Customer Reviews

Where the Birds Never Sing: The True Story of the 92nd Signal Battalion and the Liberation of Dachau

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Sacco's story captures the true feelings of naive young boys who, given little choice, evolve into men. It helped me to be reminded that during those war times, the military was much more basic than today and the soldiers less prepared and much less experienced with the outside world. The technology used in todays Middle East strategy is so amazing compared to the pole-climbing prepartion of the 92nd Signal Corps. The reader will gain a greater appreciation of how difficult it must have been to carry out daily operations. The arrival at Dachau in today's world would have set up immediate communication with media followed by an onslaught of command. But during those times, Sacco and his buddies were unhindered for hours to discover the horrific scene at Dachau making the experience much more moving and giving their war efforts meaning. The story is especially dear to me as my Dad was one of the characters. I have been given a look into a time of his life I could have known no other way, so the book is a true gift.

Jack Sacco tells his father's story of an Italian-American son farming in Alabama, as he signs up for war in 1942. It was a different time, so put aside your recently acquired political correctness & go with the flow of how it was.

Inspired by Joseph Sacco's album of black & white snapshots he took from 1942 onwards as he & his buddies, as part of General Patton's army, rig lines for field telephones & keep communications going. Follow as they are moved through the European Theater -- through razed towns, behind enemy lines, into the worst winter in memory, until they finally reach Dachau where, amid the walking skeletons, the bodies stacked like cord wood, the stench from the crematorium chimneys & the left-over guards, Joe realizes what his mission really was.

RebeccasReads recommends WHERE THE BIRDS NEVER SING as a riveting biography of the ordinary, sometimes hilarious, often boring & always hair-raising adventures of one young soldier boy who did the right thing, fought the good fight, & came home a man.

I can't just say it was great. What an understatement that would be. The book is a funny, yet at times wrenching, transformation of innocence. I don't like war books or movies. They leave scars on my heart. But I'm glad I read this one. It was warm and endearing. You love Joe Sacco. It felt like I was there with him and it made me proud to be there for him. I think the book will touch anyone who reads it---whether it be the memories it conjures up of our own family, of the life we love in this country, of the desperate confusion of drastic moments, of the pangs of caring about people, or of empathy for our fellow man. It is an incredible affirmation of belonging to this country, of the men who serve, of life and family. You can't help but be affected.

If you're at all interested in the Second World War, you must read Jack Sacco's book.

I've read plenty of history, dramatic family sagas, and scholarly nonfiction analyses from the perspectives of art, psychoanalysis, law and sociology -- but nothing so artfully bridges the historical account with the interpretation most often seen in the pages of a novel -- as Jack Sacco's new account of World War II called WHERE THE BIRDS NEVER SING. No nonfiction book since SCHINDLER'S LIST has moved me as much as this one.

Written in the first person, WHERE THE BIRDS NEVER SING, viscerally involves the reader in a young solider's transition from innocence to experience. The book reads like a novel but it in fact chronicles the real-life adventures of the author's father, Joe Sacco, an Alabama farmboy who answered his country's call to serve. This book is a historically sound account with all the elements of great fiction including poetic descriptions, great dialogue, full-blooded characters and a romantic sub-plot!

If you admire well-researched, dramatic nonfiction such as Band of Brothers and Schindlers List and enjoy beautiful literature such as Sophie's Choice and Mila 18 -- WHERE THE BIRDS NEVER SING will definitely appeal to you.

But if you appreciate works like Art Spiegelman's exquisite MAUS which provide a unique artistic approach to what may seem like overly familiar material, then you should click here, get the Amazon discount, and buy WHERE THE BIRDS NEVER SING. You'll be talking about it the day after your start reading it and for years to come.

Jack has put the life of his father in words that a child of the 60's can understand. His story of the boys of the 92nd was outstanding and kept me up at night to finish the book. Jack Sacco has hit a home run with this book.

