No Less Than Victory--A Review for Jeff Shaara

Author Shaara has written a wonderful trilogy on World War II that includes the titles The Rising Tide, The Steel Wave and the final and best, No Less than Victory. This review comments on the last book in the trilogy.

The Battle of the Bulge, the late 1944 German attack through the Ardennes, is the centerpiece of the work. Using extensive research with those who actually lived through this horrific battle and also the air war, Shaara presents a chilling and accurate portrayal of the conditions experienced by the men there. The author describes the conditions so well that you can shiver the icy cold and endless mud and immediately wonder how so men survived not only the German onslaught but the weather conditions, too

The story of the foot soldiers and their plight is the centerpiece of the book. It is told so succinctly that one can feel the desperation of their plight and experience the pangs of hunger in their bellies as they fought to survive the German armored onslaught. Often, great battles are told from the perspective of the generals, omitting the agony of the foot soldiers. During the Battle of the Bulge there was a significant change in the Allied soldiers mood as they soon learned to match German tactics blood for blood. This writer’s uncle was one of those who survived the Battle of the Bulge, awarded a bronze star for his actions during this battle.

A vivid description of the gruesome air war opens the book. Survival meant meeting the required number of missions, which was 25 initially but increased steadily as the number of air crews diminished. The average survivability of a plane and crew was just 16 missions during the daylight bombing raids. As many as 60 planes carrying 600 men were lost in a single raid. Again it is accurate based on this writers own interviews with survivors of this carnage, including one who was shot down on his very first mission and was a prisoner of war for over a year. That individual’s recollections include the fate of Russian prisoners kept in a nearby compound who died like flies because they were not allowed Red Cross assistance.


One of the things at which Shaara excels at is the creation of believable and plausible dialog between the principal real-life characters of the era, including Eisenhower, Patton, the German generals and Adolph Hitler. He extends this unique ability to the guys on the ground, the G.I.’s. It was a bit tiresome to hear of the intrigue between Montgomery and everyone else, but even Eisenhower came to despise the man and it is factual.

Historical novels can sometimes wander far away from fact because research can be spotty and some authors are tempted to embellish a story for dramatic effect. Shaara does not do so, listing his sources of and letting the story tell itself. This is a tribute to his care in presenting a gripping account of the last year of the war. It is a great read, as are all three of the books in the trilogy.



Thad McAfee is a novelist and civil war buff. His latest publication is Sulfur Creek, released in August, 2009.

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AMBUSHED!

It started on a Sunday afternoon, a pain in my right thigh, actually sort of a band of discomfort. No big deal, I have aches and pains all the time and they go away.
The next morning, I arose, made the coffee and headed out the door for the newspaper. As I stepped down on the garage floor (two steps) a pain shot up through my leg. I walked outside; now it really hurt and I almost collapsed in the driveway. I stumbled back into the garage and used the car as a prop as I moved towards the back door. I ended up crawling into the house and laying there until the pain abated. I crawled to the rear bedroom and hailed the bride. She was amazed to see me on the floor!

“It’s my leg,” I muttered. The pain abated and I made it to the couch. I looked at my leg. My God, it was swollen to twice the size of the other limb and was as hard as a rock! “I think you need to take me to emergency!” She did.

We speculated as to the cause. A spider bite? An infection? We didn’t have a clue.
The Emergency Room people immediately recognized it as a possible blood clot and arranged for an ultrasound test to confirm the preliminary diagnosis. Yep! That’s what it was!
It was recommended that I be hospitalized for a “day or two.” Sounded good to me! They checked me in and immediately began attacking me with needles filled with a drug called Lovenox and pills of a rat poison called Coumadin or Warfarin. I would be in the hospital until my blood thinned to a therapeutic level as determined by what was called an IN/R test of a value between two and three on some obscure scale. It also meant a daily blood test where I got stuck with a needle at 5:30 in the morning or earlier. That made three punctures a day.
My doctor was a Filipino lady who struggled with both language and bedside manner. Hell, it wasn’t her leg that throbbed and ached. We did eventually reach a satisfactory level of communication.

