When 22 year-old 2nd Lt. DudleyHughes received orders to Korea; while stationed at Fort Bliss in the summer of 1952; he was not exactly elated but neither was he surprised. The Korean conflict had begun on the heels of WorldWar II and most of his adult male friends had seen military service. His main regret was leaving behind his beautiful wife; Robbie; after less than one year of marriage.Dudley and his twin brother; Dan; also asecond lieutenant; were allowed to serve together. They arrived in Korea in December 1952 and were assigned to separate front-line platoons; manning quad-50 machine gun halftracks. Dudley and Dan helped develop techniques that made it possible to fire multiple quad-50s at unseen targets; thereby creating a wall of fire that terrorized attacking enemy infantry and changed the course of the war. This accurate historical record is personalized by a diary derived from excerpts of daily letters written by the author to his young wife; lending the history a sense of immediacy and intimacy.
#648971 in Books 2016-11-22Original language:English 9.00 x .37 x 6.00l; #File Name: 1540590593160 pages
Review
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful. Anyone familiar with the history of WWII should have easily noticed and rectified this errorBy DWillitsThis book has at least one serious error; perhaps more. At the end of "David Mermelstein's" story (one of the eyewitness accounts); David is quoted as saying "...they were shouting that our former captors had apparently fled; leaving the gates of Auschwitz wide open."..." Once I'd made it out through the gates; crawling painfully on my belly; I saw an American flag; mounted on a military vehicle..." Auschwitz was not liberated by American forces; but rather by Soviet forces. It is highly unlikely that Mr. Mermelstein saw an American flag considering that the nearest American forces were far to the west and had yet to cross the Rhine. An error of this magnitude calls into question all of the eyewitness accounts. Were they fabricated? Where they sensationalized? Were the memories of those involved compromised? Anyone familiar with the history of WWII should have easily noticed and rectified this error.Update: After completing the book I have concluded that it lacks the focus and detail implied by the title and does not significantly contribute to our understanding of Auschwitz in any way. The title led me to believe that the role of this camp in the Holocaust would be the major focus of the book. While some of the eyewitness reports did purport to come from Auschwitz survivors; a significant number were not (or did not appear to be) connected with Auschwitz in any meaningful way. Some of the information presented is even misleading to anyone needing or wanting detail. In addition to the error noted above; one of the eyewitnesses was reported to have been transferred out of Auschwitz to Weisswasser labor camp which the account said was liberated by the Allies in May of 1945. According to various sources available online; Weisswasser was a sub-camp of Gross-Rosen concentration camp. It was located in Germany on the German-Poland border. Those same sources indicate that Weisswasser was closed in February of 1945 and the occupants transferred to Neuengamme concentration camp (or one of its sub-camps) outside Hamburg. That camp was in fact liberated by the British in May of 1945; which of course corresponds to the liberation date of the account in question. The Holocaust was an immensely complicated and evil enterprise. No single book can do it justice but there is no excuse for any single book to gloss over details or provide confusing information. If you truly want to understand the horror of the Holocaust; you should look elsewhere for that understanding.6 of 6 people found the following review helpful. The Holocaust was a terrible time and thousands upon thousands of people diedBy Ashleigh NolenI'm sure everyone's had to read Anne Frank's Diary in school so you must know of at least one eye witness account from the Holocaust before you buy this book. The Holocaust was a terrible time and thousands upon thousands of people died. When you get survivors from a mass homicide that's big enough to get it's own name; you should always listen to their stories; but finding the stories of those who didn't make it is an even greater honor to learn about. That's the first reason that I love this book. It starts off with the origins of the Holocaust so there's a good foundation for those who may not know much about World War 2 before it gets into the details of the eye witness accounts. There are only two of them; but they are very in depth; including one of the stories from a national hero of Poland.2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. HolocaustBy Rachel HoronI have been expanding my knowledge of WWII this year by reading books depicting many accounts of the war and the prison camps. I have previously purchased Ryan Jenkins books and look forward to buying more. Although the write up is not absolutely outstanding; his books provide just enough material to get a nice overview about the topic.This is another good book and I like that the author provided such a detailed overview that did not big the reader down. Of course it was heartbreaking to read about the camp and the methods of killing and cruelty. I salute those people who showed courage and bravery to face such inhumane cruel situation. This book also covers information about the origin of Auschwitz ; Auschwitz I ; Witold Pileki and the Auschwitz-Birkenau. It also contained the account of Rudolf Hoss who was responsible for directing the camp and many of its tools of mass extermination. I will rate this book with 5 stars and I am looking forward to purchasing more books on history and WWII. Good read – short; simple; and to the point.
