Messengers Of The Lost Battalion [Hardcover]

Gregory Orfalea (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 14, 1997

Following his father's tragic death, American poet and historian Gregory Orfalea journeyed to France to attend the first reunion of his father's World War II infantry battalion, the ill-fated 551st. What he found was a compelling and unsolved mystery: why was the 551st sent to its destruction in a futile assault on Rochelinval during the Battle of the Bulge, and why has this heroic unit's memory been all but erased from military history? Orfalea explores this mystery, and the result goes beyond recovering a crucial chapter in the annals of World War II. Through its characters, narration of dramatic and deadly action, and reconstruction of the period and its mores, this work seeks to recover a deeper moral and cultural reality - the lost legacy of that generation's understanding of manhood and heroism.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Yet another fragment in the intricate mosaic of World War II, this book is part battle history and part detective story but mostly an angst-ridden memoir to a troubled father. The 551st Parachute Infantry Battalion fought its way across Europe until it was nearly annihilated in a heroic assault during the winter battle in the Ardennes. Years later, Orfalea, a poet and the son of one of the survivors, became aware of the lost outfit and set out to uncover its story. In a sensitive and deeply introspective narrative, he has pieced together the experiences of his father and explores the "mystery" of the heroic unit's present obscurity. This conspiracy angle is somewhat overblown, but the story of the 551st needed to be told, and Orfalea does it better than most of the official unit histories. His narrative is enlightened by numerous deft character sketches, vivid flashbacks, and poignant anecdotes gleaned from army reunions. Recommended for military collections and larger public libraries.?Raymond L. Puffer, U.S. Air Force History Prog., Edwards AFB, Victorville, Cal.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

A son's record of his long, wide-ranging search to uncover his dead father's army experiences during WW II. Poet and historian Orfalea attended the first reunion of the 551st Battalion, hoping to find out something about his father, but discovered many mysteries instead. Why was this heroic airborne unit sent to its destruction against a well-entrenched German unit, and why were their achievements ignored in military history? During the Battle of the Bulge, with few other units not already pinned down or shattered, the 551st was sent against fanatically determined German forces in a counterattack that lasted five days, blunted a part of the German assault, took hundreds of prisoners, and left only 110 of the battalion's 643 soldiers standing when it ended. Despite this extraordinary record, the unit was disbanded, its records were destroyed, its bravery went unrecognized, and its very existence was swiftly forgotten by the army bureaucracy. Orfalea's investigations reveal the men of the 551st to have been exuberant loners, distrustful of authority; many had served time in the military stockade. Unattached to other Allied forces, they were, in many ways, seen as a rowdy, defiant bunch and thus, perhaps, dispensable. Despite the army's neglect, the unit received the Croix de Guerre from Charles de Gaulle, and a monument was erected to them by the Belgians in recognition of their heroic efforts. Orfalea, who writes vividly and with great detail about the men of the 551st and their battles, asserts that the army, ever reluctant to acknowledge past injustice in the ranks, is still unwilling (despite the entreaties of 551st survivors and several generals) to recognize the unit's remarkable achievement. A fine military history of a heroic, hitherto forgotten unit finally brought to light. -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 432 pages
• Publisher: Free Press; First Edition edition (March 14, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684828049
• ISBN-13: 978-0684828046
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,912,078 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Absorbing ode to men of a maverick and doomed unit, September 17, 2000

By 

appell8 "appell8" (Alexandria, Va United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Messengers of the Lost Battalion: The Heroic 551st and the Turning of the Tide at the Battle of the Bulge (Paperback)

Extraordinary melding of perhaps three different stories: 1) the pre-combat misadventures of a highly-trained paratroopers with a high degree of contempt for authority; 2) a gripping firefight-by-firefight description of combat in the Cote D'Azure, the Maritime Alps, and the Bulge counteroffensive; and 3) a highly personal attempt to come to terms with the memory of the author's father, who had served the "lost battalion" as a messenger. The first story places the men of the 551st, in the frequency, degree, and originality of their misbehavior, in the company of some of the all-time "bad boy" units in history, such as Pappy Boyington's black sheep and the Civil War Louisiana Tigers. Hollywood's raffish military types have nothing on these guys. The second story, the detailed combat description, is so gripping that I had to give up reading the book on Metro; I kept missing my stops. It is part homage to the men, part vivid description founded on exhaustive research, and part indictment of the military bureaucracy and of bad decisions by individual commanders. The third, personal, story was for me, less accessible. Mr. Oraflea conveys his feelings with such intensity, and with such powerful writing, that I felt his pain all too intensely. It is the synthesis of these three stories-- and all of their substories -- that makes this such a distinctive work. I look forward to reading more from Mr. Oraflea.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A testimony to resource endurance and bravery., October 25, 2000

By 

P (manchester, England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Messengers Of The Lost Battalion (Hardcover)

A son's tribute to his father and the forgotten men who his father served with, during the bloody campaigns in Europe towards the end of WWII. This is a well-researched book which is made by the first hand accounts of the men who were there, from the monotony of Panama, to the terrifying accounts of life at the sharp end of war. This story is splendidly told in a straightforward manor, pulling no punches and blending the heroism and sheer courage of the soldiers who fought in a war that should never be forgotten. Yet this book is about a Battalion of men who have been forgotten by the very armed forces who they fought for and along side and paid their duties in blood. Of all the books I have read on airborne forces in WWII, only 'PARATROOPER' by Gerard Devlin briefly acknowledges that the 551 existed and took part in subsequent operations after the invasions of Normandy and the South of France. If you have an interest in reading Unit memorials and histories, then this is a book to add to your collection.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A haunting, gut-wrenching tale of World War II, October 14, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (Kingville, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Messengers Of The Lost Battalion (Hardcover)

The story is Gregory Orfalea's search for who his father was a half-century ago. Many of us arrive at the time of our fathers' deaths and wonder what our fathers were really like. Greg began by looking up veterans of the 551st. Thus begins a haunting tale of a group of men who trained to the nth degree, fought the bloodiest battles, suffered unbelieveable losses and disappeared from the pages of history. The 551st attack on the last SS foothold west of the Salm River during the "Battle of the Bulge" compares with the charge of the "Light Brigade" at Balaklava, except that the 551st didn't have a poet to immortalize them. The Army simply sent the few survivors to four other airborne units and closed the book.

Read this book to get an idea of how bad war can be. After you finish it, go hug your father, if you are lucky enough to still have him, "buy" him a cup of coffee and get him to tell you "how it was" when he was young.