military

Great pictures! Poor editing, many mistakes, flopped pictures, wrong information, wrong death dates. These mistakes take away from the written information, but not the pictures. Done in black & white with keen eye of a photojournalist, and probably the last portraits of three who have died this year, Joe Foss, Ray Davis and Mitch Paige. Each full page portrait is done with a different approach, one reading this book will be captivated by each picture of these men, these heroes. This is a collection of the last living Medal of Honor recipients, starting in 2000. Even with the bad editing this book is worth having, it's history.

A dear friend highly recommended Medal of Honor: Portraits of Valor Beyond the Call of Duty so recently I was standing in the bookstore waiting for the clerk to find it on the computer. After the third try she told me it was not showing up on her screens when another shopper walked up to me and placed it in my hands. He said " I overheard you asking for this and I had just looked it over"

With this auspicious beginning, my journey into the world of Medal of Honor winners began. As I looked through this beautiful book, I found myself taken by the photography and absorbed by the accompanying text which details the events of each honoree. Although I looked at each page and the photographs, I found that I had to pace myself on reading the text and short biographies. That is a lot there on many levels so I used the photos as a guide to decide which ones to read during this first encounter.

This book evoked tears for me. I have served in the military although not in combat. Also I have served in the US Peace Corp so I have always been aware of the paradox of the human condition.

While reading, I found discovered some very ambivalent feelings. Respect and admiration for the portraits of courage was obvious. Yet, simultaneously, a soul felt sadness when I realized that the "enemy" described on several pages, could very well have been the beloved grandfather of a dear friend I stayed with in Germany recently.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who wishes to explore the challenges of the human spirit.

DG Mogle

This book is loaded with moving acounts of courage, suffering and achivement. In addition to the individual stories, there is a history of the CMH and a military glossary. The book has a forward by George H.W. Bush, and Senator McClain of Arizona.

You will not be disapointed with this book.