I'd Walk With My Friends If I Could Find Them

Review

Three soldiers brought together by the war in Afghanistan, and after one fateful event none can erase from memory, Wintric, Dax, and Torres struggle to return to normalcy in the country for which they fought.

In his novel, I'd Walk With My Friends If I Could Find Them, Jesse Goolsby depicts the lives of three men fighting personal demons after their return from war.  Goolsby pens flawed, loathsome, and lovable characters who burrow their essence into the reader's mind, and become more real than neighbors.  His story spans decades, weaving through time and place, and comes out on the other end as a satisfying read; one which haunts far after the last page is turned.  Even now, I find myself wondering about the characters, wishing for their peace, and missing them.

I'd Walk With My Friends If I Could Find Them is a heart-wrenching narrative of revenge, redemption, and release.  The tale is all too real and relatable by generations of soldiers who've returned from the battlefield, and their families who witness the battles still raging within. I enjoyed this book, title and all.  I found it to be one of the best of its kind.  I look forward to reading Jesse Goolsby's next book.

Author: Jesse Goolsby
ISBN: 978-0-544-38098-1
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Cover Design: Brian Moore
Reviewed by: Sandra Miller Linhart; 29 November 2015

Mataluna: 151 Afghan Pashto Proverbs

MWSA Review

Mataluna-- 151 Afghan Pashto Proverbs, by Captain Edward Zellem, is a wonderful compilation of Afghan Pashto proverbs common to another element of Afghani culture.  

Zellem takes an entertaining and enlightening approach to sharing ancient cultural wisdom from a country often veiled from our view.  Zellem, as an interpreter and educator while serving in the United States Navy, was privy to an aspect of Afghanistan's history that most combatants never discover.  As a man skilled in the languages and historical nuances of a country where our nation was at war, chose to share proverbs that define it but also parallel our own.  It is an interesting and different journey into a battlefield for anyone interested in history.  I recommend his book and thank Captain Zellem for his continued and successful work.

Reviewed by Mike Mullins (2015)

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Author's Summary

By popular demand from around the world, the much-anticipated new book of Afghanistan's top Pashto Proverbs has just been published. Collected and written by Edward Zellem, the award-winning author of Zarbul Masalha: 151 Afghan Dari Proverbs and Afghan Proverbs Illustrated. Illustrated by Afghan high school students in Kabul, Afghanistan. Edited by Hares Ahmadzai.

Mataluna ('Proverbs' in Pashto) is the first and only book of its kind. It is a unique multicultural and multilingual collaboration between an American naval officer, an Afghan high school, and native Pashto speakers from all over the world. 

Mataluna features 151 commonly used Pashto Proverbs and 50 original illustrations by Afghan high school students. The book is bilingual in English and Pashto, and includes Pashto script, English translations, and transliterations for easy pronunciation.

Honor Thy Brothers: The Fight Against Communism; by Suzanne Simon Dietz

MWSA Review

Suzanne Simon Dietz has written a compelling book about veterans of WWII, Korea and Vietnam. She covers a spectrum of experiences by including people from all of the services and a variety of military skill sets. She does not embellish their stories. 

The words are the words of veterans, the views are those of veterans, the conclusions are those of veterans. Dietz is a historian, a writer dedicated to sharing personal history and thus preserving it. anyone who enjoys military history from the personal viewpoint of those who fight our wars will appreciate her work. The research she has performed provides many avenues for further reading for anyone who includes this book in their library. I recommend Honor Thy Brothers for both reasons. It is worthy of being on a military history lover's bookshelf.

Reviewed by Mike Mullins (2015)

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Author's Summary

"Honor Thy Brothers" preserves the stories of sacrifice from some of those who served from World War II, Korea, and Vietnam in the backdrop of the strengthening Soviet Communist government, which challenged America for world leadership for half a century.

Sheppard of the Argonne: Alternative History Naval Battles of WWII

MWSA Review

“Sheppard of the Argonne” is a fast read, and once the action starts, it becomes a book that keeps your attention through to its dramatic conclusion. 

Although not fully physically or emotionally recovered from painful leg injuries sustained in combat near Pearl Harbor, Captain Sheppard McCloud was honored to receive command on one of the Navy’s most modern battle cruisers in 1942. Plagued with self-doubt and guilt following the loss of many of his men and the extensive damage to his previous ship, he struggles to put his mission and instincts first.

On Sheppard’s first cruise as skipper of the Argonne, he is part of America’s first naval task force ordered to take the war to the German fleet in the eastern Atlantic.

In this well written historical novel by an author who is a retired Navy captain, the reader sees the action unfolding not only from Sheppard’s perspective but also from the viewpoint of commanders in other vessels and aircraft. The battle scenes are vivid, the descriptions authentic, horrific, and detailed without being overburden with jargon and minutia 

“Sheppard of the Argonne” is a story of a complex battle involving carriers, cruisers, submarines and aircraft. Although skillfully presented from the perspectives of American, German and British characters, it is primarily Sheppard’s story as he works to keep his ship afloat and fighting in a battle that teeters on the edge of disaster. 

