Customer Reviews

No Greater Sacrifice, No Greater Love: A Son's Journey to Normandy

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Military history focuses on battles and campaigns in linear time stopping and starting around the time of the war. WW2 Memoirs cover in greater detail the lives of the particpants usually before and during the war but usually stop there or only give a brief postscript. This work is unusual because the author tells you up front the basic story and then unfolds it from there. The knowledge of Norval Carter's fate looms like a shadow over the story but nevertheless his death and his son's (the co-author)discovery of his father still will bring the tears when you get to those pages. This is a story about the meaning of courage, sacrifice and the meaning of being a father and husband. The story covers the events of the war and the buildup for D-day in enough detail that even someone with no knowledge or interest in military history will enjoy and understand this story. At a slim 199 pages it is a very quick read. I highly recommend this book for anyone.

I traveled with Walter Ford Carter and the Normandy Allies (www.normandyallies.org) of Rochester, NY to Normandie, France, in Summer 2004. I heard Walter's story of his father's WWII experiences in person and visited the field where his father died near St. Lo. I had read the story of Dr.Carter before this trip and was very touched by the human-ness and how Walter reconstructed his father's and mother's war years through love letters and documents. This is a worthwhile read of a personal WWII history.

Furthermore, my father landed in the 5th Wave on D-Day. He died in 1995 and Walter inspired me to do some digging to fit the pieces together of my father's history with the 5th Engineering Brigade. Baby Boomers with veteran fathers and mothers will gain insight and understand the war years--and the silences kept by our parents over a horrific war.

Read this book. You won't regret it.

The book is a personal story of a man trying to come to grips with who his family was and what sacrifice really means to those who are left behind to pick-up the pieces of their lives after the father/husband was killed in the 1944 Normandy campaign. Mr. Carter, one of the co-authors of the book and son of CPT Carter, successfully communicates who his father and mother were - whether those stories were done for their childhood days, young adult lives, CPT Cater's military experiences, and the later days leading to his mother's death. The sacrifice of the Carter family was not only the death of the father, but also those who were left behind. Sacrifice and love are threads that hold this story together. This is a very good read.

Last night I finished reading Walter Carter's "No Greater Sacrifice, No Greater Love: A Son's Journey to Normandy." I have never before offered a review of anything on Amazon, but this book demanded a few words.

Walter Carter has created a deeply moving account of his personal journey of discovery as he reconstructs his father's years of service and ultimate sacrifice during WWII.

History and WWII buffs will probably just love this book. I'm neither and I loved it because it's just a great read!

With the WWII memorial about to be officially opened on the Mall in Washington, DC, it couldn't be a better time to pick up this book.

I am a medical student who received this book as a gift. I am also the same age as Capt. Carter when he joined the Army and a father of two young girls, ages 4 and 7. I was able to relate to this book both from the standpoint of a son's love and respect for his father and through the eyes of a father who would do anything for his children.

This heartfelt telling of the story of one of the men who came to be known as the "greatest generation" is truly a wonderful story about the awesome sacrifice made by the men and women who served during WWII. I have never before been able to identify at such a visceral level with the emotions and feelings that accompanied a soldier's choice to serve his country, and I now have a deep and profound respect for the love of country and sense of duty that are displayed so poignantly by the sacrifices made by soldiers like Capt. Carter.

I feel fortunate to have been introduced to this book and would recommend it to anyone interested in the learning more about the people and families who have served in defense of our country.

In the poignant story of his father's service in WWII, the author presents a moving portrayal of the sacrifices made by all soldiers and their families. Through his father's letters home, the author has also provided historical information about the 110th Station Hospital which arrived in England December 1942 as part of the build up in anticipation of D-Day. As a descendant of an Army Nurse who served with Dr. Carter, I find this book to be an absolute treasure, finally shedding some light on her service in WWII. If you have ancestors who served in the war as Army Nurses, doctors or foot soldiers, this is a book you should read. If your ancestors served with the 110th Station Hospital, this is a must read. And since it is only about 200 pages, it is perfect for younger readers, too.

I heard Walter Carter tell this story before he put it on paper and yet, despite that fact, I was riveted by his telling of it again. This slim volume is a wonderful read and a very personal recounting of the sacrifices endured by the sons and daughters of Brokaw's "greatest generation." Read it for the history, for the story and for the lasting impression it will leave with you.

Walter Carter has put a wonderful personal face on an event that most of us have only known through history books and movies. This book has two very moving stories: Carter's journey to discover the father he never new, and the amazing heroism of an army doctor on D-Day.

It is comforting to realize that men like Dr. Norval Carter existed, and it is heart-rendering to reflect upon what they sacrificed.

This is a GREAT book. It combines a herioc father, a love story and the sacrifice one faces as a soldier. It is also a moving tribute to a father from a son who really didn't know his father well until he discovered letters in his mother's attic. WHAT A TREMENDOUS STORY! Thanks Walter Ford Carter for sharing it with us. BUY THIS BOOK - You won't regret it!