Unlike the mostly silent GI's who participated in World War II, at the request of his children, Lieutenant Jack Westbrook began to pen his memories in the 1970's. Opening with his younger days in the ROTC at A&M, his story starts with the event that changed his life forever - Pearl Harbor and the US going to war. With this in mind, he takes you through his experiences in officers' training school, life on the front lines in the 42nd Rainbow Division, being wounded, the liberation of Dachau, and the Occupation. His story is heart-wrenching, yet at times it is warm, personal, and describes a lighter side of WWII that you don't often read about.
With an easy going and honest view of what he was seeing as a lowly GI, he will wrap you up and make you feel you are on this journey with him. He was a Patriot to the end!
Don't let the 'its just another book about WW II' attitude keep you from reading this book
- you won't regret it. In fact, you'll go on retelling the stories yourself because you won't be able to forget them. I promise.
Celia Westbrook Thrash