There are no stereotypes portrayed here, rather men pushed to their limits in courage, decision-making, and training. I find the book a compelling read and as useful in providing sound leadership advice as it is entertaining.  “Sheppard of he Argonne” is highly recommended.

Reviewed by Joe Epley(2015)

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Author's Summary

Captain Sheppard McCloud, a hero of the Japanese raid on Pearl Harbor and “savior” of the west coast from air attack, must hide his post-traumatic stress from senior officers and subordinates alike in an age that considered its symptoms cowardice. Though still suffering from both his physical and psychological wounds, the Navy brass has decided they need their best Captain back in command of the latest capital ship—the battle cruiser Argonne. With less than a day until they leave on a mission that could decide the fate of the allied cause, Sheppard must rally his officers and men, gain their confidence, and build them into a team. Leadership challenges abound, as the task force that includes the Argonne crosses the Atlantic they confront submarines, aircraft, and finally enemy surface ships, in exciting battles vividly described, culminating in that rarest of actual battles—a gun duel between capital ships. The novel has been carefully researched to accurately reflect the customs, traditions, and equipment the United States Navy used to win a two ocean war. Much of the hardware from the novel can be seen on board the battleship memorials to the greatest generation. Notes G. William Weatherly is a pen name for a retired U.S. Navy Captain with 30 years of service and command of three ships. His last assignment was as a professor of operations and chairman of the Joint Military Operations Department at the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island. He is a member of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers.

Her Own Vietnam by Lynn Kanter

MWSA Review

Lynn Kanter has hit a home run in Her Own Vietnam.  This is more than just a story about a woman suffering from PTSD, or a story about a nurse's experiences in the Vietnam war.  Her Own Vietnam is a thought provoking journey into the realities of war and its impact on individuals and society. 

Don't let me scare you into thinking this is some philisophical treatise that you have to fight your way through, this book is an easy, interesting read.  It is also a book that will leave you thinking about a significant, but often overlooked part of any war - the life and death in an evacuation hospital where the troops are brought directly from the battlefield. 

At first, I thought the book's focus was fairly specific, but as I read on I realized there was more than one story being told here.  The book is well written.  I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys good literary fiction.

Reviewed by Bob Doerr (2015)

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Author's Summary

For decades, Della Brown has tried to forget her service as a U.S. Army nurse in Vietnam. But in the middle of the safe, sane life she’s built for herself, Della is ambushed by history. She receives a letter from a fellow combat nurse, a woman who was once her closest friend, and all the memories come flooding back.

As the U.S. prepares to plunge into war in Iraq, Della struggles to make peace with her memories of Vietnam. She must also confront the fissures in her family life; the mystery of her father’s disappearance, the things mothers and daughters cannot—maybe should not—know about one another, and the lifelong repercussions of a single mistake.

An unflinching depiction of war and its personal costs, Her Own Vietnam is also a portrait of a woman in midlife — a mother, a nurse, and long ago a soldier.

Publisher: Shade Mountain Press (2014)
Binding: Paperback, 214 pages

Young Soldiers Amazing Warriors: Inside One of the Most Highly Decorated Battalions of Vietnam by Robert H Sholly

Review

Reviewed by: Bill McDonald (2015)

I was honored to have actually held this book in my hands and to have been able to read about such heroic young men in battles long forgotten by the world at large. "Young Soldiers - Amazing Warriors" by Col. Robert Sholly is a book that future generations will read and wonder if these men really ever existed. Thank God for such men who sacrificed so much of their own lives and youth for a cause bigger than themselves. Actually, they were truly there for each other as brothers in battle. The author, I think, under tells the story without embellishments that most of us old veterans seem to add to our old glory stories about the war. You get the feeling that he is just telling you of how it was. But what a history to share, and what stories of such young warriors.

There are not many books about the Vietnam War that surprise me or generate the emotional connections that this book brought to me. I have read over 200 books related to the Vietnam War and most of those were memoirs or history books. This is by far one of the best of the group. One gets the feeling that it is the heroic history of the 4th Infantry Division itself that enriches the reading experience - after all, these young men needed nothing more than a narration of what happened. However, I was impressed with the author's ability not to get in the way of the stories themselves. He tells it in a style and manner that honors it.

I am a Vietnam Veteran and an author as well, so for me to impressed with another book on the Vietnam War means it had to be special and above the rest. This was! This is a FIVE STAR BOOK on any rating chart! I fully endorse it and recommend it for anyone who enjoys reading history, or reading about heroes!

