Customer Reviews

Lost Battalions

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3 star:		(1)
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Having been one of the men rescued, there is no way we can thank the men of 442 for their heroic efforts. The American press ignored the fact that they were Japanese- Americans. Unfortunately, it is only of late we became aware of the casualties, killed and wounded, suffered in releasing us. It is my beleif they were one of the finest combat units that fought in Europe. The book is extremely well written.

Mesmerized by the breakout from Normandy and the race to the Rhine, the world hardly seemed to notice the U.S. Seventh and French First Armies' sweep up the Rhone Valley, miscalled by some a "cakewalk". If that term seemed to apply to their rapid advance during the first weeks after the Riviera landings, it quickly lost meaning when the German Nineteenth fortified the Vosges Mountains for one of the hardest-fought battles of the European Theater.
This well told history recounts that largely unknown struggle, concentrating on two "lost battalions", one German, the other the 141st "Alamo Regiment" of the 36th (Texas) Division, which was rescued by the heroic 442nd RCT, which was composed of Japanese-Americans and was the most-decorated unit of the U.S. Army.
Based on many interviews, and with photos, maps, and appendices, this is a worthwhile addition to the scarce literature of the Vosges Campaign.
(The numerical rating above is a default setting within Amazon's format. This reviewer does not employ numerical ratings.)

Throughout the last fifty years since the end of World War II there have been many accounts of the many battles fought and the people who fought them. There is one group which is almost always left out. The 442nd RCT. This group of Americans fought some of the bloodiest battles in the war. This book truly places the stellar record of the men of the 442nd in the history books. I gives me a new found respect for these men and the job that they did through what must have been tremendous pressure to succeed. Some of these men I know personally and have the utmost respect for the job that they did. It makes me proud to be an American. This book really does them justice in a time of great injustice. This is one to pass down to the next generation.

This proves to be an interesting book about Japanese-American battalion that drove to saved another American battalion while at the same time, there was a German battalion which also cut off as well. Its an interesting story and since there isn't too many books out there dealing with the Japanese-American units, this book proves to be quite informative. The book also look at things from the German perception as well and their experiences which was much more bitter then the American "Lost Battalion".

However, I also wished that the book was written better. Its seem bit cut and dry writing style almost make the book read like marching through the Vosges slogs itself.