I learned a lot during my stay. My condition was called DVT or deep vein thrombosis. It can be very serious if a clot gets to the lungs. It is caused by injury, pregnancy or stasis. Mine was caused by stasis or inactivity and had been, looking back, coming on for a while. I was counseled on diet and exercise and even by an occupational therapist because a nurse reported I was a writer. I was lucky in a way. There can be tissue damage caused by DVT and some experience intense pain. I felt discomfort but really couldn’t call it pain.

It took seven days before my blood thinned out. That was 15 shots of Lovenox and 8 blood tests! They added a pneumonia shot for good measure and then my arm was swelled up!
They said it might be months before the swelling in my leg goes down. Sometimes it never does. It’s no longer as hard as a rock, so that’s progress. It’s a protein in the body that works to dissolve the clot and that takes time. Every time I talk to my regular doctor I am reminded to keep the leg elevated. My blood is checked every ten days or so for IN/R. I’m trying to exercise on a treadmill but that results in discomfort after a few minutes so I don’t push it, even though my internist said to exercise as much as I could stand. I guess there’s not much worry about the thing ‘breaking loose’ and traveling to the lungs.

The support shown by family and friends was heartwarming both to my bride and myself. People called, people visited and that was the upside of the episode. Suffice to say it’s really good to be back home!

Thad McAfee is a novelist and civil war buff. His latest publication is Sulfur Creek, released in August, 2009.

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Alice's Drive

A wonderful, true story of courage and perserverence is Alice’s Drive, a re-write of Alice Ramsey’s book, Veil, Duster and Tire Iron from 50 years ago.

A hundred years ago, in the year 1909, Alice Ramsey, a young, 22-year-old mother decided to drive across the United States accompanied by a sixteen-year-old female “mechanic” and a pair of dowager relatives in their forties occupying the rear seat of their Maxwell touring car!

Setting out from Manhattan in early June, the four women made it to San Francisco on August 8, 1909, taking two months to cover some 3000+ miles!

The challenges they faced were incredible, comprised of severe rain and mud, no paved roads, poor accommodations and breakdowns. Yet, they met these challenges and went on to complete this historic trip. They did have escorts for some legs of this trek and the Maxwell Company expedited repair parts to them to take care of the few breakdowns they experienced.

This book is well written and exceptionally well illustrated with many pictures and several maps that show the magnitude of the endeavor and the terrible conditions these brave women faced.

In 2009, this same trip was made by Emily Anderson in a restored Maxwell Model DA and followed the basic route of the Ramsey party. This lady made the trip in a mere 20 days, thanks to greatly improved roads.

This re-write is publishedby The Patrice Press of Tucson, Arizona, and is annotated by Gregory Franzwa.

You can purchase this book from The National Automobile Museum in Reno, Nevada. Contact them at (775) 333-9300 or on the web at www.automuseum.org

Visit this museum when in Reno and tell them Thad sent you!

Thad McAfee is a novelist and civil war buff. His latest publication is Sulfur Creek, released in August, 2009.

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Review of Jeff Shaara's Civil War Battlefields

Jeff Shaara complements his own and his fathers historical novels with the publication of his book, Jeff Shaara’s Civil War Battlefields, Discovering America’s Hallowed Ground.

In this work, the author selects significant battles of the conflict and provides the reader with a recap of the battle itself and then conducts a personalized tour of the very ground where the battle was fought.

Shaara starts with vivid descriptions of the horrible carnage at Shiloh and Antietam and works his way through chronologically to the end of the war at Petersburg and Appomattox. For the most part, he presents the generally accepted views of the battles. For a different perspective, read U.S. Grant’s "Personal Memoirs."

