Customer Reviews

General William E. DePuy: Preparing the Army for Modern War (American Warriors)

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I expected a conventional treatment of the life and times of General DePuy, but only a few pages into this book, I knew I'd have a hard time putting it down. Absorbing and insightful, it describes the fascinating details where DePuy came from (South Dakota), how he grew up in the Army (90th Infantry Division from D-Day to VE Day), his advocates and adversaries, Vietnam service, and how he died (a variant of mad cow disease), with points in between. Of course the essence is how he re-shaped the Army while commander of the Training and Doctrine Command at Fort Monroe, VA. He created order out of chaos. If this seems an over-statement, it crosses the line only slightly. I won't attempt to capture how he transformed TRADOC from a sleepy Tidewater rest camp into the center of the Army universe, because the book does it and does it so well. Gole gives credit where it's due, not just to DePuy but to others who shared and extended his vision and labored to put the pieces in place.

Our times will call soon for a new DePuy able to see the future as well as The Master. Today the Army is overwhelmed fighting insurgencies, stretching the force past its theoretical limits. When the world settles down, will the Army be able to produce another DePuy who can put under one rational roof doctrine, equipment and training?

William DePuy is not a houshold name: certainly not in the genre of Westmoreland,nor Powell, neither Schwartzkopf,nor the recently annointed Petraeus. But, Henry Gole pumps blood into the veins of this seemingly lustreless Four Star and traces his path relentlessly..the good and the bad..the brilliance and the brooding..selfish desires given over to selflessness. What comes to life under the author's pen is a soldiers' soldier; a commander and patriot whose total focus is on and for the troops..each and every one..to school them and train them - and to inspire their leaders (sometimes ruthlessly) to enable them to engage in the chaos of combat and emerge with a good chance of survival.
A great biography replete with an accurate history of confusing times for our Army and our nation. A truly rewarding read.

A fantastic read. How one individual, by his sense of urgency changed the training and education of the US Army after Vietnam. Although I never served directly under General Depuy, after reading this book, I feel that I have known him for my entire life. While reading the Chapter on the then existing training programs in the late 50s - early 60s, I began to laugh out loud. I remember vividly at Ft Sill, OK, after our group "qualified" with the compass, we were sent out on a night training mission in November on a very dark, cold and rainy night. My partner and I completed the course in a reasonably length of time; several of our compatriots walked off a cliff and suffered broken legs and miles from where they were supposed to be. Others straggled in over the next day or so. A well researched and very well written book with very appropriate comments added as appropriate by the author. This is a book for anyone advocating a change of direction in any organization - military or civilian. Highly recommended reading.

Henry Gole's biography of General William Depuy follows the career of a professional soldier who played a key role in fixing a broken army after the strains of the Vietnam War. The story of General Depuy's career begins as a second lieutenant fighting seasoned German soldiers from Normandy to Frankfurt and beyond. The young 'Lt' learned valuable lessons of soldiering and leadership as well as gaining a life long admiration of the martial prowess of the Germans (Soldatentum). Years later, General Depuy, as Commander of the 1st Infantry Division (the Big Red One), would take those lessons in squad and platoon tactics and combat leadership learned under fire in WWII and apply them with striking results against the enemy in the jungles of Vietnam. And he would draw once again upon these lessons in rebuilding the army in the seventies.

His third book, Henry Gole, a retired Colonel (USA) who saw combat in Korea and Vietnam, has once again done his homework, producing a thoroughly researched and extremely well written biography of a commander whose mantra was "decide, order, check." William E. Depuy: Preparing the Army for Modern War is a great read, and I highly recommend it.

The book I purchased about General William E. DePuy was an excellent resource for me to use to discuss General DePuy's army career with my brother, a retired veteran. My brother had talked endlessly for the past 10 months, since coming to live with my family, about General DePuy and how he had influenced his life as a soldier. My brother was placed in the Alzheimer's Unit at our local Veterans Home one week ago. I am glad I had the opportunity to read this book and converse with him and let him relive some of his past with me.
I suggest this book be read by all veterans and their families if they have someone who served during the Vietnam War.

Gen. William E. DePuy is one of the seminal figures in the post-WW-II history of the US Army, and this excellent biography does him and his story justice. I particularly enjoyed Gole's strong research, including unpublished papers and oral histories not previously available outside of US Army archives. Gole overall does a great job covering DePuy's career, including his family. The parts on WW-II and the post-Vietnam resurrection of the US Army--in which DePuy along with Gen. Starry played key roles--are quite strong. I'd recommend this book to anyone interested in US military history and one of its under-appreciated leaders, who started his combat career at the June 6, 1944 D-Day landings at Normandy as a Captain, and ended the war less than a year later as a 25-year-old Lieutenant Colonel and battalion commander in the 90th Infantry Division, which lost 100 percent of its soldiers and 150 percent of its officers in the first six weeks of combat.