Rating: 
Summary: Long lost book returns
Review: I have thought about this book for years. I read it at some point in the past- probably in the early seventies when I was in middle school or HS- and to this day I remember it as one of the most captivating "reads" I have ever had. I have not yet re-read it, but now through the power of the net I have found one of my old friends. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
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Summary: 20+ years of memories.
Review: I originally read this book when I was 13 or 14 under the title "As Eagles Screamed." I found the book in, of all places, a 7-11 on a rack of other WWII oriented paperbacks. I bought the book because of the cover and because it was the only one I found that was a true story. I'm dyslexic and reading was very difficult for me during those years but I absolutely couldn't stop reading this book. It took a long time for a relatively short book, but every free second I had I went to this book. I gave the book to everyone I knew but when I went to look for more copies, I couldn't find them. I'm 35 now and honestly a year hasn't gone by where I didn't at one time or another think about this book. While watching "Saving Private Ryan," my mind kept going back to this book. A week ago I was at a local bookstore when I caught the word CURRAHEE! in big red letters out of the corner of my eye. I almost dropped the books I had in my hand. I ran to the book wondering if someone else had stolen his title or could it possibly be that book I had loved so many years ago. I knew "As Eagles Screamed" had originally been published as "CURRAHEE!" but I couldn't be sure and couldn't remember the author's name. I checked the copyright dates and it didn't mention "As Eagles Screamed" anywhere. I scanned through the Introduction and the Forward but no mention. Finally on the inside back flap I found what I had been looking for, it was the book. It was like meeting a best friend I hadn't seen in years. I bought both copies they had. I haven't read it again yet; I'm reading another book and I won't start one until I'm finished with the previous one. I can't wait to read it again. I was afraid that maybe my youth and the years since had clouded my judgment about the book but I having read other reviews here I know I'm right. When I finish it again, I'll post another review.
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Summary: Currahee!: A historical treasure.
Review: I read Currahee! for the first time as a teenager in the early 1970s then a second time just after touring Normandy in 1975. It was then and remains to this day a historical treasure. The book motivated me to go on to become a paratrooper (now a master parachutist.) Nearly a quarter of a century later I'm serving as a U.S. Diplomat and Special Forces Reserve Lieutenant Colonel. Now living in Europe, I visit the 101st's battlefields often and try to pass on the lessons of history to my children. I like to think that guys like me are carrying on in the spirit of Burgett and his band of brothers to whom mankind owes a debt of gratitude.
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Summary: Revisiting an old friend
Review: I read this book back in the 70's, I must have checked this book out of the libary at least a half a dozen times. I was in a bookstore just last night when I caught the book title out of the corner of my eye. I started to re-read the book right then & there and it came to me why I enjoyed this book so long ago. Its the realism, I felt I was right beside the author from jump school to the training in England prior D-Day. Anyone who wants to understand the life of a foot soldier in WWII this is a must read. I bought Currahee and his 2 new books! I can't wait to finish re-reading his first book and then start the other two.
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Summary: Bordering on the unreal!
Review: I read this book in a 4 hour layover recently. It is thrilling, it is terrifying, it is bloody, it is the invasion of Normandy through the eyes of a paratrooper. This book is as much a look into the battle as it is a glimpse into the mind of a young man superbly trained to be a remorseless killer, a soldier's soldier.Probably the most terrifying moment in the book for me was when Mr. Burgett's MG loader took a round in the head with a "plock" sound. The emotional distance Mr. Burgett expresses over the death of his comrade (friend) is astonishing. The general acceptance of death as an inevitable part of combat, a truly casual acceptance of it are never expressed but clearly evident. This is no coincidence since you've already read about Mr. Burgett's training to become an elite paratrooper. There are bayonet charges, paratroops dying in droves, firefights at the distance of mere yards, this book captures the unreality of what a combatant experiences and unleashes one upon the another. This book is a quick and easy read that you'll never forget.
Rating: 
Summary: Great heroics, but not a great book.
Review: If I were to award stars based on the heroics contained within the pages or Currahee!, I'd have to award 5-stars. Unfortunately, I have to rate the book based on how well this personal account of the Normandy engagement was told and whether or not it was very engaging. With that in mind, I'd probably rate the book between 2 1/2 and 3 stars. My biggest problem with the book is that the author attempts to cover too much material in too small a book. The end result is I never really felt connected on a personal level and the story comes off as disjointed. Currahee has thee chapters; Training for Combat, Waiting for Combat, and Combat. While there is some interesting content in each of the chapters, the first two chapters are too long in my opinion and water down the main story by leaving only a mere 119 pages to discuss his account at Normandy. Thus the final chapter contains several very detailed accounts of the battle which end up fitting loosely together. Probably what hampered me the most while I was reading Currahee! was that I kept wishing it could have been written as well another book which I'd read, GUNS UP by Johnny M. Clark. You must read GUNS UP to really understand what a compelling, first hand account should be.
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Summary: WAIT A MINUTE!!!
Review: If you havn't read this book you are in for a treat!
