Customer Reviews

If Not Now, When?: Duty and Sacrifice in America's Time of Need

5 star:		(30)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This book is unique. No Medal of Honor recipient has ever written a book that is both powerful and hilarious at the same time. For five years I have been recommending Medal of Honor by Peter Collier as the ideal Christmas present for veterans, young people and students of history. I must add the Jack Jacobs book to my short Christmas list. With not a word of profanity, this book is a great read for children of all ages. What a role model of selfless service.

What a fantastic read. In my opinion, the combat scenes of Vietnam are reminiscent of the best writing to come out of that conflict--books like "The Things They Carried" and "We Were Soldiers Once and Young," although during the worst fighting of the Tet Offensive, Colonel Jacobs was not serving with his own U.S. Army troops in the 82nd Airborne but "embedded" as senior advisor with the South Vietnamese Army. The great revelation of this book, though, isn't the scenes of valor for which Jack Jacobs earned our nation's highest military honor. It's the comedic tone throughout. On almost every page, there's a joke or two. Growing up as a scrappy, undersized Jewish kid in New York and New Jersey, Jack comes across as the quintessential class clown. This is top-level humor writing in the tradition of S.J Perelman, Woody Allen and Steve Martin. There were moments when I was literally putting the book down, because I was laughing so hard. Colonel Jacobs is, as Brian Williams of NBC News says, a man of real greatness-- "the complete American." Buy this book and pass it on to all the veterans in your family -- fathers, uncles, grandfathers. They will love it.

I believe that when you read an autobiography and the author has something in common with you... it adds to the enjoyment of the book. These commonalities can bring the reader happiness... sadness... longing... and it can also bring enlightenment... as it helps solve long unanswered questions... even though some of the questions that are answered... you didn't even realize you still carried within your very soul... more than forty-years later.

The author Jack Jacobs and I are both Jewish... both our Parents were born in Brooklyn... both our Grandparents immigrated/escaped Europe's anti-Semitic scourge... we both spent our early years in Queens... we both loved the Brooklyn Dodgers and the sacred ground of Ebbets Field... we both played stickball and stoop ball... we're both Honorably Discharged Vietnam era veterans.

BUT... Jack is five-feet-four-inches tall and I'm six-feet-two-inches tall... and Jack is a **MEDAL-OF-HONOR-RECIPIENT** **THE NATIONS HIGHEST MILITARY AWARD** Jack is truly a giant among men. It is an honor to read his life story and review his book. Jack's story is as much about the changing of a countries persona as it is about his life. He tells of his Father's military service during World War II and the fact that nineteen-million Americans were on active duty, and as a boy, Jack never even thought of his Father having been a soldier... he thought of him as an electrical engineer because "the ubiquity of military service in a time of peril made it unremarkable. In the forties and fifties, it was rare to encounter an adult who hadn't been in uniform." And that's one of the points that Jack drills home in his no-holds-barred writing, that current day America should have the same spirit of service to country. When I was in the military I was a "first-termer-and-a-short-timer"... that's what a million of us young guys called ourselves. We were honorably serving our country... but we were definitely NOT going to become a "lifer"... which is what Jack became. And that is the part of the book that answered and alleviated so many of my deeply buried questions from my time in the military. Jack openly berates the decision making and logistics of the military then and now. All the degrading comments the "short-timers" mumbled under their breath regarding the oxymoron's of ?military-intelligence? is echoed by Jack... a lifer. Jack hits a homerun that applies to the Vietnam War... today's war... and business life in general... when he says: "IT WAS THEN THAT I LEARNED ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT LESSONS IN THE USE OF ANY INSTRUMENT OF POWER, INDEED IN ANY HUMAN ENDEAVOR ON OR OFF THE BATTLEFIELD: IT ALWAYS TAKES MORE RESOURCES THAN YOU THINK. ALWAYS! THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS TOO MANY RESOURCES, AND ANYONE WHO BELIEVES HE HAS TOO MANY ASSETS HAS CERTAINLY MISCALCULATED AND NEEDS TO CHECK HIS MATH." Another absolute bull's-eye by Jack that was true in Vietnam and sure as hell is true in today's war is "THAT IT ALWAYS TAKES MORE RESOURCES TO HOLD AN OBJECTIVE THAN TO TAKE IT IN THE FIRST PLACE. ALWAYS! THE D-DAY ATTACK ON NORMANDY'S BEACHES TO SEIZE EUROPE FROM THE GRIP OF THE NAZI'S ENTAILED THE USE OF ABOUT NINE DIVISIONS. AT THE END OF THE WAR, THERE WERE 119 DIVISION EQUIVALENTS IN EUROPE. WE DIDN'T START WITH 119 DIVISIONS, ONLY TO WITHDRAW AND LEAVE A SMALL FORCE BEHIND. THE SOLE PURPOSE OF THE FIRST TEN DIVISIONS WAS TO MAKE ROOM FOR THE OTHER 110." As Damon Runyon once said "the race may not always go to the swift or the battle to the strong, but that's the way you should bet."