Author's Summary

Book covers the first year of combat for the 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry of the 4th Infantry Division (1966-67). The narrative follows the author's daily journals and is augmented by descriptions of events by his men from their differing perspectives. It describes the harsh environmental conditions in which infantrymen had to live even before they confronted their first enemy. The combat scenes are tragic and brutal. Time and again, men knowingly sacrificed their lives to save their friends. The combat tempo was such that in a 60-day period there were four Medals of Honor and five Distinguished Service Crosses awarded to men of the battalion for their bravery and valor. The book was written to help educate the American public what their soldiers experience when the country sends them to war, no matter where or when they fight.

Corrales Writing Group 2013 Anthology

MWSA Review

How does one rate and talk about a book that has six individually talented authors with diverse interests and focus? I dove into the book by not beginning at the front of the book - but by randomly jumping into the middle where I found author Jim Tritten's chapter called "Night Flight to Norway". This kind of got my attention and so that was where I began the process of discovering digesting the whole book. I found it was like reading six very short books but that did not bother me, nor do I think it would anyone else. Each story captivates and entertains in a different fashion. No two authors had the same energy, or point of view. The only thing that ties them all together is the like ability of the authors. The book is certainly a journey which is easy to walk. The stories are just long enough for those times when you want to read something while you are not engaged doing anything or waiting.

I personally explored it by skipping over stories that I would later come back to and explore. The key is to enjoy your own time with this book. In the end, I devoured it in all it’s entirely. Yes, some of the stories stood out for me more so then others - like the first one I read by Tritten but there were none that were bad, or that I did not enjoy or find some valve in. Nice book to have laying around the house for light reading, or for when you are at an airport or on vacation.

Reviewed by: Bill McDonald (2015)

Author's Summary

Jim Tritten (Navy vet and MWSA member) wrote: Night Flight to Norway (memoir about a military flight during which he almost died), Two Old Soldiers (memoir about his veteran grandfather), & So Why Did they Invent Pink Duct Tape? (humorous essay). The latter two have won awards elsewhere.

Tom Neiman (Army vet) wrote: The Leather Truths (memoir about teenage life in New Jersey), & A Heart's Journey (memoir about his wife).

Leon Wiskup (Army vet) wrote two short stories - The Newcomer & Funniest Damn Thing (a military story); as well as two poems - On Being 88 & Dawn Encounter.

Don Reightley (Navy vet) wrote five serious essays: On Becoming Sixty, Meditations on Life, Making the Best of It, Dragon's Lair, Is Anybody Home?, & Corporate Oligarchy.

Sandi Hoover wrote: An Amazon Night (memoir fantasy while hospitalized), What Love Is (memoir about her husband), My Father had a Sweet Tooth (memoir about her father), and Saving Mother Earth (essay).

Patricia Walkow wrote two memoirs from her teenage years in New York - Revelation & The Aristocrat. She also contributed an excerpt (the first two chapters) from her forthcoming fictionalized biography of her father-in-law's life in Germany during WWII as a slave laborer - The War Within - Jozef's Story

The entries in the group's first anthology will make the reader laugh, wonder, cry, smile and reminisce.

Corrales Writing Group 2014 Anthology

MWSA Review

I actually love anthologies with different authors and poets because it gives me a chance to explore and discover new writers that I may just wish to read more from. Anthologies are samplers of great chocolates or wine or cheese - you get to have small tastes of them without having to eat or drink just one. So they do serve a great purpose in the literary world for readers and can offer up stories or authors that they might never have chosen. So I do encourage that readers read them.

This is the second volume from this writers group. Having read through the 2013 edition, I kind of thought I knew what each might bring back to the table for readers. However, I was wrongly surprised, as the group upped its energy and delivered something much stronger than their first efforts. I did read author Jim Tritten first and was rewarded right way with his two chapters. But I was taken by the quality of work in the book by Patricia Walkow who’s 3 stories start off the book and are worthy contributions to this volume.

There are 7 contributors to this year's collection as author Jasmine Tritten joins in with a wonder story called "Kato's Grand Adventure". The whole volume is rich with literary gems and is worthy of having on your bookshelf.

Reviewed By Bill McDonald (2015)

Author Summary

I actually love anthologies with different authors and poets because it gives me a chance to explore and discover new writers that I may just wish to read more from. Anthologies are samplers of great chocolates or wine or cheese - you get to have small tastes of them without having to eat or drink just one. So they do serve a great purpose in the literary world for readers and can offer up stories or authors that they might never have chosen. So I do encourage that readers read them.

This is the second volume from this writers group. Having read through the 2013 edition, I kind of thought I knew what each might bring back to the table for readers. However, I was wrongly surprised, as the group upped its energy and delivered something much stronger than their first efforts. I did read author Jim Tritten first and was rewarded right way with his two chapters. But I was taken by the quality of work in the book by Patricia Walkow who’s 3 stories start off the book and are worthy contributions to this volume.

There are 7 contributors to this year's collection as author Jasmine Tritten joins in with a wonder story called "Kato's Grand Adventure". The whole volume is rich with literary gems and is worthy of having on your bookshelf.