Of course the bad decisions by the various commanders are exposed and a series of ‘what ifs’ is offered had a different decision been made. For example, Grant delayed his frontal assault at Cold Harbor by a single day allowing the Confederates an opportunity to fortify their position to an impregnable fortress. The result? 4000 union soldiers died the next day in a near massacre.

Issues of speed, communication, clarity of orders and lost opportunities abound throughout the telling of the battles. It is mostly the North’s lack of leadership on the battlefield that allows the war to drag on for four terrible years. Shaara does make the mistake that many historians make concerning this war, citing the Shenandoah Valley at the ‘breadbasket’ of the Confederacy. Except for the siege at Vicksburg, there was never a food shortage because of the vast size of the Confederate States. There was, however, a serious transportation problem that was increasingly exploited by the Federals.

One can argue the importance of a couple of the battles ( New Market is an example) and can also ask why the clash at Franklin, Tennessee was omitted. I would have liked to have seen more on the breakthrough on April 2, 1865 at Petersburg probably because one of my ancestors played a role there at Jones’ farm with the 110th OVI..

The number of unidentified dead from these battles is chilling, especially from the Rebel side. A generation of young men are wiped out, fallen somewhere, yet their kin knows only that they did not return and are gone forever.

A word of caution; the maps provided do not show well on my Kindle. The fonts used were unreadable. I ended up buying the hard copy to add to my collection.

As a Civil War buff, it is hard to be disappointed in this book. There are a few of the battlefields that Shaara cites that I have not visited and rest assured that this book will accompany me when I do tour them.


Thad McAfee is a novelist and civil war buff. His latest publication is Sulfur Creek, released in August, 2009.

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H1N1Swine Flu:Today vs.1918-1819

The Swine Flu epidemic now sweeping across the United States mirrors in many respects the terrible plague of the 1918-1919 Spanish Influenza that killed as many as 50 million people around the world.

In his detailed and well researched book, The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History, author John M. Barry has done a masterful job of recounting the sequence of events that characterized that terrible event and the futile efforts to curtail its drastic effects.

Barry starts with the very genesis of the disease from central Kansas, it is believed, to a nearby army base and then onto overcrowded ships ferrying Allied troops to the war effort in Europe. The influenza is tracked to its very end when it mutates to a far less virulent strain and simply fades away. The medical and scientific terminology used throughout this book is generally understandable by the layman.

The Spanish flu spread like wildfire across national borders and millions of deaths occurred within a very short time so deadly was this particular strain. Two-thirds of all deaths occurred within a period of just 24 weeks. Much like today’s epidemic, it was the young that were most affected. Virtually overnight, hospitals were filled to capacity and an immediate shortage of doctors and nurses was experienced as even the medical professionals faced the grim reality of the flu turning into a deadly pneumonia.

The U.S. was ill-prepared for fighting this horrific onslaught even though vaccines and anti-toxins were understood at the time. Early efforts were for naught as those charged with a solution to the disease went down the wrong path, convinced that the outbreak was bacterial when it was actually a virus that could lead to pneumonia. It would be 15 years before the virus was successfully isolated.

Although it was “only an influenza,” some victims experienced an extraordinary and extreme array of symptoms. These included hemorrhage from all orifices, ear aches, splitting headaches and intense pain from different parts of the body. The body’s own immune response killed many people, destroying the lungs. Not all people died who contracted the flu, of course, but enough to cause stark terror in crowded city neighborhoods.

Barry’s book was published in 2004 and he correctly predicted that another deadly pandemic could occur at any time.

There are, however, significant differences between today’s flu crisis and that experienced in 1918-1919:
-Influenza strains are tracked on a world-wide basis and vaccines are
prepared annually for the worst strains allowing mass inoculations.
- The current strain of H1N1 is an order of magnitude less virulent than the
influenza of 90 years ago.
- The medical community has much better tools for analyzing flu viruses.
- Massive facilities are available for producing vaccines although the
methodology remains largely unchanged.
-The timely use of drugs like Tamiflu and Relenza once symptoms are
experienced lessen the impact of the virus.

