From Campus to Combat: A College Boy Becomes a WWII Army Flier [Paperback]

James Alter (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 22, 2006

Jim Alter was a sophomore in college when Japan attacked the United States. He enlisted, and after an Army programme that condensed years of officer training into a few frantic months, was flying over Europe, dodging German gunners in a B-24. Alter proudly recounts the achievements of his heroic generation as he details this defining chapter of his early life. His memoir focuses on the business of turning citizens into soldiers, and in so doing highlights the tremendous benefits of asking all citizens to sacrifice for the war effort. His experiences and descriptions stand as a sharp contrast to the current professional, outsourced war now being waged in the Middle East.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

"The revival of public interest in WWII is very important. Jim Alter's account of his combat experiences is an excellent personal testament, and should enrich our understanding of that war." -- Studs Terkel

About the Author

Jim Alter headed a mid-sized industrial equipment distribution company for many years. He was also president of two national trade associations. More recently, he has been a professional speaker, a trade magazine columnist, and an adjunct professor teaching management on the graduate level. Mr. Alter and his wife live in downtown Chicago.

Product Details

• Paperback: 236 pages
• Publisher: Garrett County Press (May 22, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1891053817
• ISBN-13: 978-1891053818
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 5.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,534,326 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Remembering the Good War, December 27, 2006

By 

H. F. Corbin "Foster Corbin" (ATLANTA, GA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: From Campus to Combat: A College Boy Becomes a WWII Army Flier (Paperback)

James Alter was 20 and a student at Purdue University when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Like most other able-bodied young Americans, he soon found himself fighting what Studs Terkel called "the good war." Alter became a bombardier in the United States Army Air Force and flew thirty-one missions in Europe before he was discharged with the rank of first lieutenant in 1945.

With an astonishingly good memory as well as a great sense of humor-- he indicates that he recently found a box of his letters to his parents that helped his recollection-- Alter recalls events of 60 years ago. His first encounter with a bidet, his giving a souvenir cross to a date (although Mr. Alter is Jewish, he and a Catholic buddy had gotten a blessing from Pope Pius XII at the Vatican) for non-religious reasons, his innocent visit to a rundown Hollywood mansion, after a night of drinking with friends in bars, where most of the guests were men will amuse you.

Mr. Alter in straightforward prose conveys what the times were like during World War II, both inside and outside the military. The entire country was behind the war efforts; gas, coffee and sugar were rationed; and women, in great numbers for the first time, went to work in factories. It is impossible for the reader not to contrast the United States Alter remembers with the present when we have an all-volunteer army engaged in a war that has dragged on longer than World War II, citizens who support the war effort by adorning their SUV's with yellow "support our troops" stickers and a Commander in Chief who admonishes those of us at home to go shopping.

Mr. Alter is skillful at drawing the reader into his story, particularly his account of the missions he flew. His fears, as well as those of his comrades inside the B-24's, are palpable. "Fear was always around us." He is not gung-ho on all things military, rather someone willing to do what he had to do. He kept flying, he says, not because he liked it, or because he didn't want to let fellow fliers down, but "because quitting was even worse than going on."

Some things about the U. S. military do not change. Alter spent a good deal of his time while on RRR getting a tan, drinking and chasing women. (He is always careful to tell the reader the ratio of women to men, thereby making his quest easier or more difficult, depending on the numbers). His complaints about the bad military food including S-O-S, "mickey-mouse" details, and the oxymoron "military intelligence" all sound familiar.

In the closing paragraphs of this both well-written and accessible memoir, Mr. Alter says that he wrote this book because "I worried that the sweep of our country's role in the most colossal war in history might someday be reduced, or even worse, forgotten by those who came by later." His hope is noble: that today's combat veterans will be the last and, quoting the American Indian leader Chief Joseph, "'We will fight no more forever.'"

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A surprise read for this 'support the troops, bring them home' kind of guy, August 12, 2007

By 

thomas Hancock (Brooklyn, NY) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: From Campus to Combat: A College Boy Becomes a WWII Army Flier (Paperback)

Honestly, i would have never picked this book up but it was passed on to me by a friend. I'm generally of the crowd that so easily dismisses the humanity of the armed forces but this book attaches a real face to a soldier's story during war. Being that I have no real familial or direct connection to the military this was a really insightful and compelling read. What I also loved about this book is that I'm admittedly bad with US and World history, especially pre '80's (doh), but the narrative of this read actually made me really interested and *gasp* I learned more about WWII. This is a story about war, the military, and humanity told in one of those proverbial great-story-telling-grandfather ways, the kind where wide eyed curiosity fills the gender gap.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Dont waste your money, June 22, 2007

By 

D (Albany) - See all my reviews

This review is from: From Campus to Combat: A College Boy Becomes a WWII Army Flier (Paperback)

Boring book with little to say other than college campus exploits. Don't buy it. I read it and it was boring.