Customer Reviews

Beyond the Rhine: A Screaming Eagle in Germany

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Ironically, the more I read the works of Mr. Burgett, the more I understand, to his credit, that despite his direct presentation, it is all but impossible to have anything but the remotest idea of what it is like to be a front row participant in total war by reading a book. A book can certainly help one appreciate what he went through in Europe, but there's no way we can know what he now knows. I suppose you could have a better understanding of what it was like for him if you read the book in a hole half-filled with freezng water while someone tried to drop high explosives on your head. A common theme in all of Burgett's books is that there is much honor in what he and his brothers did, but no glory. The troopers in "Beyond the Rhine" follow a pattern familiar to those who have read Burgett's first 3 books. They are thrown into combat, lightly armed, before any other units, or where other units have failed. Men who are too young to vote, and who have only known one president their whole lives fight and die at the level of animals. The survivors count their blessings and assemble after battle to gather their garrison bags full of personal possessions only to learn that their bags have (as usual) been cut open and looted by the rear echelon troops tasked with storing and delivering the bags to the front. The most compelling chapter of the book describes what the author saw at the concentration camp at Landsberg. I finished the book feeling greatful that men like Mr. Burgett did what they did so that my kids will likely never have to. "Beyond the Rhine" is the final chapter in a story that is destined to become known as the finest first-person account of combat produced to date.

This book is the 4th in a series of books written by Mr. Burgett about his experiences as a paratrooper with the 101st Airborne Division in the European theater during World War II. I thoroughly enjoyed the first three and this one is a great read as well.

For me, the book seemed to really pick up about halfway through and it was extremely hard to put down (I spent many nights reading it into the early morning hours). The focus of this book is the author's experiences in Germany. While he was there he was part of a group that liberated the Landsberg concentration camp. The things that he and his comrades saw there were horrific, to say the least. The starvation and torture of the inmates is described with a great deal of intensity. Yet not all of Mr. Burgett's experiences were terrible - one particularly encouraging story was of a 15-year-old Polish girl from a labor camp that was liberated. The author and his buddies befriended her and as she recovered from her imprisonment they could tangibly see one of the reasons why they were fighting. There's also an interesting story of the author's experiences with the Russian troops which was an entertaining cultural experience (sorry - no spoilers).

Mr. Burgett also recounts the encounters with some recalcitrant German civilians who were defying curfews. He demonstrated his ability to maintain emotional control and quick thinking there as well as on an occasion when he and his buddies surprised some German troops in the mountains (Don and some of his fellow troopers were sent there to announce that the war was over and that any soldiers were to report to authorities in a nearby town). The author describes both incidents with such detail that one can easily visualize the seriousness of the situation.

Two especially pointed personal encounters the author had with a German commander (a general of some sort) and with an SS trooper, each of whom were fleeing the Russians, ended in dramatically different fashions. They were great examples of the chaos and volatility of war.

I could go on and on about the author's incredible experiences but I don't want to spoil anything.

The book includes more than 15 pages of photographs (black and white) some of which are from the author's own collection . In addition, there are a few maps which help to trace where Mr. Burgett and his colleagues were sent.

Finally, the author describes what he did after the war, both in Europe and in the United States. It helps to bring a sense of closure to the book.

If you have read any of Don Burgett's previous works or if you enjoy books about World War II that are written by the people who lived the experiences firsthand, you will almost certainly love this one as well. I highly recommend this book!

This 4th installment in the story of Donald Burgett and the WWII
experiences of the 101st Airborne Division is a fitting end to a fine combat memoir. The author picks up where he left off in "Seven Roads to Hell" in Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge and traces his experiences from crossing the Rhine River to the end of the war in Hitler's vacation resort in the Alps. Aside from his usual description of battle with the enemy, he also makes liberal use of noncombat scenarios during his unit's advances. His writings will be the standard against which future authors' wartime reminiscences will be compared. I highly recommend this book to all WWII history enthusiasts.

In what may be his last book, Donald Burgett has left us with insightful and chilling depictations of life in the 101st Airborne during World War Two. Entering the war as a teenager, readers of his books seem to grow with him, as well as being grateful for only being able to read about his exploits and not experience them.

Beyond the Rhine is a more informational book than his other books. While battles still rage, the experiences of this book rely more on chasing the Germans down while the war quickly ends. What the book accomplishes is the thoughts of Burgett over the war, his maturity, and the realization of not only his readers but also themselves that the war is ending. The question "What's next?" seems to lie deep within the book's pages.

In "Currahee", he brought to the horrors and chaos of Normandy, America's first full scale effort into Europe since WWI. In "Road to Arnhem", he brought us to Holland and the depressive defeat of the American and British troops to secure the keys bridges into Germany. In "Seven Roads to Hell", he brought us to Bastogne and the fear of entrapment when they were surrounded by Germans for weeks. Now, with "Beyond the Rhine", Burgett brings us to the wars end, and a trek through Germany that is filled with concentration camps, ruined towns, and fleeing German troops from the Soviets.

