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.
Rating: 
Summary: Very enjoyable read...
Review: I've read a lot of books on World War II, and All the Way to Berlin is one of the better ones I've seen. I particularly enjoyed the book's 'through the gunsights' perspective. This one defintely belongs on your bookshelf if you like books of this genre.
Rating:
Summary: Very enjoyable read...
Review: I've read a lot of books on World War II, and All the Way to Berlin is one of the better ones I've seen. I particularly enjoyed the book's 'through the gunsights' perspective. This one defintely belongs on your bookshelf if you like books of this genre.
Rating:
Summary: If you liked Band of Brothers, you'll love this book
Review: James Megellas has done a wonderful job of blending action, human interest, and history together with a refreshing first- hand perspective. He pulls no punches in telling you in detail what he and the other paratroopers were thinking and doing while on the front lines. What Dick Winters (Band of Brothers) was to E/506, Megellas was to H/504.The action is sparingly interspersed with poignant reflections about the role of the paratrooper during WWII. On page 72, for example, Megellas comments very honestly on the meaning of "War is Hell" to a paratrooper compared to commentators who have never been in battle. A commentary on page 85 based on a speech Eisenhower made to the troops in England I found to be insightful as well. H Company did it all in WWII, which makes this book especially significant from a historical perspective. Regarding the crossing of the Waal River, Megellas says on page 139: "In daring and heroics, it was a feat perhaps unequaled by American forces anywhere in World War II." There are many accounts in this book I have not seen elsewhere including of how my uncle, S/Sgt David "Rosie" Rosenkrantz, was killed in Holland a week after the Waal River crossing. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to read real stories of what what happened to our fighting men in WWII. (By Dr. Phil Rosenkrantz, Cal Poly University, Pomona)
Rating:
Summary: Just an honest paratrooper
Review: Some may say Megellas is self-congratulatory, brutal, tasteless.
Others will say he is an ultimate hero. His own account indicates
to me he is like many men, somewhere between hero and villain. And his account is above all else, frank and honest. Megellas was not a cook, senior officer, engineer. His
Military Occupational Specialty was as he says plainly to "kill
Germans". Megellas makes it clear that persevering amidst so
much death required an unpleasant "kill or be killed", "war is
hell" mentality. Megellas admits he was brutal but that so were
the Germans and that killing can get personal if a buddy is killed. If you like the clean Patton, Ike, Hollywood portrayals of D-Day
and Market Garden, this book is not for you. He doesn't hide his
grunt's contempt for higher-ups (Colonels and higher) or rear
echelon support types. Nor does he hide the savage behavior of
war-hardened troopers: looting dead Germans, his own stealing of wine from a church. The book is good for authentic accounts of patrols, army jargon,
equipment (US and German), tactics, etc. Those who liked Band of
Brothers may like this. I sure did. Is this book a glorification of war or a condemnation of its
brutality?? It's hard to tell! The author disliked patriots at
home who had an innocent view of war but he says clearly that
the Germans and Italians deserved what they got.
Rating:
Summary: blowhard
Review: this book is a FIRST. the first memoir by a WW2 combat veteran who wrote home boasting of the number of men he killed. He was NOT the most decorated 82nd airborne soldier. As a WW2 infantry veteran myself, I respect his sacrifice but he is nevertheless a windbag.
Rating:
Summary: A war story not just for the guys...
Review: What a great book! I never expected to enjoy a war story when I first picked up this book, which I did at the insistence of my husband. I was wrong, and he was right. This book puts you on the front lines of some of the major battles of WWII. But the details of the battle are wrapped in the story of what it was like to be a paratrooper on a daily basis -- what you did or didn't get to eat, the letters to and from home, the camaraderie that develops when your life is in someone else's hands. This is a book that I will read again.
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