Recon Scout [Mass Market Paperback]

Fred H. Salter (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 27, 2001

HE LIVED ON THE ABYSS OF DEATH
AS A RECON SCOUT IN WORLD WAR II.

From Africa’s Sahara Desert, where he met Churchill, to the plains of Tunisia, where he served under Patton, Fred Salter executed daring nightly solo missions, risking his life to gather the vital intelligence the U.S. Army desperately needed. After the battlefields of Sicily came the long, grueling effort to wrench Italy from the grip of the Nazis, and the bloody nightmare of Monte Cassino, the longest battle Americans fought during the war.

Salter spares no one, least of all himself, in this tough, clear-eyed account. Refusing to shy away from the horrors and fears of combat, he shares experiences–tragic and glorious–that will haunt him forever.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

HE LIVED ON THE ABYSS OF DEATH
AS A RECON SCOUT IN WORLD WAR II.

From Africa?s Sahara Desert, where he met Churchill, to the plains of Tunisia, where he served under Patton, Fred Salter executed daring nightly solo missions, risking his life to gather the vital intelligence the U.S. Army desperately needed. After the battlefields of Sicily came the long, grueling effort to wrench Italy from the grip of the Nazis, and the bloody nightmare of Monte Cassino, the longest battle Americans fought during the war.

Salter spares no one, least of all himself, in this tough, clear-eyed account. Refusing to shy away from the horrors and fears of combat, he shares experiences?tragic and glorious?that will haunt him forever.

About the Author

Fred H. Salter led a life after World War II almost as adventurous as the years he spent in the Recon. After wandering through nearly every state and province in the United States and Canada, he married and tried to settle down but to no avail. Eventually the young married couple returned to Fred’s beloved Alaska. When their three sons left home, he and his wife resumed their tumbleweed way of life. To fulfill a boyhood dream, the past few years he has lived on a mountain farm in the Swan Range of the Rocky Mountains, east of Kalispell, in northwest Montana. Every summer, he makes a trek back to his old log cabin on the shores of Auke Bay, Alaska. He still calls Alaska home.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 376 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books (November 27, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345446933
• ISBN-13: 978-0345446930
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 0.8 x 6.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #502,699 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #78 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > History > Military > World War II > General

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A personal view from in front of the front lines, August 8, 2002

By 

Paul H. (Michigan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Recon Scout (Mass Market Paperback)

This book captured me merely by the title, my Grandfather was a Recon Scout (the 85th Cav. Rec. Sqd.) as well, but he didn't tell me as many stories of his time as Mr. Salter has done in this true autobiographical classic. This book begins with a wide eyed, ambitious and energetic young boy who follows his desires to be a cavalry hero and joins up with the Army. He passes on the air corp. voluntarily and ends up with the horse cav. He even trains to do mounted (on horseback) charges, something that seems hard to imagine today. He ends up in the 91st Cavalry Recon Sqd (Mechanized) and ends up in Africa, Sicily, and Italy. He promotes up to Corporal and turns down other promotions during the course of the war. He finishes the war as hardened and experienced as any soldier.
This book captures the war from a first person view, Mr. Saltier engaged in everything from hand to hand combat, close quarters gun battles, running supplies under fire, rescuing wounded friends, and solo night patrols. As much as he excelled at these things and was truly a hero, these events left their scars on this young man.
Mr. Saltier spars no one his criticism, not the lieutenant who shirked a night patrol, not himself. He lost a multitude of friends, killed the enemy in close quarters, endured artillery barrages, darned and sewed his own equipment, watched civilians bury their dead children, stood guard in a [house of ill repute], met Churchill. He fought and suffered a myriad of wounds (physical and psychological) for his country. This book is as close as I hope I ever get to combat. In war, every soldier loses something, Mr. Saltier has eloquently shared all of those losses so that the rest of us may gain from it.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fact IS more interesting than Fiction!, December 10, 2001

By 

Christopher R. Fischer (San Antonio, Texas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Recon Scout (Mass Market Paperback)

I'm proud to review this work, as I met Fred Salter shortly after he first self published this work in 1994 and am proud that he calls me "friend". For seven years I've personally believed in this book, and here with the rerelease of it by a major publishing company reinforces the exceptional nature of this book.

Not only did this book first give me a detalied and intimate look at the 91st Cavalry Recon Squadron, a unit I had tried to research for 5 years prior to its first debut, but it is the classic story of the common soldier. Fred's exploits, and those of his comrades, are the stories of which legends are made...and its all true. As courageous as Fred and his other scouts were, we are constantly reminded that they were human beings in a harsh and unnatural situation called war. These men were not "John Waynes" as we've been led to believe of the WWII veteran, but they saw and did things that still 60 years later that haunt them. Various post war syndroms that are commonly associated with Vietnam veterans were common to the soldiers of WWII as well.

Fred's book is very easy reading and to understand. Its captivating and gives a very intimate picture of a soldier and how he felt about those expereinces. This book should be a must read to every US military officer, in order to have them understand that they are not supermen and that warfare very much is a case of "...but for the grace of God go I..." (note the TRUE story of the Lieutenant outside Cassino, an episode that still upsets my friend, not with anger but guilt for his very understandable nature and actions).

This book is a must read for all Worlr War Two historians. Especially if you enjoy the Italian campaign, Mechanized Cavalry, or just an exceptional soldier's story.

Again, I am proud to know Fred and many of the 91st Cavalry personally, including many peoples mentioned "Recon Scout".

I'll end this review with an explination of how personal this book is. Many veterans ask Fred how he can talk about much of what he does...Fred notes that he can't, he can only write about them.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An eye opener, August 28, 2002

By 

Jason Hardy (Columbus, OH) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Recon Scout (Mass Market Paperback)

Recon Scout was a real eye opener for me on what WWII was really like. I had previously read Fred Salter's Maverick Tumbleweed and thought that he was a very interesting man. As soon as I finished Tumbleweed, I borrow purchasd Recon Scout. Fred provides a great insight into what he and others went through during their years in the trenches. When I finished the book, I passed it along to another friend. It has been very popular with my friends and I, men and women alike.