On Time, On Target: The World War II Memoir of a Paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne [Illustrated] [Hardcover]

John McKenzie (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 11, 2000

The All Americans of the 82nd Airborne Division (their distinctive red-white-and-blue shoulder patch featured a stylized double-A representing the fact that their World War I ancestors, the 82nd Infantry Division had been frawn from across the United States) participated in some of the toughest fighting of World War II.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

McKenzie belonged to the less than 20% of the 82nd Airborne that survived a bewildering variety of missions physically unscathed. From spring 1943 until discharge in January 1946, McKenzie was for the most part an artillery observer for the 456th Parachute Field Artillery Battalion, serving in major battles in Normandy; in Holland (Operation Market Garden of A Bridge Too Far fame); in Belgium to hold "the Bulge"; in Germany at the Siegfried Line and later in occupied Berlin. These pages show him to have been a capable, sensitive, observant 20-year-old, one who went on after the war to become a chemical engineer and businessman (since his retirement, he has published Uncertain Glory, a study of Robert E. Lee). McKenzie's comments about the battles in which he participated are instructive about daily life in his unit, as are his characterizations of adversaries and Allies. There are numerous pointed and memorable anecdotes, such as the "[o]ne little game the Russians liked to play" when encountering American soldiers, which was to "draw their pistols like gunfighters. Our problem was that we could not tell whether it was a bluff or a real threat since we could not understand what they were saying. Rather than wait to see... we simply shot them." For McKenzie, who suffered psychological traumasAsurvivor guilt, depression, repression of memoriesAwriting this account constituted a therapeutic endeavor, one that survivors and fans of the genre alike will appreciate for its candor and heart. (July)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Presidio Press (April 11, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0891417141
• ISBN-13: 978-0891417149
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,363,819 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The real deal -- from Normandy to Berlin, May 19, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: On Time, On Target: The World War II Memoir of a Paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne (Hardcover)

"On Time On Target" (The World War II Memoir of a Paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne) is a wonderful book with the unimpeachable smack of reality on every page. John MacKenzie gives us the stench of bodies, the terror of peering up from your mud-filled foxhole as your own planes drop 500-pound bombs on you, and the freaked-out reveille of waking to one of your deranged buddies holding a .45 to your head, threatening to shoot you because you know he's the one who shot a horse. And on and on, the telling nitty-gritty details of the paratrooper's life in the soup. But he also gives us keen, witty and insightful digressions, not only of his feelings and assessments then, when he was a twenty-year-old in the midst of action, but his later evaluations after fifty years of rumination. The chapter entitled, "Reflections on Elite Units" is worth the price of the book alone.

This is the real deal, from a guy who was there, the best type of American fighting man, a good and decent citizen who wouldn't have gone unless they dragged him, but once there did his job and kept his eyes and ears open (not an easy task)and whose observations and memories now reward us and add significantly to the history of works on war. Outstanding and indispensible!

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars As read by another paratrooper., October 10, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: On Time, On Target: The World War II Memoir of a Paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne (Hardcover)

Having read John McKenzie's book, about how he experienced his days in the U. S. Army during World War II, I felt like I was there with him. His descriptive style kept me captivated and almost feeling what he felt. I have been a paratrooper and have been in combat and know that it is not constantly being under fire nor is it like "a bed of roses". As John indicates, times can seem very miserable and at times horrific. While at other times, a person can find some enjoyment when the occasion rises. I highly recommend this book to everyone, because John and his comrads are the ones that helped make this world a lot better for all of us! My heartfelt thanks go out to him and the others that put it on the line for our freedom!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another Airborne Memoir!, October 10, 2001

By 

Chad R. Reihm (Miami Beach, FL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: On Time, On Target: The World War II Memoir of a Paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne (Hardcover)

LOOKING FOR A QUICK REVIEW?: Great book, written by an airborne vet that fought in every major 82nd campaign from June 6, 1944 to VE Day.
LOOKING FOR DETAIL?: The author was a forward artillery observer whose job it was to hang with an infantry platoon and direct shells into enemy concentrations. He was therefore always in harms way and has many death defying stories to tell. He fought in all of the major campaigns from D-Day to Market Garden to the Bulge to the Rhine, was captured by the SS..and still lived to tell the world what he had seen. This fact alone should justify purchasing this book.
But for an added bonus there is more...Not only does McKenzie tell his story but he adds the feelings and sentiments of the times so that the reader gets an idea of what life was like during the 'greatest generation'.

Although the writing style is sometimes laborious and he has a tendency to jump around, this does not take away from the effect of the book. In fact it gives you the feeling that this is just a normal guys story...which is in fact the most important story of all.