I will leave the description of Jack's heroic *MEDAL-OF-HONOR-CITATION* for the reader to read... but I want to make clear to the world that Jack wears his HONOR not solely for himself... but for all soldiers before and after... when he says: "SOLDIERS ACT NOT FOR THE ACCOLADE BUT FOR THE LIVES OF THEIR COMRADES, AND EVERY ACTION THAT IS CITED FOR ITS EXTRAORDINARY HEROISM IS MERELY A PROXY FOR ALL THOSE FOREVER LOST IN THE MIST OF THE BATTLEFIELD. MEDALS WORN BY THE LIVING ARE TESTAMENTS TO THE BELOVED FALLEN. SOLDIERS FIGHT FOR EACH OTHER, SAFE IN THE CONVICTION THAT THE LOVE OF COMRADES TRUMPS THE FEAR OF DEATH, THAT THE PAIN OF ONE'S WOUND IS NOTHING COMPARED TO THE UNENDURABLE AGONY OF FAILING ONE'S FRIENDS."

The word and title "HERO" is so overused in today's world... but this book is the story of a true American Hero... and through it all... Jack speaks honestly... and infuses a wry self-effacing humor... such as the time a reporter asked him if he had recurrent flashbacks. He replied that he did... but they were of a girl he had known in high school.

Jack Jacobs is an extraordinary story teller. He recalls critical facts that help provide context to the reader and lessons learned to those looking for wisdom.

I was privileged to have dinner with Colonel Jacobs twice and both settings were surreal and are worth mentioning.

The first was in a busy, trendy Ian Shrager Hotel with our common friend who is a Purple Heart recipient. I remember afterward feeling sorry for those around us, thinking it was a shame those surrounding us were unaware they were in the presence of a couple of great warriors that had made countless sacrifices for the freedom all Americans enjoy.

The second was earlier this month. I was with an enthusiastic group of veterans in an unlikely setting, the back of a public open air restaurant in one of the 'Left Coasts' more liberal enclaves. I saw the heads turn at the closest tables, seemingly annoyed at first, at the roar of laughter from our crowd - interrupting their dinners; then curious, then envious, as Jack Jacobs entertained and shared valuable lessons.

I would encourage you to see/hear him live. In the interim I would recommend you to buy and read his book; then lend it to others.

He lays out a blueprint for:

* universal service

* who to target if you are courageous enough to mentor

* who should question authority

* why the civilian/military power hierarchy is inherently conflicted

A most compelling story of a genuine war hero. A man with a tender heart, self respect and charity. A man for all seasons.
He writes with dignity, honesty and humor.
A true American idol. This book should be
on everyone's bookshelf.

Col Jacobs writes with humor & honesty about his life & military experience. It amazes me that leaders seem to learn so little or anything at all from the past. This book should be given to the cadets in the military academies & made required reading.

I enjoy hearing Jack Jacobs during his frequent national TV commentaries. He is witty, clear, concise, brutally honest, and always informative.
But, could this true American hero display such compelling clarity and wit in a book? It is much harder to be funny on the written page. Colonel Jacobs pulls it off brilliantly. I kept writing "HAH!" in the margins. I also kept highlighting passages that were profound and to be used as guides for a life of meaning.
Jack Jacobs in unique: wonderfully humorous, but deadly serious. Serious about honor, ethical leadership, honesty, and most of all the need for so many more Americans to sacrifice if we are to remain both free and excellent. Show your friends, family, clients, and co-workers you respect them -- buy them this outstanding book.

1. Agree that COL Jacobs' book merits a bunch of stars. Almost every page had a amusing dig at himself, although I wasn't inspired to LOL, like some of the other reviewers. Found other virtues, as well.
2. COL Jacobs is a very strong man. Many people were beaten down or broken by similar experiences. Jacobs was able to continue on, ostensibly unaffected by his first combat tour. Award of the medal may have helped. A couple of other recipients I have known said that they "grew into the medal." In any case, the man lives an exemplary life and is a credit to himself and the military profession.
3. At it's heart, I found the book to be a lamentation. COL Jacobs iterates the military virtues: honor, devotion to duty, sacrifice for a greater good. He compares them to widespread greed, dishonesty and selfishness practiced and even encouraged in America. He wonders what end our behaviors will deliver us to.
4. Any one who is inclined to pick up a book of this sort will understand and agree with the author(s). Based on my experience, the people who need to hear what Jacobs is saying will not understand, even if they hear the words.
5. Apart from the obvious, COL Jacobs' most valuable service was probably teaching about morality and responsibility in the inner city middle schools. That's picking up your ruck and rifle and soldiering on.

excellent
should be required reading
for old people like me

but like dickens melville etc

should be required reading in high school

wait



grade school

have you read it?

if not now when?


lou from oklahoma

JACK JACOBS stands tall as a humble hero. Jack's actions are truly heroic and told with humility, humor and matter-of-fact style that captures the reader. Along with Jack Jacobs, it is my privilege to be a member of our Medal of Honor Society - today, Jan 4,2009 - having ninety nine living members. Within our MOH Society, Jack is a hero's hero.