Rating: 
Summary: reality
Review: Beyond Valor is an important book for all to read. This is one of the few books that acutally details history in the eyes of those who served. The personal descriptions of the "Battle of Bulge" enables the reader to appreciate the battle more then reading a high school history book's description of the battle. Beyond Valor demonstrates that no matter what time in history, wars are very serious matters and the actual people doing the fighting will most likely end up wounded or dead. It is unfortunate that the dead cannot also tell their stories. Beyond Valor is a masterpiece that students of history should read. I just hope that future generations will appreciate the sacrifices made by the kids that grew up during the Great Depression.
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Summary: A Band of Brothers
Review: Beyond Valor is by far the best oral history of WWII, and I've read all of them. The author does a masterful job of weaving their stories together with his own narrative. As someone who occupation revolves around oral history, I was most impressed by the way he provided minimal editing to their voices which are candid and give the reader a sense that your in the foxhole with these men. Smell, taste, and feelings toward their war that many of these men have buried for nearly sixty years come alive in this amazing book. I highly recommend it!
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Summary: ONE OF THE MOST GRAPHIC AND COMPELLING WWII BOOKS WRITTEN
Review: Beyond Valor is one of the most graphic and compelling accounts of WWII ever produced. And I've read nearly every oral/narrative I could get my hands on. These are stories that are not told in "polite company" Many veterans could share with their families and have remained buried for 55 years until they were unearthed by the author. A massacre that took place in the on Christmas Eve during the Bulge. "We had twenty-two SS prisoners. One of the German prisoners was very well educated - an officer that went to school in the United States. It was right there a matter of elimination. There were about eight or ten American soldiers. It was just doing a job and it was over." Few if any books published on WWII touch upon such taboo subjects. Dick Durkee's attack on Rochelinval "I yelled bring up the men and the answer I got from my runner I'll never forget: "Sir they're all dead."
The bodies of the men were all over the place, in all kinds of positions. Some were laying face up with sightless eyes, others face down..." The Ranger charge on Hill 400 "...bayonets shinning, hip firing, and yelling a battle cry that probably goes back through the eons of time we charged into the jaws of death. I know that I will never see a more brave and glorious sight. It was for me indeed a moment of being proud to be a Ranger." The book uncovers the untold story of the death of Darby's Rangers at Cisterna were the Rangers were used as human shields. "The Germans kept shouting., "Surrender or we will shoot the prisoner!" [The Rangers were placed in front of German tanks to coax other Rangers into surrendering.] The Germans immediately sprayed the column, killing several Rangers in cold blood. There's incredible escape stories such as Roland Rondeau's escape from a suicide mission on El Djem bridge in North Africa. Ray Gonzalez's haunting experience is another example of one of the unforgettable stories in the book. "I still feel so bad because I remember a young soldier, he couldn't have been more than 17 or 18, and he begged me not to shot him but I shot him anyways." The 506th's advance into Son in Holland: "They were literally blown to pieces. One of my buddies... his head was split in half. The other half of his head was sticking up in a tree limb. ...part of his face still had his eye in it and was staring down at me. I stood up and brought it down and put it inside his shirt and buttoned it up tight so the graves people could find it." ALL of the stories in BEYOND VALOR are heart wrenching and compelling. I felt like I was there with these men as they relived the war. I couldn't put the book down!!
Rating:
Summary: Five Stars!
Review: Beyond Valor is one the the best books I've ever read. It captures the heroism of American young men who risked everything to spearhead victory in WWII. These men are the few remaining heroes we have, in an age when we are surrounded by false heroes such as sports and rock stars. We have a duty to honor them and preserve their stories. Too many Americans, particularly young Americans, do not know and understand what these men went through for our country and the world. These men are also forerunners to the same elite units: 101st Airborne, Rangers, and Special Forces that are protecting our freedom today. Freedom is not free and these men (and their comrades who did not return)paid the ultimate price for the freedom we enjoy today. I'll have a different perspective on Memorial Day. I also found Mr. O'Donnell's recent book on the Pacific, INTO THE RISING SUN, excellent and hard to put down.