Unfortunately, some will indeed die during the current epidemic, but it is highly unlikely that this episode will approach the number of fatalities experienced just 90 years ago.

Barry’s work is a good read and is highly recommended to provide insight and context for the current H1N1 Swine Flu crisis.

Thad McAfee is a novelist and civil war buff. His latest publication is Sulfur Creek, released in August, 2009.

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Goldsteen the Wonder Dog!

Goldie was a yellow lab, golden, actually, and a more bull headed, obstinate and cantankerous beast was never born. She had a split personality. Never mean, but a true rapscallion. Her redeeming quality was that she would happily greet us after a hard days’ work.

We took her to local training and she promptly chewed through the new $25.00 leash we had acquired. The only thing she learned was how to control us! Since my wife and I both were employed, we spent a thousand bucks sending her to a professional ‘dog school’ for six weeks at a kennel down near Lake Mathews. It was a wonderful vacation for her where she learned nothing. Her ‘personal trainer’ visited our house in Rancho Cucamonga and strongly advised that we always keep a leash on her as that would indicate she was under our control. Hah!

Goldie was a chewer. She would chew anything; carpet, chair legs and any wooden furniture. We had a contractor over to discuss some work we wanted done to our patio, she chewed through the laces on his new work boots!

This dog could open the wrought iron gate in her area by wiggling it with her paw! We moved to Nevada and built her a dog run. She promptly learned how to use her nose to open that gate! Her plan was always to escape the yard, wander around for a couple of hours then return at feeding time. We took her to farm country for a run in the hayfields near Wellington. She took off down the lane, showing us her rear end. We were hours chasing her down.

She liked to ride in my old Model T Ford, loosely tethered, of course. On one excursion she leaped at a jogger and fell out of the car. I dragged her 150 feet before I was able to stop. She jumped up, thankfully unhurt, wagged her tail vigorously and, honest to god, she grinned at me!

One cool autumn evening, I worked late into the night on that old Model T Ford. At bedtime, I left Goldie in the garage, her usual sleeping place, and retired for the night.

At midnight, she started barking. I got up and yelled at her through the door. She shut up. At 2:00 a.m., she again barked furiously and clawed at the door. I arose, got the yardstick (to tan her golden rear) and barged into the garage. I was really angry.

Gasoline fumes overwhelmed me! Turning on the light, I saw the floor flooded with a huge pool of raw gasoline! The furnace and hot water heater were located only a couple of feet from that pool of gasoline! The Model T fuel system is gravity fed and I had forgotten to close the valve at the carburetor! I quickly opened the garage door and washed away the gasoline after closing the dratted valve. Goldie had saved our lives and our home, thank God!

Sadly, Goldie passed away, five years ago today. She was one of a kind, a true wonder dog! I will always miss her.


Thad McAfee is a novelist and civil war buff. His latest publication is Sulfur Creek, released in August, 2009.

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Model T's and Me

My first old car after moving to Nevada was a 1922 Model T Ford roadster. The engine was worn out, the radiator needed re-coring, there was no top and, of course, I paid too much for it. That little car could barely make it up the hill behind our residence. It’s no good for touring, a local guru told me. You need something with power, a lot more power.

Turning to the ‘For Sale’ section of the national magazine, there was advertised a 1915 touring car equipped with an overhead valve engine! That ought to do it, I thought. And, the car was advertised as “everything is like new!” Perfect!

This jewel was located in Southern California, near Poway. It would be simple. Fly down via San Diego, look at the car, drive it and buy it. Then, since I had all of about 150 miles of Model T driving experience behind me, drive the ‘new’ car 525 miles back up to Minden. No trailer queens for me!

