Roll Me Over

Rating:
Summary: Roll Me Over
Review: I am a veteran of the 78th Infantry Div., and have written about this same period of time. I find this book very well written and quite authenic. Mr. Gantter was a very intelligent man, and I would have liked to meet him.

Rating:
Summary: Provides a good insight into the ordinary GI's WWII exper'ce
Review: I compare this book with those of Don Burgett (CURRAHEE! & SEVEN ROADS TO HELL) and Ross S. Carter (THOSE DEVILS IN BAGGY PANTS), paratroopers in WWII. Gantter was not one of the gung-ho elite paratroops of the 101st or the 82nd, and he didn't participate in the desperate kinds of actions the paratroopers saw, but he experienced his share of fighting and misery from northern France to the Bulge and on into Das Reich. While I prefer the books of Burgett and Carter (you can't match them for vivid and wrenching personal accounts of hand-to-hand death struggles with the toughest of nazi troops), many readers will relate to Gantter's story--perhaps more than they might to that of the tougher, better trained paratroops, with their elite warrior attitudes. He conveys the emotion of the ordinary GI (although one with a college degree-rare in WWII front-line GI's) who finds himself killing other men, and who reflects a lot on the maelstrom he's caught up in (though he doesn't question the cause). This book should be read in conjunction with Stephen Ambrose's "CITIZEN SOLDIER", though Ambrose somehow missed this book, for he doesn't include Raymond Gantter's work as a source for his extensively researched WWII books. This is an omission that Raymond Gantter doesn't deserve, for he was definitely one of America's WWII "citizen soldiers".

Rating:
Summary: Provides a good insight into the ordinary GI's WWII exper'ce
Review: I compare this book with those of Don Burgett (CURRAHEE! & SEVEN ROADS TO HELL) and Ross S. Carter (THOSE DEVILS IN BAGGY PANTS), paratroopers in WWII. Gantter was not one of the gung-ho elite paratroops of the 101st or the 82nd, and he didn't participate in the desperate kinds of actions the paratroopers saw, but he experienced his share of fighting and misery from northern France to the Bulge and on into Das Reich. While I prefer the books of Burgett and Carter (you can't match them for vivid and wrenching personal accounts of hand-to-hand death struggles with the toughest of nazi troops), many readers will relate to Gantter's story--perhaps more than they might to that of the tougher, better trained paratroops, with their elite warrior attitudes. He conveys the emotion of the ordinary GI (although one with a college degree-rare in WWII front-line GI's) who finds himself killing other men, and who reflects a lot on the maelstrom he's caught up in (though he doesn't question the cause). This book should be read in conjunction with Stephen Ambrose's "CITIZEN SOLDIER", though Ambrose somehow missed this book, for he doesn't include Raymond Gantter's work as a source for his extensively researched WWII books. This is an omission that Raymond Gantter doesn't deserve, for he was definitely one of America's WWII "citizen soldiers".

Rating:
Summary: A hero sure, but still a jerk....
Review: I found this book to be an interesting read and even enjoyable if you can get past the author's continual opinionated drivel. After the second chapter, I almost pitched this one in the trash can, but the story actually developed as the book progressed. The author states his opinions fully throughout the book, and if the reader has similar opinions, the book would be grand! He complains more about his fellow infantrymen than he does the enemy; not someone I would like to share a foxhole with. This is certainly not a book of tactics in warfare, but a book of complaining in warfare. To hear him tell it, it's a wonder the allies won the war! Finally, the book is titled incorrectly. Something like "The personal story of..." would be more applicable. Yet I did enjoy the author's account of the combat, and his contact with civilains, and therefore gave it a 3 star rating.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent first person account of a dog-face's war.
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Having read many military histories, it is refreshing to read a common soldier's (with uncommon perception) view of the war. What I most enjoyed was the descriptions of small unit tactics and logistics that are often overlooked by professional military historians. I have often heard it said that war is a hours of boredom punctuated with moments of sheer terror. I think Mr. Ganttner conveys this sense admirably. Well worth the time to read.

Rating:
Summary: Best of it's kind
Review: I've read other first-hand accounts and none other stacks up the way this one does. Others tell only of their experiences, Gantter's "holier-than-thou" approach (as another reviewer put it) in some of his philophizing is valid because it's humans who are at war, not robots. Humans question and wonder and review and it's completely natural. This book put a different, almost more human twist on the experiences of war. He's telling me not only how he feels through his experiences, but why. Not everyone will enjoy this format but to get a full picture I believe this book will fill many gaps.

Rating:
Summary: Best of it's kind
Review: I've read other first-hand accounts and none other stacks up the way this one does. Others tell only of their experiences, Gantter's "holier-than-thou" approach (as another reviewer put it) in some of his philophizing is valid because it's humans who are at war, not robots. Humans question and wonder and review and it's completely natural. This book put a different, almost more human twist on the experiences of war. He's telling me not only how he feels through his experiences, but why. Not everyone will enjoy this format but to get a full picture I believe this book will fill many gaps.

Rating:
Summary: A must for any WW2 library
Review: If you are like me and constantly expanding your WW2 library than this is definitely one to add. It is a great personal account of the ETO from Sept 44 to the surrender 9 months later, written as a journal on scraps of paper during the war and preserved until later to be pieced together for this book. So what you have is an actual diary account and not one written by a vet years later when the memory has faded some. Despite what other reviewers may say the author fills this book with very fluid descriptions and has very candid and common opinions on the war, other soldiers, and the enemy. It is not all action packed but it gives you something most WW2 books miss...an actual feel for what it was like for the GI day by day. Pick this one up, you won't regret it.

Rating:
Summary: A must for any WW2 library
Review: If you are like me and constantly expanding your WW2 library than this is definitely one to add. It is a great personal account of the ETO from Sept 44 to the surrender 9 months later, written as a journal on scraps of paper during the war and preserved until later to be pieced together for this book. So what you have is an actual diary account and not one written by a vet years later when the memory has faded some. Despite what other reviewers may say the author fills this book with very fluid descriptions and has very candid and common opinions on the war, other soldiers, and the enemy. It is not all action packed but it gives you something most WW2 books miss...an actual feel for what it was like for the GI day by day. Pick this one up, you won't regret it.

Rating:
Summary: Ive read it cover to cover 4 times!
Review: Ramond Gantter's "Roll Me Over, An Infantryman's World War II", is truley a wonderfull book. I have read it from cover to cover 4 times, and im working on my 5th. It includes reflection upon one mans thoughts and soul, as well as cant-put-the-book-down-action. It is a very powerfull book. So much so, when i get a snack, i feel lucky to be able to munch on what ever, instead of a D-bar, or C rations.