After Les Miserables I needed a book I could run through a little quicker. The Liberator by Alex Kershaw has been on my list and it was a good fit. This book came on my radar when the Wall Street Journal reviewed it in their daily op-ed section. I get a lot of books off the Wall Street Journal and the Economist reviews. This caught my eye because I recalled hearing this story in person twenty years ago in a hospital in Enid, Oklahoma.
The gentlemen telling me the story was Sam Vogel who had been in World War II with the 45th Division. We were in the waiting area of the hospital, sadly standing by as a family member was passing away. I asked Sam about his service in the war. Maybe since he knew I served he decided to share. Over the next hour or two Sam shares this amazing story of shipping out of NYC on a ship to Africa. In Africa his group trained for a beach landing in Sicily, captured the island then made a beach landing in Italy. His group fought its way from the beaches of southern Italy. They then made another beach landing in southern France. From southern France they entered Germany and fought their way towards Berlin. Unfortunately, they were tasked with liberating Dachau and their drive stalled near Munich as they dealt with the grim realities of the prison camp. Needless to say I was simply stunned. He's entire discussion was a, just doing what we needed to do, tone.
Anyhow, the Liberator is actually the story of the 45th Division going through the fight that Sam told me about. How crazy is that. So I picked the book up for a read. It's an easy read so if you are a WWII buff you need to pick it up. Some quick input on Kershaw's writing and research - average at best.
The story follows a gentlemen, Felix Sparks, who was a country kid that grew up in Miami, Arizona. The 45th Division was comprised of units from Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Oklahoma. Spark's unit was the 157th Infantry Regiment based out of Arizona. Sparks is a typical young man fighting his way through the great depression. The military ends up being his out of poverty and route to opportunity. After going through the war he ends up being a lawyer in Colorado.
As you read the story it brings back the crazy sacrifice that all of these men made. The cold reality is if you were in an front line infantry unit during the war your odds of not being a casualty of some sort was very low. Sparks (an officer) goes through two battles where he loses almost every one of his men. The battle conditions are unimaginable to say the least. Once they finally get to the point that they feel the war is ending they walk into Dachau without any preparation for what they would see.
Sparks group was simply overwhelmed and actually did not respond in the most professional way. They just didn't have the training to deal with the gross abuse of life they saw in the camp.
A nice quick read and a good nod to Sam for his service. If you have a travel day grab this book and read it. You will appreciate all of our military for the role they serve in not only protecting our freedom but the freedom of everyone throughout the world.