Where The Birds Never Sing is the story of Joe Sacco's years in the army during WWII as written by his son Jack. From the time he was drafted until the time that he returns home we live with Joe as he experiences everything from basic training to the liberation of Dachau, which left Joe and the men of his company, soldiers who had witnessed everything that war has to offer, speachless and sickened. It also, as Joe so eloquently tells us, brought home, all too clearly, to these soldiers just why they had left their homes to "fight for a people we did not know."

A remarkable story about a remarkable man. This book must be read by all who are interested in "The Greatest Generation."

First-time author Jack Sacco grew up in Mountain Brook, and "Where the Birds Never Sing" is the true account of his father's experiences during World War II imaginatively told from Joe Sacco's perspective. It is a remarkable tale of this Alabama farm boy thrust into the great conflict of the 20th century. The first beach that Joe ever saw was Omaha Beach in Normandy. He had never shot anything more powerful than a BB gun when he was drafted into WWII, yet his experiences with the 92nd Signal Battalion are a catalogue of the European theater's pivotal battles and events: D-day, the Battle of the Bulge, the liberation of the infamous Dachau concentration camp, even a post war visit to Hitler's Eagles Nest. Where the Birds Never Sing is an engaging story about a local man's small role in the cast we've come to call "The Greatest Generation."

Heart-warming and compelling, Jack Sacco's, Where the Birds Never Sing, is a pure delight, despite its inevitably somber and provoking conclusion. This book's impact on me was surprising, since I'm not one that typically embraces books on war or history. But this book is different. Told from the unique perspective of a young soldier in the 92nd Signal Battalion, this is the flip-side perspective of the Dachau Concentration Camp liberation. Through the eyes of scared, yet brave, and exceedingly funny 18-20 year old soldiers, this book is in a word, "human". You very quickly fall in love with the characters. Whether you're male, female, young or mature, you'll find yourself relating to their experiences and moving through their adventures and struggles right alongside them. Because of the powerful connection I felt with these boys, reading about the atrocities they encountered upon entering Dachau was such a powerful moment. It really is a coming of age story as you see the "deer caught in headlights" boys become men. The liberation of the camp at the novel's end will not only shock and sadden you, but fill you with pride. My brother is currently in the Middle East and I couldn't help but imagine him going through some of the same things described in this book. Anyone with a son, friend, or spouse in the military will feel a special connection with the characters of Where the Birds Never Sing. Unable to put this book down, I read it over a weekend, and anyone who stopped by or phoned endured my reading them passages aloud. It's just that good. I'm hopeful that Jack Sacco will bring readers more untold stories of the 92nd Battalion to us in the future.

I love WHERE THE BIRDS NEVER SING and enjoyed reading it very much. I couldn't wait to read it and couldn't put it down once I'd started. Jack Sacco is truly an amazing storyteller and a genius. His novel, originally and masterfully written from the perspective of his father, Joe Sacco, is full of adventure, humor, drama, and A LOT more. As I read this brillant novel I felt like I'd stepped back in time and had been with Joe Sacco and the 92nd Signal Battlalion every step of the way as they significantly helped win World War II and liberate the prisoners in the concentration camp at Dachau. I believe this novel is a classic, destined to become not only a bestseller, but also an Oscar winning film in the very near future.

Author Jack Sacco has provided us with an easy-to-read and well written account told through the eyes of his father Joe Sacco's experiences in World War II. From the time he was drafted into the army in October of 1942 until his release in 1945 Joe Sacco lived through experiences shared by many soldiers during that time. Intimate portraits of fellow soldiers who became like brothers to him are provided throughout the book. Joe Sacco entered Europe one week after the D-Day invasion of Normandy and experienced combat experiences in The Battle of the Bulge and other places. The liberation of the concentration camp at Dachau, Germany, in April of 1945 is vividly told to illustrate man's inhumanity to man. A speech given to the soldiers by General George Patton is retold in all its humor. Sadness comes with the death of two of Joe's friends in combat in addition to the death of a French girl named Monique at the hand of the Nazi's that Joe had fallen in love with, and had hoped to be reunited with at war's end. Many books have been written regarding soldiers' experiences in World War II, but I found this one to be expecially interesting because the characters are really brought to life in all their down-to-earth humanness, and a format that was easy to read and hard to put down.