Product Description

Sgt. Don Malarkey takes us not only into the battles fought from Normandy to Germany, but into the heart and mind of a soldier who beat the odds to become an elite paratrooper, and lost his best friend during the nightmarish engagement at Bastogne.Drafted in 1942, Malarkey arrived at Taccoa Camp in Georgia and was one of the few soldiers who earned Eagle wings and went to England in 1943 to provide ground cover for the largest amphibious military attack in history: Operation Overlord. In the darkness of D-Day morning, Malarkey parachuted into France and, within days, was awarded a Bronze Star for his heroism in battle. He fought for twenty-three days in Normandy, nearly eighty in Holland, thirty-nine in Bastogne; and nearly thirty more in and near Haguenau, France and the Ruhr pocket in Germany.This is his dramatic tale of those bloody days fighting his way from the shores of France to the heartland of Germany, and the epic story of how an adventurous kid from Oregon became a leader of men.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #45928 in Books
• Published on: 2008-07-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 288 pages

Customer Reviews

Great book by a great man
Having read several books by and about members of E Company I had looked forward to this new volume and I was not disappointed at all.

Sgt. Malarkey spent more time on the front line than any other soldier in the company and here he desribes all those events, as well as the rest of his life, in brutally honest, searing terms.

The writing style is deceptively skilled, he appears to be relating things in a very straight-forward manner but actually creates a moving and gripping narrative.

There are sections on his childhood and obviously the majority given over to his war years but he also honestly describes the trouble he had readjusting to life after the war and his opinions on the Ambrose book and subsequent mini-series.

Of particular interest to fans of E company are his stories of the men at reunions and their post war relations.

I am always in awe of these men when I read of their attitude of "we did what had to be done" and none more so than Sgt. Malarkey who here gives us a moving and well written memoir.

Very touching WWII memoirs
I have read many books on Ambrose's "Band of Brothers'" soldiers and their Easy company, 101st Airborne. This is the best memoir of the lot. I am a historian but the battles of WWII is not really what interest me. It's the thoughts of the soliders that hold my interest, their backgrounds, the friendships that they form, the bonds, how they survive loosing their best friends, survive fear, cold, hunger. THIS books tells it all. No other book on WWII has had me in tears. Tears of laughter and tears of sadness. I felt Sgt. Don Malarkey's pain. He lost his best friend in Bastogne and that pain moves like a red thread through the book. Sgt. Malarkey stands out as true hero with faults, blemishes yes, but also a character of seldom seen proportions. I am so impressed by this man. The book really reminds you of that these men that we today see as old veterans and heroes, were not old during WWII. They were children that had to put aside dating, school, fun and games, and fight an evil that was threatening to take over the world. Our fate today was in the hands of 18 year old boys and girls which is something that we do not really think about. If one has seen the TV series "Band of Brothers", one really ought to read this book. It sets you straight on some mistakes that crept in to the TV series. But also, in a TV show it is difficult to show what each individual sees on the battlefield and especially how he feels. This book gives so much more than the TV series. It shows what a soldier's life was really like during WWII, including of course the worry about "folks" at home and the girlfriend that was not writing often enough. The book does not end with the year 1945 either but continues his story and shows that medals are nice but does little for you when you get home and have to go back to "normal" life again. The war memories will leave him in no peace to this day. And life did not quite turn out the way he or anyone of his "brothers" dreamt in the cold foxholes, dreaming about home and the girls waiting there. After reading the book, I wanted to look this man up and just give him a big, big hug, that is how touching his story is.