Review: They Called Him Doc: Joseph Guy LaPointe Jr.

They Called Him Doc: Joseph Guy LaPointe Jr. by Linda Swink
My rating: 0 of 5 stars

MWSA Review

They Called Him Doc: Joseph Guy LaPointe Jr. by Linda D. Swink is a touching story about a man who loved all living things—plants, animals, and his fellow man. Immersed in the horrors of war, he found ways to take care of those around him. Despite the tragic nature of some of its events, They Called Him Doc is an uplifting tale of one man's capacity for love and sacrifice in his personal life and in his military career, and the effect he had on many people.

His good soul, gentle spirit, and loving nature show clearly through the storytelling, which uses well-selected details of his childhood, friendships, courtship and marriage, his military career, and the commitment of those who still keep alive the memory of his sacrifices.

His early years show how LaPointe developed his sincere and deep love of life and his religious faith, as well as the duty he felt to serve his country. Growing up, he explored nature and read books “on anything that crawled, slithered, hopped, or flew.” He had childhood heroes such as Gene Autry and tried to live up to the “Cowboy Code,” including “A cowboy is patriotic.” He attended church and took his faith to heart.

He developed deep and long-lasting friendships. His friends explored nature with him, invented and played games, and pulled pranks and hijinks. They also stood by him during tough times. After high school, he worked and played music. When he met Cindy, who became his wife and the mother of his child, he devoted himself to her and their future. After he received his draft notice, he chose to join the Army. During basic training he registered his status as a conscientious objector, not to get out of military service, but to avoid the possibility of killing another human being. Consequently, he was trained as a medic and sent to Vietnam in 1968.

While most chapters are told in the third person, the author stepped aside to give a clear voice to others. Certain chapters contain Cindy's first-person memories and thoughts, a striking choice which gives his beloved wife a primary and effective voice. During his time in the military, LaPointe regularly wrote letters to his family and wife. By including many of these directly in the book, LaPointe is also given a primary voice. Late in the book, men from his unit tell stories about LaPointe and their time in Vietnam. They provide yet another way of seeing the events. The result is a beautiful and moving story told with many voices.

Although formatting and grammatical issues impede comprehension at some points, LaPointe's story is well worth the read. 

Review by Barb Evenson (August 2019)


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Review: Surpassing the Crucible: A Story of Inspiring Leadership and Teamwork

Surpassing the Crucible: A Story of Inspiring Leadership and Teamwork by R.W. Riley
My rating: 0 of 5 stars

MWSA Review

R. W. Riley's Surpassing the Crucible is an interesting and fast-moving story about a National Guard unit's golden opportunity. Although it is fiction, it is obviously based on Riley's extensive career in both the National Guard and the active-duty Army.

Captain Devlin Rourke is the company commander of the combat support company of the Pennsylvania National Guard's Second Battalion 220th Infantry. He knows what's expected of his company, but as a former cavalry officer, he has vision and drive beyond what is expected. When his unit is selected to go to the Joint Readiness Training Center, he knows it’s time to go above and beyond, not just for his unit but to preserve the reputation of National Guard troops across the country. Can he get his men trained up to go toe-to-toe with the active-duty OPFOR (opposing forces)?

The character development in this story is exceptional. As a reader, I immediately became invested in Rourke and his men, as well as Rourke's commanding officer. Though fiction, this is an easy read for those studying leadership at the small and medium unit level. In addition, the author does an outstanding job of using his background in two different army combat fields (infantry and cavalry) to provide a unique yet believable and interesting story. Finally, I appreciate that the author added just a hint of romance to his story. That usually feels forced but not here; it's a welcome and entertaining diversion.

National Guard veterans, infantry soldiers, or anyone affiliated with the Army reserves will probably enjoy this story.

Review by Rob Ballister (August 2019)

MWSA's evaluation of this book found a number of technical problems—including some combination of misspellings, grammar, punctuation, or capitalization errors—which indicate that further editing would lead to a much-improved final product.

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Review: Checkmate

Checkmate by Karna Small Bodman
My rating: 0 of 5 stars

MWSA Review

Checkmate is the first book in Karna Small Bodman’s White House National Security Series and introduces readers to Dr. Cameron Talbot, a young American scientist who creates a weapons technology to combat cruise missiles by intercepting them and returning to sender. The book starts off with a bang (literally) when a missile from an unknown source destroys an army base in India, impacting the tenuous relationship between India and Pakistan. America scrambles to defuse the situation, sending a special envoy and a team of experts, along with Dr. Talbot and her untried invention. The action is nonstop, as unidentified terrorists continue to wreak havoc overseas while concurrently targeting Talbot in America. Spies, stolen missiles, traitors, congressional shenanigans, and imminent danger round out the mix.

Using her insider knowledge from serving in various capacities on Ronald Reagan’s White House staff, Bodman crafts a plausible plot with dynamic characters. The entertainment value is almost overshadowed by the educational value in some places, though, as we learn more about backstories and bunny trails without advancing the plot at times. One last polish by a proofreader would have caught a number of misspellings and missing words, although these small infractions did not impede the read.