With the recent release of Ambrose' 'Band of Brothers' on HBO there has been an overdue increase of interest in the Screaming Eagles of WWII. This book is what first interested me. This is the first in a series of four books written by a regular trooper of the 101st...And what a series it is. This set is considered by most to be one of the best memoirs ever written about war. Here is exposed the fear and tradgedy of a real battlefield. Burgett has you on the edge of your seat for the entire ride from the unbearable training in the hot Southern sun to the terrors of D-Day and the battle around Carentan. This is no holds barred, exposed in all its raw detailed writing at its best!
Please be sure to couple this book with the next three, including the number one WWII book (in my opinion), Seven roads to Hell. Together this set allows an unforgettable glimpse into the life of a WWII paratrooper!
If you want the complete experience, read 'Rendezvous with Destiny' (see my review) for the complete unit history of the 101st, and do so before this memoir.
Rating: 
Summary: Great war book
Review: In my opinion, Currahee! is an incredible novel. Never in my life have I read something so incredibly real. The details that Burgett puts into this to describe the deaths and other horrors that he witnesses are amazing. I had a hard time putting it down because there was non-stop action throughout. It was one attack after another, and there were many suspenseful scenes as Burgett himself became close to being a victim of the war. It was also very interesting to get an in-depth view of the constant training that goes into becoming a Paratrooper. I knew that these guys had to work hard, but never did I even think that it was so tough on them and the physical activity was so incredible.
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Summary: Without fanfare
Review: Just like the real thing, the author tells his story without fanfare. No Hollywood special effects, music, embellishments, etc., this reads just like you're sitting with Burgett over a cup of coffee and a game of checkers as he recounts the horrors he and his "buddies" went through to rid the world of fascism. I agree with the other positive things said about this book on his page, so let me let the author speak for himself in a few quick, unforgettable excerpts, as this book has many:
After breaking his leg on his first practice jump: "The only way I could travel was to lie on my side, throw the chute forward, crawl to it, and repeat the procedure over and over again. Finally another jeep came up and this time a sergeant leaned over the steering wheel and said, 'That's the spirit we like around here,' and then drove off. I crawled for what seemed to be hours."
On the early morning hours of June 6, 1944, having just dropped behind enemy lines: "Another plane came in diagonally over the field....then I saw vague, shadowy figures of troopers plunging downward. Their chutes were pulling out of the pack trays and just starting to unfurl when they hit the ground. Seventeen men hit the ground before their chutes had time to open. 'That dirty SOB pilot,' I swore to myself, 'he's hedgehopping and killing a bunch of troopers just to save his own ass. I hope he gets shot down in the Channel and drowns real slow.'"
War is hell: "The two German prisoners tried to climb the steep bank behind them, but just as they got to the top, Brininstool fired his tommy gun. Both of them slid down, whirled around, and were slammed back against the bank so hard by the .45 slugs that their eyes popped out of their sockets and hung down on their cheeks. What kept them standing is a mystery to me, but neither one fell. They just stood in a leaning position, side by side against the dirt wall, with arms hanging loosely at their sides. From the expressions on their faces they must have just looked through the open gates of hell."
Near the end of his time in Normandy: "Suddenly a strange smell came to our noses and wisps of a funny looking smoke crept over the hedges from our left. It clung close to the ground and moved slowly toward us. Phillips looked back at me. His eyes were round and wide. 'Gas,' he exclaimed. 'What'll we do now?' 'Nothing,' I said. 'Just stay here and die, I guess. I wish I had my gas mask now.' 'So do I,' said Phillips and Benson together. They had been the first things we had thrown away."
I did not preselect the above excerpts. I literally spent a very few minutes leafing through the book, finding a striking passage, and typing it for you. Burgett's experiences are all as rich as the above, about 200 pages' worth in paperback packed with such horrific stories that make one truly appreciate the sacrifices and bravery of such men in that era and, by extension, the current one.
My only nitpick with the book is that the author several times mentions an event without giving the result; for example, the two paratroopers who got into a drunken knife fight and were taken to the hospital by the MPs. Their fate is never revealed beyond being taken from the bar, and surely the camp was abuzz with stories about them; for some reason, we don't know whatever became of them. This is still a five-star book, however, because of the matter-of-fact tone and unmistakeable realism with which Burgett tells his remarkable tale. Very highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: "What was it like?"
Review: Nobody but a combat soldier can answer the question: "What was it like?" For those of us who have never experienced battle we can only try to imagine it. Mr. Burgett urges us to hunker down into his foxhole as the carnage of noman's land drops onto our laps like a screaming mortar shell. His unbelievable experiences make for a series of WWII memoirs unsurpassed in their vivid telling. I have read all four of his books-in chronological order-and I cannot imagine a more genuine and descriptive account of a trooper's brutal experiences in the European theater of WWII. I wish I could meet the man to shake his hand. His dedication and sense of honor and sacrifice make me proud to be an American, and very grateful indeed for having known of such combat men as Donald R. Burgett.
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