Lengthy conversations with the owner assured me it was a really good car and a successful participant in something he called the Baja 500. “It was really hot down there,” he said, “but she kept running like a dream.” Hey, this was better than a CARFAX.

I flew down and drove the car. It was indeed powerful, had a two-speed rear end and a beautiful paint job. The brass had been polished and sparkled in the sunlight. The tires weren’t too good but there was a spare so I bought it and headed for home via I-15 north at 40 mph.

Now, going 40 mph on an Interstate highway is not so easy when you are passed by cars doing 80 and the occasional driver who would come up from behind, stomp on the brakes, lay on the horn, then give me a single finger salute as they snarled past. I moved to the far edge of the road on the apron. It wasn’t too bad except for the debris, rakes, shovels and boards mostly, and the recessed storm drain collectors that rearranged the fillings in my teeth.

In Riverside, CA, the 15 and 60 freeways jumble together and I was caught in the center lanes between two honking semis as I tried to change lanes. So much for that pair of shorts. A tire went flat just north of San Bernardino. I pulled off the Interstate and made it to a fast food restaurant parking lot where the tire was changed using a balky jack and a couple of old 2x4’s. Cresting the Cajon Pass, the Ruckstell jumped out of gear. In the truck lane already, I slowed down enough to get it back in gear and proceeded on.

Turning on to 395 North, the road is only two lanes for some distance. That was a relief. I stopped at Kramer Junction and got the tire fixed by a well inebriated magician who had it done in about two minutes. He wouldn’t take any money but did let me buy him a couple of six packs of Budweiser.

Pearsonville, California was gas-up time and an opportunity for checking all the fluid levels, including the oil sight gage mounted on the hogshead. Proceeding on north was like a walk in the park, not much traffic, the foothills of the Sierras were on the left. It was a really fun time as I motored along past Coso Junction and neared the village of Olancha. I had decided to stay the night in Lone Pine as it would be dark in a couple of hours.

It happened without warning, sudden loud metal clanging noises. The car lurched to the right. I gave it the clutch, jabbed at the brake and steered to the shoulder, barely missing a road marker. The engine had died and all at once it was incredibly quiet with not a car or house in sight. I tried to start the engine. It grunted for a second and refused any further input. I was cooked. My cell phone service had been activated just prior to setting out on this adventure. Miraculously, I was able to contact AAA (should have contacted the AA) and report my breakdown. They would send a tow truck. Four hours later, the tow truck, Millers from Lone Pine, arrived, with two guys inside. They dragged the Model T up the ramp and opined that the transmission was locked up. Then they told me I would have to ride inside the ‘T’ as there was no room in the cab of the tow truck! It was total humiliation as I rode all the way to Lone Pine up in that car on the back of that darned truck.

I stayed at the old Dow Villa Hotel where all the movie stars had once stayed. I was beaten, bruised and exhausted, and reconsidered the wisdom of the whole escapade. The next day, a bus transported me to Bishop and a U-Haul truck and trailer rental establishment. Back at Lone Pine, I tipped the boys at the tow service twenty bucks to help me load up the car and drove wearily to Minden and home.

A dismal disassembly inspection several days later showed that a drum in the transmission had come apart, freezing the transmission. The car was not as advertised, except it really was good-looking. I had bought a lemon. The Ruckstell was bad, the engine was hopelessly butchered. (it had a Model A crank badly installed) and the OHV setup was a mechanical nightmare. It was worth about half what was paid for it, maybe.

I ended up cannibalizing the car for parts and installing them in the old roadster after rebuilding them. A stock engine was installed in the touring car and it was sold. The OHV set-up went to a guy in Washington. All in all, I came out about even on the deal, depending upon the monetary value placed on the blow to my pride! I was surprised at what I didn’t know about those old, simplistic Model T Fords. Ah, the lessons in life.


Thad McAfee is a novelist and civil war buff. His latest publication is Sulfur Creek, released in August, 2009.

Permission to Reprint is Granted.