Non-Fiction

Title: Through the Wheat: U.S. Marines in World War I
Author: BrigGen Edwin Simmons (USMC, ret) and Col Joseph Alexander (USMC,ret)
Genre: Non-Fiction, Military, Marines
Reviewer: Andrew Lubin

ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): 1591148316

One of the great defining moments in the history of the U.S. Marine Corps was their participation in World War I. These two highly regarded historians, recount this experience in great detail, capturing the spirit that earned the WWI Marines the sobriquet "Devil dogs," while providing an important combat study of the conflict. Names like Belleau Wood, Soissons, and St. Mihiel still resonate today, nearly a century later, and Simmons and Alexander leave no doubt as to why. Hand-to-hand combat as seen through the lenses of a gas mask is accompanied by cogent analysis and thought-provoking assessments of this war and its impact on the U.S. Marine Corps.

Title: How Free People Move Mountains: A Male Christian Conservative and a Female Jewish Liberal on a Quest for Common Purpose and Meaning
Authors: Kathy Roth-Douquet and Frank Schaeffer
Genre: Non-Fiction, Spiritual
Reviewer: Andrew Lubin

ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): 0061233528

"How Do We Ever Speak with One Voice Again in Our Divided and Angry Country?"

It is amazing how one America is isolated from the "other" America. The red/blue state divisions run so deep that it is possible to live without any interaction—ideological or otherwise—with those who hold different opinions than oneself. We are a people alienated, from ourselves and from our government.

The authors, an odd mix across the Blue/Red divide—one a founder of the modern evangelical movement, the other a liberal Jewish former Clinton aide—hold an extended conversation across many months, several states, and two countries—sometimes contentious, sometimes funny, exploring the idea of how unlikely pairings—and thus, the entire country—can come together.

Title: No Atheists In Foxholes: Reflections and Prayers From the Front
Author: Patrick McLaughlin
Genre: Non-Fiction, Religious/Spiritual
Reviewer: Andrew Lubin

ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): 0785297820

Experience gripping wartime stories and honest prayers by this Camp David chaplain now serving in Iraq.

When words mean less and less, but money talks more and more; when blasphemy is a best seller, and eternal war has replaced hopeful diplomacy; in times like these is prayer even possible? Patrick J. McLaughlin thinks so. McLaughlin is an active duty Navy Chaplain who has ministered to heads of state and to soldiers living and dying in the heat of Iraq.

No Atheists in Foxholes assembles Chaplain McLaughlin's experiences and prayers from e-mails, private notes, and personal conversations that take us real-time into realms of duty and spirit: from the quiet darkness of his infant son's New England bedroom on September 11, 2001, to the bomshelled medical tents and blistered Army Humvees of Anbar Province. Chaplain McLaughlin believes that prayer is not only possible, but critical. "We must all learn to pray for peace," he says, "and then become an answer to that prayer."

Title: The Ghosts of Thua Thien, An American Soldier’s Memoir of Vietnam
Author: John A. Nesser
Genre: Non-Fiction, Memoir
Reviewer: Bill McDonald

ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): 0786433248

Drafted in October 1968, John A. Nesser left behind his wife and young son to fight in the controversial Vietnam War. Like many in his generation, he was deeply at odds with himself over the U.S. involvement in Vietnam, instilled with a strong sense of duty to his country but uncertain about its mission and his role in it.

Nesser was deployed to the Ashau Valley, site of some of the war's heaviest fighting, and served eight months as an infantry rifleman before transferring to become a door gunner for a Chinook helicopter. In this stirring memoir, he recalls in detail the exhausting missions in the mountainous jungle, the terror of walking into an ambush, the dull-edged anxiety that filled quiet days, and the steady fear of being shot out of the sky. The accounts are richly illustrated with Nesser's own photographs of the military firebases and aircraft, the landscapes, and the people he encountered.

Title: Slaughter at Goliad: The Mexican Massacre of 400 Texas Volunteers
Author: Jay Stout
Genre: Non-Fiction, History, Military
Reviewer: Andrew Lubin

ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): 159114843X

Texas lost many volunteers during its hard-won fight for independence from Mexico, but one harrowing episode stands out. Following a one-sided battle on the prairie near Coleto Creek, 250 mostly American prisoners were marched back to the presidio at Goliad where they were joined by more than 200 others. Subsequently, on orders from President Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, they were brutally slaughtered on Palm Sunday, March 27, 1836. The loss of so many fighting men in a single day was, at the time, one of the largest in U.S. history. The reaction in Texas was one of horror, fear, and, for some, a lust for revenge. The revulsion felt throughout the United States turned American sympathies against Mexico and its efforts to preserve its territorial integrity. Based on extensive research, this book offers a powerful description of what happened and an astute analysis of why it happened. For historical background, it also presents an overview of Texas and Mexican history and the factors that led to the massacre.

As a career military officer, author Jay Stout offers insights not grasped by other writers on the subject. He pays particular attention to the leadership on both sides during the revolution and discusses why the massacre has been largely ignored in the years since. Stout deglamorizes the fight against Santa Anna and his army, while at the same time acknowledging the Mexican perspective and the motivations of Mexico's leaders. The author's dynamic writing style, combined with the compelling subject matter, makes this book attractive to everyone interested in the military, Texas, and American history.