Books to Read for Memorial Day
Today is Memorial Day and since a
lot of people get a day off work on Memorial Day, it’s a great day to spend
reading. Since the reason we have Memorial Day is to honor soldiers who died, I
thought it might be a good idea to recommend some good books about soldiers to
gain a better appreciation for what those, who died in service of the United
States, went through.
All Quiet on the Western Front
Taking place during World War One,
this book follows a German soldier through the trenches on the western front of
the war. Though technically not about an American soldier, 116,708 American
soldiers died in WWI due to combat, disease, and from complications arising
from being wounded (1). World War One
was brutal due to the combination of new weapons like machine guns and
poisonous gas and trench warfare, where people would fight for days of a few
feet of land. Trenches were filled with disease, water, and the dead, dying,
and about to die. Even those that survived came home “shell-shocked” with
vicious PTSD that would plague them for the rest of their lives.
Despite these horrific conditions,
Paul Baumer, and the real soldiers he represents, manage to find moments of
humanity and friendship in the midst of war. There is one particular scene that
stands out to me for this book, where Paul and a bunch of other wounded
soldiers in the hospital play with a baby of one of their buddies. One soldier
keeps watch at the door for incoming nurses and they build a wall of pillows to
try to give their buddy some privacy as he has sex with his wife who he hasn’t
seen for years. Not only is the scene kind of comical, it reminds readers of
the resiliency of humans.
Ghost Soldiers
Of the books on this list, I read this
one most recently. It tells the incredible tale of the group of soldiers that
rescued American POW from a Japanese camp in Cabanatuan, Philippines. While
reading this book, the readers uncover the tale of both the rescuers and the
rescued rooting for both and cheering for their triumphs and being crestfallen
with their defeats. As I was reading this book, I was amazed over and over
again at both the brutality and depraved acts the POW soldiers survived and
their refusal to give in to despair.
Soldiers rescued were starved, beaten,
denied medicine and medical care. They were shot for no reason, depending on
the mood of the guards and inconsistent rules in the camp. Those who could
still stand were worked brutally while malnourished for the Japanese. Often
groups of tens of soldiers would be walked off and shot en masse and dumped in
a hole in the ground. Smuggled medicines and hidden American radio broadcasts
helped keep up their morale. The rescuers had to deal with smuggling their
group and allied Philippine guerillas across miles and miles of enemy lines to
the camp. Once there the job wasn’t any easier as back up enemy soldiers could
come from two directions to give aid to defending the camp, which itself was on
a high hill surrounded by a field of grass.
Despite these impossible odds for both
rescuers and rescued, they pulled it off. Read the book; it’s quite the story.
Code Talker
Most books about war aren’t going to be
light hearted, because war isn’t light hearted. However, if there was ever a
light hearted war book, Code Talker
would be it. It follows the story of one of the Navajo soldiers who helped the
United States develop and implement a code to transmit messages based off of
the Navajo language. Despite racism and ignorance, Ned Beejay never stops
fighting for his country and forging friendships with his fellow soldiers, like
the friendly Georgia boy. The book starts with his education in the prejudiced
boarding schools in operation in the mid west where teachers attempted to beat
his heritage and his language out of him. Luckily for both Ned and the country,
they weren’t successful.
Lying about his age to join the marines,
Ned was trained to be a Navajo code talker, an integral part of the United
States’ efforts in the pacific front during World War Two. Though the story of
Ned Beejay is fictional, the book is based off of the lives of real American
Heroes that fought and died for their country on the pacific isles of Iwo Jima
and Guam and many others.
What About You?
What books are you planning on
reading this Memorial Day? Have you read any good books about war? Did you ever
read any of these books? Let me know in the comments.
Notes:
Sources:
Image Credit:
“American Flag,” by Mike Mozart
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