David Kenyon Webster (1922–1961)

I can see why this well-written war memoir was rejected by publishers just after WWII -- Webster is simply too honest about his feelings about the army, the Germans (whom he hates, but whose industriousness he comes to admire), the French, officers and war.

It's a fairly gritty look at life in one of the most-decorated units in WWII -- yet one written from a fairly realistic (or perhaps jaded) -- perspective.

Those who read or watched "Band of Brothers" will recognize many of the combat show more situations, yet they're told from a subtly different perspective.

Sadly, Webster died in 1961 (lost while shark fishing from a small boat off the California coast) so this memoir offers some holes (he details his D-Day drop in Normandy, but we read almost nothing of the battles that came in the days after).

Still, it's interesting reading from someone who was being as frank as he could be about war and soldiering, and it's an engrossing read. show less

No nonsense and honest account of civilians at war from a very literary person. Webster had studied English Literature at Harvard prior to enlisting in the paratroops and he paints a detailed picture of the men he encountered who he probably would not have met in civilian life. He has no time for the Army and its rules and in general had a poor view of the officers with the exception of Winters and Spiers whom he admired. His views on the people and countries in which he fought are show more illuminating and he had a talent and keen eye for observation on the human experience in the extreme conditions of warfare. A memoir to read again and again. show less

Very personal memoir of an American WW2 soldier who vehemently disliked everything about the military but did his job from Normandy to Berchtesgaden. As Stephen Ambrose said in his intro; this book demonstrate two important strengths, Webster's honesty and his ability to describe his fellow soldiers. A Harvard English Literature major, Webster met and developed strong bonds with people he would have never known or associated with prior to or after his army experience.

This was a good book for learning day to day operations of soldiers, and how many of them felt, or at least acted like they felt, during WWII. It had lots of Webster's memories of how conversations went, down to the swearing and bantering. Webster was in a lot of action so overall the book detailed a pretty big chunk of war time life, but it got a little repetitive and prolix on the mundane daily life. What's weird is that Webster apparently went to war with the idea of writing a book show more afterwards, but then ends up writing about how much he "hated" the military, and officers, etc. etc. ... so was he writing like that because he was trying to get across the general feeling of the soldiers? It sounded pretty ingenuous actually, especially since he over and over wrote of how much he hated it. It got old... fast.

Overall, any war buffs will probably like this detailed account of day-to-day WWII life but I found the over emphasis on negative dishonest and boring. Without that emphasis I think it would have been better. But, hey, I suppose in historical terms it's good to have a record of the mundane daily life. show less