With Remembrance Day just around the corner, the recent television campaign "I am a Veteran" from Veterans Affairs Canada reminds us that veterans are not just strangers from long ago who fought wars in other countries but that they were and are members of families. As parents, children, husbands, wives, brothers or sisters, veterans not only have the stories of their service but they and their families also have their own stories of the personal relationships behind the uniforms.
In Brothers in Battle, Best of Friends, two Second World War paratroopers from the original Band of Brothers, William "Wild Bill" Guarnere and Edward "Babe" Heffron, give us their personal experiences of life before, during and after Easy Company. Although both men grew up in south Philadelphia, they did not actually meet until Heffron joined E-Company shortly after D-Day. But with that meeting began a 60-year friendship that continues today. Their story is incredible in that they had both received exemptions from service but enlisted anyway. It's also remarkable for their first-hand accounts of some of the most famous battles of the war. From the disaster at Market Garden to Heffron's work in the capture of Hitler's Eagle's Nest in Berchtesgaden, this is a frank but irresistible story of heroism, sacrifice and friendship.
Few people may know that the tomb of the unknown soldier that is honoured in every Remembrance Day ceremony is a result of the fact that of the three million soldiers missing and killed in the First World War, only a handful were ever returned to their home countries for burial. In The Unknown Soldier: The Story of the Missing of the Great War, Neil Hanson tells the stories of three of these soldiers - one British, one American and one German - who all died at the second battle of the Somme in 1916. Drawing on unpublished diaries and letters to their sweethearts and families, Hanson tells the stories of these three ordinary young men against the background of one of the most tragic periods in human history, and although the realism of this book is disturbing, it is definitely one you won't soon forget.
American talk show host Larry King recounts true tales of wartime romance in his book Love Stories of World War II. From sweethearts rushing to marry before the war, to staying faithful while waiting months, and often years, for any word of their loved ones, this heart-warming book offers a view of the more personal side of war. King tells the stories of 50 wartime couples, enhanced with photographs and excerpts from war letters, and whether they are men and women falling in love while serving together, wounded soldiers falling for their nurses or war brides coming home with their new husbands, they are all stories of the triumph of love against all odds.
The phrase "a picture is worth a thousand words" is certainly true in Blake Heathcote's book A Soldier's View: The Personal Photographs of Canadians at War 1939-1945. Heathcote brings together photographs taken by Canadian servicemen during the war that take you from the fresh faces of enthusiastic young recruits to the treasured last pictures of two buddies together before one is killed in battle. It is amazing that many of these photos survived, given that they were sometimes carried in a pocket or under the liner of a helmet for years, but the result is remarkable. From shots taken among the troops landing at D-Day to heartbreaking pictures of the first Canadians arriving to liberate Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, this collection will astound you.
Check out your local library for these and other great reads.
A Good Read is a column by Tri-City librarians that is published every Wednesday. Katherine Marino is collections librarian at Coquitlam Public Library.
