Customer Reviews

Medal of Honor: Profiles of America's Military Heroes from the Civil War to the Present

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

 

 

A fascinating collection of stories based around 11 individual Americans prestigiously awarded the Medal of Honor. This is a light and fast paced read. Each story is adequately detailed and very interesting.

I thought the book had enough merits on it's own without Mike Wallace's commentary. In other words...Mike's contribution added no value to the book in my opinion. I would like to see the author write another book covering another dozen or so MOH awardees in a future volume, and perhaps follow up with additional volumes after that.

J.B.Kruz
KruzKontrol

Like everything else in life, this book tells about sad times and happy times due to the fact that a military man was awarded the highest honor for valor this nation offers. This book gives descriptions of the battle event that was reponsible for the medal for a number of veterans from the Civil War through Viet Nam. The writing is interesting and points out what some men are capable of when their back is against the wall. If you like war stories, this is a winner.

I couldn't wait to read this book. Any book which honors the actions of our veterans is a "must read" for me. But I was greatly disappointed by this work. While I enjoyed Mr. Wallace's introductory essays, I was confused by the politically correct agenda he presented in the selection of some those who earned the Medal of Honor. Also, Mr. Mikaelian's prose is awkward and laborious: I didn't think it possible to take such incredible acts of bravery and make them almost tedious, but this is exactly what happens here. Spend your valuable time reading well-written books like "Flags of Our Fathers" or "Ghost Soldiers," which give proper homage to the legacy of American heroes. Mikaelian's book does not do them justice.

I've spent the last 20+ years in the military and I really enjoy reading about our military heroes. But, it bothers me when someone uses the military to espouse their political ideology. I don't know anything about Allen Mikaelian, but I'd guess he was very unhappy with the presidential election in 2000 and felt he needed to do something. The author selectively picks recipients that provide a positive image of the left wing and a negative image of the right wing. There is nothing wrong with highlighting minority or women recipients. I think that is great and much needed, but the author should have been up front with the title and foreword and should have left out the political propaganda. Instead he covertly gives the impression that these 11 individuals represent your typical CMH recipient, both historically and politically. This book definitely has some value, but unless your polical views are a little far to the left, you may get a bit irritated at the political rhetoric.

I orginally purchased this book thinking it covered all medal of honors winners. To my disappointment, it details only a very few. This book covers only a select few of the medal of honor winners who's life story could be told. Of the men mentioned in the book, it is interesting. It talks about their childhood, what they did in the service, and what they did once out of the service. If you are looking for a little different angle on a few medal of honor winners, then this is your book. If you desire information on all of the medal of honor winners then look elsewhere.

The book is not bad if you can get over the liberal agenda. What would be expected from Mike Wallace? I hate to admit this, I would like to have seen historical pictures of the CMH and its recipients.

There have been many books written on the Medal of Honor, and this effort was an enjoyable read. The most important aspect managed to show a human side of the recipient. Each chapter covered a person who earned (not "won") the medal; the author did a very good job in tying in other stories of recipients pertaining to a campaign or battle to carry on the story.

While some of the stories are well known, others were not, and this is what is needed. I have seen several of the deceased recipients' graves at Arlington National Cemetery that are covered in this book; Edouard Izac's story is amazing in his continuous efforts to gain secrets of submarine warfare while as a prisoner of war in WWI, along with his escape attempts.

The book manages to show that while these men (as well as the sole female receipeint, Mary Walker) were indeed brave in their actions, they are mere humans that have lived in wealth or poverty, and encountered success as well as failure.

I would have given the review five stars if the book was illustrated; as I believe that it would have assisted the reader to put a face with the name of the recipient. While reading the book, one may want to visualize the person they are reading about. If you enjoyed this book on a more human aspect, I would also recommend "Beyond the Medal" by another Medal of Honer recipient, Peter Lemon

I would like to congratulate Mr. Mikaelian for writing a fine book on such a noble topic. Nevertheless, Mr. Makaelian did not need to use the meaningless running commentaries by Mike Wallace to make the book more informative or even enjoyable. Mr. Wallace's commentaries appear to have been written in great haste, evident by the shear number of facts Mr. Wallace got wrong. Mr. Wallace is a shameful opportunist if he receives one red dime for his contribution to this book. Mr. Wallace should stick to yelling at little kids that run across his path while he's on camera at Disney Land.

When I orginally purchased this book, I was excited thinking this book covered every one of the medal of honor winners "From the civil war to the present". To my suprise, it only covered the men who earned this medal if there was enough information about there whole life. Of the few who's stories are in the book, it was interesting and surprising to read how there childhood, military, and post military (if they survived) life was. Also in the book, the author did mention some of the names of other award winners if they were present during the same battle. Over all I was disappointed with buying this book. If you are looking for a book on medal of honor winners that have there whole life story, and only a few at that, this book may interest you. My suggestion is to either read it at a library, or wait til the price is $$$$!! I would not buy this book again; I will not read this book again!! If you are looking for WWII medal of honor winners a really super good book is " Heroes of WWII" by Edward F. Murphy

I ordered the book for my husband after seeing Brian Williams presenting a copy to David Letterman. Seemed like something he'd like and I was right! He loves it.