I hope this isn't the end for his books, but if so, hats off to Mr. Burgett. I can't fathom any other books so honest about a young man's journey through World War Two from a American perspective.

Mr. Burgett, you are the man.

Another excellant account about the WWII experience from someone who was there. A real tribute to the people that fought the war with Don Burgett and the 101st Airbourne Division.

In what may become his last book, Donald Burgett closes his account of A co., 506th, 101st with the long walk from Bastogne to war's end. Given an all too brief respite after their magnificent stand at Bastogne during the Bulge, the 101st was called upon again and convoyed for 36 hours into the Alsace region near the town of Wickersheim. There they remained at the ready in the path of one of Germany's last gasps, "Operation Nordwind".

From Bastonge on, the outfit saw only limited battle. The anxiety of a night patrol by boat across the Moder River and a few minor skirmishes, while well written, are a far cry from the bloody pace of the earlier books. During this period, men still died, but the war was all but over. Burgett tells of doing morning exercise on March 24th, 1945 and looking skyward to see over 5,000 Allied aircraft heading into Germany. At Remagen the patrol that crossed the Rhine some few weeks before became the vanguard of what was to be the largest river crossing in history. Three armies under Montgomery had crossed the Rhine that morning at daybreak.

As Normandy, Market Garden and the Bulge formed the nucleus of the three prior books, the horrors the 101st witnessed at the concentration camp at Landsberg form the core of this latest volume. Told in Burgett's straightforward, clean style, the insanity and demonic results of Nazi Germany leaves the reader with an unreal nausea. Not even animals are capable of this degree of cruelty.

It seems to this reviewer that from this point forward, the writing becomes more introspective. From Burgett's reflecting upon the hundreds of thousands of Germans surrendering along the highways, to his watching at night the sight of a full division singing by candle light as they walked home defeated but glad to be going home, to his walking through Flanders Field blanketed with red poppies, his style becomes far more lyrical than his earlier writing.

Upon hearing that Japan had surrendered he came to understand that he had lived; that he and the others were going home. "We were to go home instead. Go home to America. America- it seemed to be a dream now, a misty wonderland that had existed only in our minds." God bless all of them, they sure as hell earned that and more.

This is the fourth book in a set of 4 books by the author, the books start with his training as a paratrooper in WWII, and follow his time in the war until he gets discharged after the war. The books in chronological order are 1)Currahee! 2) The Road to Arnhem 3) Seven Roads to Hell 4) Beyond the Rhime. By all means, read every one of them.

For those who call WWII, the last "good war", this is a wake up. This war was just as full of horror and nightmare as any conflict, and the men treated as poorly. We get a view of the daily misery of the troops between the episodes of their bravery driven by the urge to kill or be killed. The author was a member of the newly formed Screaming Eagles 101st Airborne Division, and they made history and a reputation in this war.

The newly formed division gets the supreme test as paratoopers. Paratroops or Airbonre units are dropped behind enemy lines to shock the enemy, draw the enemy to them, diverting resources from the main line of attack so infantry and mechanized untis can move in. This may include seizing a key road or river crossing until the main units arrive. It is incredibly tough for them as they are often outmanned, outsupplied, and outgunned, facing tanks and artillery with nothing more than their own rifles, bazookas, and mortars they can fly in with. While they are only supposed to hold out until the infantry arrives with larger numbers and tanks in a day or two, the reality is they were often left practically abandoned without support or re-supply for weeks at a time.

In the first 3 books, Burgett took us to his training as a 19 year old Paratrooper in 1944, and then on to England. He fought in the D-Day invasion in Normandy behind the lines for 7 days straight. Then on to Holland for the poorly led Operation Market Garden by Field Marshal Montgomery where 80% of the allied paratroopers from Poland, Britain, and the US were wasted away in a series of inept decisions, security breaches, and failures to provide support. The men were finally relieved 70 days later than promised. Then without rest or resupply the men were rushed to Bastogne, to do the impossible. Hold an area where seven roads intersected against armoured divisions, outnumbered 10 to 1. The 101, along with two armored tank battalions, a tank destroyer platoon, and a artillary battery - held off nine full full strngth armoured Panzer Divisions for eight days until relief arrived, then fought alongside their relief for another 22 days until the Germans were beat back to their own border.

Now in this fourth book, the job is not complete, and the trops are chasing the Germans into the heartland. Along the way they would uncover the horrors in deathcamps the Nazis left behind. This book series by Donald Burgett is the most graphic and honest description of being an active fighting soldier in WWII I have read and left a deep impression on me. Simple words and detailed memeories from a simple man. It is a great read, and I could not put it down.

Excellent book in a series of four written by Burgett. Seldom does an author who was as young as Burgett was during the war, write so vividly and clearly. I have enjoyed all four of his books and recommend them all highly.

I am glad Burgett put out this book as it is a perfect ending to the series. I am sure he had not planned on writing so many books, but they are all so good, I think we all would have missed out if he hadn't. Read them all in order, one after another for the full effect. Good stuff, enjoy!

great read! loved it! I suggest getting all four of his books! and I believe he is writing a 5th?