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding
Review: Beyond Valor is simply one of the best first person, World War II books published in the last 5 years. The author portrays the life of the ranger and the airborne troops not in his words, but instead in their words. He does something other historians have failed to do and that is to simply shut up and allow the people who fought the war to tell what it was like. He hits all of the major campaigns, North Africa, D-Day, Italy, Battle of the Bulge, Market Garden and the famous Hill 400. While writing this, he does not interject his own assumptions and theories of what happened, instead he guides the reader as if he is performing a lecture to a classroom. This is where the author's strength arises. He does not keep on talking. He simply cuts off and let's the veterans tell their story, and what a story it is! The veterans tell about the power of friendships, the fear of 88 mm shells coming at your foxhole, the horrors of watching a friend die, what it feels like to be wounded, and they even discuss how hard it is to get over the war. By the time the book is over the reader will have a sense of how horrible war is and how much it should be avoided. This is simply one of the best first person World War II books on the market today. Patrick O'donnell should be proud of what he has created. Pro: 1) The author allows the veterans to tell their tales 2) Great Readability 3) Great Maps help guide even the novice of World War II students Cons: NONE
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Summary: daughter of airborne
Review: BEYOND VALOR provided me a realistic insight into the souls of those who have put themselves in harm's way for their country. It goes beyond this, however, providing those of us who have never, and will hopefully never, have to experience the ordeals of war. Many movies and books depict war in a glorious, romantic and strategic fashion, glossing over the ugliness and barbaric truths of battle. Reading this book brings to light these truths, and reveals that after 50 years, many of the men who survived WWII continue to wrestle with the ghosts of war. Thank you Pat O'Donnell for writing this true gift of a book. Jacqueline (daughter of one of the men depicted in BEYOND VALOR)
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Summary: Excellent book.
Review: Excellent book, I definitely recommend it. Most rewarding of all, is that exactly as the author states in his introduction, the narrative, in the veteran's own words, takes the reader to the middle of the action, whether it be tragic or heroic. How the author tracked down these veterans and coaxed them into sharing their personal histories, some for the first time in sixty years, is beyond me, and an achievement in itself; the book and what it represents in terms of historical value and human interest is invaluable. I do wish that the maps had been larger, but that might have been a function of the publisher and not the author. In fact the maps are exceptional in that they are quite detailed, and extremely accurate. The author, Mr. O'Donnell, has succeded in striking a very effective balance between his own narrative and that of the veteran's oral histories. Very well done. I'll be looking forward to future books from this author.
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Summary: jack airborne
Review: Finally, a documentary that captures the impossible. No movie "mumbo jumbo", no mincing of words. Pat O'Donnell in his first effort, BEYOND VALOR, has hit on the formula, conveying as closely as possible the gut feeling of the front-line combat soldier. This book will stir the soul of the reader, and is must reading for Americans of any generation...
Rating: 
Summary: Great oral history but questionable editing
Review: Having worked in the realm of WWII oral history, I was excited to see this book hit the shelves. I was all the more eager to read it after learning of its subject matter: the elite Army units of the ETO. While many have heard of the vaunted 82nd and 101st, as well as the Rangers, very few (namely, those who saw William Holden in "The Devil's Brigade") are aware of the 1st Special Service Force, the forebearer to today's Special Forces. In describing the experiences of the members of these units, the author has done an excellent job of comprehensively following the progress of the war in the ETO as it was experienced by his contributors. My problem with this book lies with the editing and perhaps the author's method of gathering his stories. In short, the stories were too polished to have been actual transcriptions of the veterans, yet the book contains very few editing notes (ellipses, parentheticals, etc.) While those stories related via the internet could possibly be smoothly written, those received via interviews are often pock-marked with pauses, repeated statements, and candid language. The stories, however, did not reflect this; instead they read like the grammar police had completely re-written them in today's English. In sum, a great effort which will appeal to those strictly interested in a historical thrill, but a bit of a disappointment for those expecting serious and developed oral history.
Rating: 
Summary: WHERE"S THE BEEF? II
Review: I BOUGHT THIS BOOK THROUGH THE MILITARY BOOK CLUB BECAUSE OF ALL THE POSITIVE AMAZON REVIEWS. BOY WAS I IN FOR A SURPRISE. THIS BOOK CONSIST OF LITTLE STORIES WRITTEN OR NARRATED BY AIRBORNE, RANGER AND SPECIAL FORCE PERSONNEL. IT'S JUST THAT, LITTLE STORIES BUT WITH NO DEPTH. I AGREE WITH OTHER REVIEWS THAT ASK, "WHERE IS THE BEEF?" THE STORIES MAY HAVE BEEN INTENSE AT THE TIME BUT THEY DO NOT COME ACROSS LIKE THAT. THE MATERIAL READS LIKE A LONG, AND VERY BORING LETTER. NO BACK GROUND (NONE!) IS GIVEN TO EACH BATTLE AND THE READER IS LOST UNLESS HE/SHE ALREADY IS AWARE OF THE BATTLE WHICH IS EXPLAINED. THESE STORIES ARE NOT FILLED WITH HORROR OR TRAGIDY LIKE JOSEPH SPRINGER'S ORAL HISTORY THE BLACK DEVIL BRIGADE... I HAVE LEARNED O'DONNEL IS DOING ANOTHER BOOK LIKE THIS ABOUT THE PACIFIC WAR. I HOPE HE ASK HARDER QUESTIONS. MAYBE TH MARINES WILL TELL IT LIKE IT IS.
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