Customer Reviews

A Mile in Their Shoes: Conversations With Veterans of World War II

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

 

 

"A Mile In Their Shoes" is full of interviews with World War II vets, it tells the story of the "War To End All Wars, vol. 2" as only the soldiers and sailors themselves could have seen it. Elson began interviewing veterans in 1987 when he first attended the reunion of his father's unit, the 712th Tank Battalion. Amazed at the stories some of those guys would tell, he thought to himself, "I've got to get these down on paper before they are lost forever." The result is "A Mile In Their Shoes." Written in a unique question/answer style, Elson guides the interviews with only an occasional clarifying question. Otherwise, he just sits back and lets the vets talk about their experiences. And what incredible experiences they were! "A Mile In Their Shoes" is an amazing historical project. How often do you wish that you had just listened a little closer to what your dad or grandad had to say about the War? I know that I wish I had listened closer to my father's tales of being in the Flying Tigers. Now that he has passed away, all I have is a photo album full of pictures I don't have a clue about. Aaron Elson has done a great service to the history of the World War II era. By painstakingly assembling the accounts of these select men, he has preserved a bit of time which would have been otherwise lost.

This is a spectacular collection of oral interviews that the author has collected from an amazing group of vets. Here you get first hand accounts of what it was like to have been a G.I. And like his book '9 lives', Elson has included a wide range of stories from different players in the war. He sat down and questioned each vet and was able to bring out thrilling and little known facts of the war in Europe. In fact some of these stories are found no where else, in no other books. My particular favorite was the interview with the paratroop...Elson was able to get the soldier to open up and share the terror and the excitement of combat. The stories are told so well that you can actually see, for example, the rain of artillery shells that pounded down as 'all of Holland would bounce 10 feet in the air', and could feel how close the speaker was to breaking down. I know the emotion was high during these interviews because you can feel it just by reading it. This is a gem of a book! And while you're at it check out 'nine lives'.

With the spurt of oral histories about in the last few years, I enjoyed reading this authors work. It is very forward and well done. It tells the mini-histories of many people who contributed to our victory in WWII. I found it a very quick, informative, and exciting reading experience. I also read 9-Lives by the author, and would also give that book 4 stars.

This book gave a very realistic view of WWII from the perspective of men who were actually there. Their views are important for us to be able to understand the sacrifices they made. Too few people realize what went on and what their experiences were really like. It is important to capture these stories before the memories are lost; without them, we can't begin to appreciate how close we came to losing our way of life or acknowledge the staggering cost of our freedom.