veterans interviewed in this book are Marines, but war is a collaborative effort. Marines were transported by the Navy, relieved by the Army, and most of the time their job was to secure airfields for the Army Air Corps. No story of the Marines would be complete without hearing from those branches of service. Chaplains, corpsmen, sailors, soldiers, and B-29 bomb crews share their stories of serving with the Marines. These veterans offer their stores as a part of our historical record with the hope that battles like Saipan, Bougainville, and Iwo Jima will never happen again

Author(s) Mentioned: 
Chatfield, Gail

Home of the Brave: Stories in Uniform

Title: Home of the Brave: Stories in Uniform
Author/Editor: Jeffery Hess
Genre: Non-Fiction, Anthology
Reviewer: Elliot Parker

ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): 0982441606

Among these stories by writers, including Kurt Vonnegut, Tim O'Brien, Tobias Wolff, Chris Offutt, Benjamin Percy and many others, you'll find shipbuilders and sailors, pilots, wild dogs, battles-both physical and emotional, misunderstandings, fistfights, and the wounds of unrequited love. There are parades and hurricanes, people getting high and some merely getting by, as well as the human sacrifices made, the losses endured, the hardships faced because of or in spite of some connection to the military. If you've served, you might recognize a couple of these characters, or their situations. Maybe you will relate to some because you're just like them or because they served in the same place you did. If you've never served, but have had contact with someone who has, you may find similarities between a character here and a person you thought you knew. Each [story] is different in the way it approaches the lives of these individuals at certain points of the modern era, but each will entertain you, and challenge, and stay with you. - from the Introduction, by Jeffery Hess, editor

Author(s) Mentioned: 
Hess, Jeffery

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