Checkmate is an enjoyable and fast-paced journey that will initiate readers into some of the ins and outs of Washington’s political scene while taking us to other countries as well. 

Review by Betsy Beard (August 2019)


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Review: Duck Your Head and Keep on Going: A Marine Lieutenant's Passage Through Vietnam

Duck Your Head and Keep on Going: A Marine Lieutenant's Passage Through Vietnam by John R. Booth
My rating: 0 of 5 stars

MWSA Review

In his book, Duck Your Head and Keep on Going, author John Booth provides a thoughtful and fascinating recounting of his service in Vietnam in 1965 – 1966. Booth’s description of his combat experience as a newly-minted Marine Corps second lieutenant artilleryman is fact-filled, gut-wrenchingly personal, and informative. The reader will gain an appreciation for the challenges associated with bringing massive artillery firepower to bear against an elusive enemy in difficult terrain, and under extremely difficult circumstances.

You’ll learn about “artillery sniping,” map reading, fire support coordination, uniform modifications, and many other interesting details. Booth pulls this off without getting too bogged down in technology or terminology. He also ties in many thoroughly-researched details of the operations carried out by the units in which he served—all carefully documented in footnotes at the end of each chapter.

More than a simple unit history, the reader will take a trip through a young man’s mind as he struggles to cope with the challenges of combat for the first time. Booth’s honesty and openness are appealing; and his natural, laid-back writing style makes it easy to assimilate all the information he’s sharing with us. This is true whether Booth is discussing the different politico-military strategies of Marine and Army leadership during the war—“hearts and minds” versus a war of attrition—or the differences he feels when looking at the corpses of his enemy versus those of his brothers in arms: his fellow Marines.

In the book’s introduction, the author warns that he is “not a professional writer,” and that his primary audience is his children, grandchildren, and fellow Marines. Although the reader will find the occasional technical or formatting glitch, the story the author has to tell tends to outweigh the book’s shortcomings, and as such is a worthwhile read for a wider audience.

Review by John Cathcart (August 2019)


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Review: Hitler's Last Christmas: The Day the Entire Mighty 8th Air Force Entered the Battle of the Bulge

Hitler's Last Christmas: The Day the Entire Mighty 8th Air Force Entered the Battle of the Bulge by Jr Donald F Kilburg
My rating: 0 of 5 stars

MWSA Review

Many Americans know the basic story of the Battle of the Bulge, including the fact that bad weather grounded most Allied aircraft during its first few days. However, even fairly well-informed researchers might not be aware of the extent that the mighty 8th Air Force returned to the air on Christmas Eve of 1944. Hitler’s Last Christmas by author Donald Kilburg Jr. shines a needed light into this massive display of Allied airpower, which definitely helped turn back the last-ditch Nazi offensive that had started on December 16, 1944.

Kilburg’s well-researched book puts the reader in the middle of the action—drilling all the way down to bomb group (and even squadron-level) to provide a granular level of detail of the mission that day. The book includes an extensive bibliography to help the serious researcher, although lack of footnotes makes it hard to tell the specific source of information.

Despite a few rough spots, this book provides a great deal of detail, and will appeal to a wide range of readers interested in this important but largely overlooked part of World War II history.

Review by John Cathcart (August 2019)


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Review: Chains of Nobility

Chains of Nobility by Brad Graft
My rating: 0 of 5 stars

MWSA Review

Chains of Nobility is the first book in the Brotherhood of the Mamluks trilogy. The Mamluks begin as slaves taken from various places. Slavers take boys from nomadic tribes where the young develop exceptional horsemanship and hunting skills early in life. After being purchased and installed in a training citadel, the slaves develop almost superhuman skills with swords, arrows, lances and horses, or are killed in the effort.

Following Duyal, the main character, on his journey, we see him evolving slowly and believably from a young nomad enslaved after watching his family killed to a deadly Islamic warrior, devoted to the man who bought him and devoted to the cause of Islam.

His story is set in a nearly forgotten time when Islamic princes fought the European Crusaders, the eastern Mongols, and amongst themselves using mercenary and quasi-enslaved armies. Many pages held something surprising—a five-senses description of living freely on the Russian steppe or in a prison cell, a boy’s memory of his lost family fading slowly or intruding into the present, some feat of endurance or prowess that bordered on unbelievable.

The book involves various nomadic cultures, Russians, Mongols, Muslims living in Egypt, horse culture, warrior culture, slave trading at a massive scale, royal blood feuds, detailed information about and use of various ancient weapons of war—and that doesn’t begin to cover the characters, places and times, journeys and relationships, settings and subplots, political and other intrigues throughout.

The author has created an intriguing and believable world from ancient ideas, settings, and characters, a masterful job of both history and fiction. The interior is beautifully designed and easy to read, despite its 443 pages. Clever use of fonts signal the shift between the characters’ present lives and pasts, easing the reader through the transition to memories.

Chains of Nobility will appeal to anyone with an interest in unusual military history, the history of Islamic jihad, ancient weaponry, or warrior training.

Review by Barb Evenson (August 2019)

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