Customer Reviews

Silent Warriors of World War II: The Alamo Scouts Behind the Japanese Lines

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

 

 

Silent Warriors of World War II is the amazing story of the Alamo Scouts, Sixth Army's elite commando, reconnaissance and intelligence gathering unit, which performed 106 missions behind Japanese lines in New Guinea and in the Philippines without losing a man killed or captured. The author not only informs and educates, he tells a complex story in very readable way. From the first page, the reader can picture what the Scouts look like, their personalities and their devotion to accomplishing the mission at all costs. This is not "dry" history! Zedric breathes life into the characters and puts the reader alongside the commandos in a rubber boat or deep in a tropical jungle. But the author does not embellish. He didn't need to--what the Alamo Scouts accomplished needed no embellishment. Zedric has done a masterful job in telling their story--one which should have been told years ago. A must read

Read this book! Real people, real heroes. I have no idea why they haven't made a movie about these guys.

They have a record no unit on the planet can top: 106 missions in 18 months, 138 personnel (including staff, support and operators), and no wounded or killed in action.

Freaking Unbelievable! One of the more interesting anecdotes was a prayer by one of the Scouts (paraphrased): "Lord, If you don't want me to kill the enemy, don't let me see them..."

Get this book, it's history and it's not dry at all!

The story on page 240 is more clear than I remember it. I was a Gunners Mate on PT Boat 379 of Squdron 28 and have pictures of the two prisoners that Lt. Dove brought back to the boat. Also took a picture of the 39 people we rescued. Lt. Morton was our skipper. At least one part of the operation was in daylite. The "team" was made up of only two men, Lt. Dove and a Filipino Scout. We in the boat crew couldn't believe the scouts could get away with some of the operations they were on. A most fantastic group of men.

This chronological review of the Alamo Scouts is interesting, but...

The story spends a great deal of time describing the organization, setup, and mission of the Alamo Scouts. Mr. Zedric does a very good job of providing this background information.

The author also does a very god job of outlining the missions performed by the Scouts and the positive impact of the Scouts on the US war effort in the Pacific. However, the book falls short by overviewing many missions, instead of detailing a few particular missions.

I would have enjoyed the book more had Mr. Zedric introduced me to 1-2 of the teams, and explored in greater detail, their efforts.

Having said that, the book is still interesting and explore's a fascinating portion of the war in the Pacific. As a result, I do want to learn more about the Phillipin campaigns.

I ordered this book because, as a student of WW-2, I have always been curious to learn more about the Alamo Scouts, an organization that is only alluded to or mentioned briefly in most books on this conflict.

I found this book to be both interesting and informative, especially the sections devoted to the rigerous training imposed upon prospective members of the Scouts.

In my opinion, several of the exploits attributed to the Scouts could have been more lengthy and provided additional detail, but basically I am well satisfied with this story.

This book certainly answered many questions I had regarding this organization and the excellent and unheraled job they did.

This book covers a group of little known heros of WWII. While small in number it's importance to the success of the war in the Pacific cannot be measured by it's size. Their contribution cannot be in operations alone as the very existance of the group was a foundation for future units such as theirs. It could even be said that the Special Forces of today might possibly not exist had it not been for the foresight of the founder and the execution of operations of the men of The Alamo Scouts. The book is well written and with plentiful photographs. Their accompolishments are truly astounding.