Rating: 
Summary: Outstanding New Book
Review: An outstanding account of what it was like to be a combat Company Commander in the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment during World War II. Jim Megellas liked to say his MOS was killing Germans. He along with H Company, 504th PIR saw a lot of combat. These men were truely "The Devils in Baggy Pants" as far as the Germans were concerned. A darn good book every World War II history buff should read.
Rating:
Summary: One from Ripon
Review: As one of the six Ripon College Grads who went to Ft. Knox with Jim mentioned in the book, I appreciated the Authors story. I am proud of Jim and all of his accomplishments. It was a great book, and greater story of many young men who saved the World.
Rating:
Summary: One from Ripon
Review: As one of the six Ripon College Grads who went to Ft. Knox with Jim mentioned in the book, I appreciated the Authors story. I am proud of Jim and all of his accomplishments. It was a great book, and greater story of many young men who saved the World.
Rating:
Summary: All the way to Berlin
Review: Excellent narrative and very gripping account not just of the hero Magellas, but what the "regular H company" soldiers, if there are such a thing, felt and experienced. Interesting to get the narratives from others to spice up Magellas remarkable memory some 50+ years later. The detail is amazing for a book written so recently.Honest & to the point was refreshing in a politically correct world (i.e Tony Blair would not appreciate getting a copy of the Market Garden chapter from George Bush II). As a young person by comparison and a student of history, I am fascinated by how much these men accomplished relative to our concerns today. Puts our "wired world" into prespective.
Rating:
Summary: A first-hand account from a man who was there
Review: I am an avid reader of WWII history and have been especially interested in the ETO. I have read all of the late Stephen Ambrose's WWII offerings and particularly liked the way Ambrose would quote the soldiers so that the reader could get a better understanding of what it was like to really be there. As much as I respect Ambrose's writings, he wasn't there. Maggie was. James Megellas (Maggie) tells it like it was, and pulls no punches. Through his writing, I was able to gain insight into his thoughts and emotions before, during and after battle in a way that no third party author could convey to a reader. I had the pleasure of meeting James Megellas recently in Dallas and am proud to say that I shook the hand of a true American hero. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to know what it really like to fight in the ETO in WWII.
Rating:
Summary: A first-hand account from a man who was there
Review: I am an avid reader of WWII history and have been especially interested in the ETO. I have read all of the late Stephen Ambrose's WWII offerings and particularly liked the way Ambrose would quote the soldiers so that the reader could get a better understanding of what it was like to really be there. As much as I respect Ambrose's writings, he wasn't there. Maggie was. James Megellas (Maggie) tells it like it was, and pulls no punches. Through his writing, I was able to gain insight into his thoughts and emotions before, during and after battle in a way that no third party author could convey to a reader. I had the pleasure of meeting James Megellas recently in Dallas and am proud to say that I shook the hand of a true American hero. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to know what it really like to fight in the ETO in WWII.
Rating:
Summary: The Best WWII Autobiography I've Read
Review: I am an avid student of history, especially military history. I have read literally hundreds of books about WWII. This is without a doubt the best account of what war at the level of the infantryman is like. Mr. Megellas fought with the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 82nd Airborne Division from Anzio to Holland to The Ardennes (Bulge) to Germany. He and his Co. H troopers were in the first wave in what many have called the second Omaha beach; the epic crossing of the Waal River in Nijmegen, Holland to capture the massive railroad and highway bridges. This was actually the first crossing of the Rhine River by an allied unit. It was arguably the greatest feat of arms in WWII. The accounts of Mr. Megellas and his men tell this story better than any I've read. They literally take you into the middle of the battle as they describe the crossing and the assault on the bridges. Another very unigue part of the book is telling the story the 3rd Battlion played in the capture of Cheneux, Belgium where the 504th was the first American unit to defeat the 1st SS Panzer Division's Kampfgruppe Peiper during the Battle of the Bulge. This was the armored spearhead of the German effort in the Battle of the Bulge. This book weaves many accounts of the men of Co. H 504th PIR together without redundancy. You not only read about the combat, but the daily struggle to survive under the harshest of elements in the winter of 1944-45 without adequate winter clothing, the constant search for food, and the lack of sleep day after day while being subjected to a deadly game where your reflexes and senses needed to be sharp just to survive. You learn about the inner thoughts of the men. How the loss of their own brothers in other units on other battlefields affected them. You gain an understanding of how these men were closer than brothers, where each man's life depended on the courage of his fellow paratroopers. These paratroopers were among the best fighting men that any country has ever produced. This book tells their story in a very riveting fashion with no phoney heroics. But, if you want to know what real heroism is, then read this book. If you enjoyed T. Moffatt Burriss' "Strike and Hold" you will certainly enjoy this book. If "Saving Private Ryan" opened your eyes to the sacrifice of the WWII combat veterans, then this book is a must read.
Rating:
Summary: Compelling account of personal wartime experiences.
Review: I found it to be a compelling account of the writers personal wartime experiences. I was additionally impressed with how expertly he intertwined stories from other soldiers in his platoon. It was such an easy read and filled with so many entertaining anecdotes and stories. This book was very enlightening and explained many reasons why war is not to be viewed as glamorous but at times, is a necessary evil.
Rating:
Summary: An Extraordinary Memoir
Review: I have read over a hundred WWII memoirs. Most were marginally interesting but otherwise unremarkable. James Megellas' "All the Way to Berlin", however, is exceptional. I would rank it along with E.B. Sledge's "With the Old Breed at Peleliu and Okinawa" as the best of ordinary combat soldiers' memoirs. His description of the attack across the Waal River in Operation Market-Garden is worth the price of book alone. His willingness to write frankly about the brutality of combat is in stark contrast to many of the sugarcoated memories written in the decade following VE day. It is, without doubt, an important contribution destined to become a "classic".
Rating: 
Summary: A Self-proclaimed Hero
Review: I'll be the first person to say that the men and women who served our country faithfully during World War II and other times of war deserve the utmost gratitude and respect. The sacrifices they made in the past allow us to live happy freedom filled lives and we should forever be thankful for those sacrifices. With this being said I was extremely disappointed when I read James Megellas's book about his experiences in the 82nd Airborne. I thoroughly enjoy reading personal accounts about someone's experiences in WWII and especially paratroopers in the European Theatre. However, I felt as though Mr. Megellas made a fairly obvious attempt to glorify the actions he undertook during the war. On numerous occasions he would tell the reader the number of people he himself killed during certain battles or missions. While it is he own personal account of what happened and maybe to him the number of Germans he killed was something he felt he needed to share, I on the other hand felt as though his book was no more than just an attempt to make himself out to be this glorified hero of war. In a letter to his sister Megellas tells her that he doesn't like recuperating in England because he is a platoon leader that needs to be on the frontlines. If there's a war to be fought I would more than gladly volunteer to fight for my country, however it seems as though Megellas is looking for a fight and he wants his readers to know that. I don't know Mr. Megellas personally but from reading his book I feel as though instead of telling his story and then letting the reader sit back and say, wow what a great man he was because he put his life on the line for freedom and he made sacrifices I could never imagine, Megellas instead made that statement for you throughout the entire book. While the book did have a good story line and its accurate detail of the war in which he fought Megellas angered me as I read the book and made me in a way wish I hadn't read it in the first place. To me this book is just one last pat on his own back for him, and instead of letting people here his story and be thankful to him, he thanked himself by writing this book and to me thats not what I think a true hero should do. Thank you to all of those who have bravely and humbly served their country over the years, there sacrifices are greatly appreciated and they are true hero's.
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