A Paratrooper Remembers

Customer Reviews:

Dennis Sullivan.......2006-03-26

Not a bad personal account leading up to Normandy but The book was too short. Before reading this book I would suggest reading any of Donald Burgetts books first.

Trial by Combat: A Paratrooper of the 101st Airborne Division Remembers the 1944 Battle of Normandy

Average customer rating:

Love those memoirs

Trial by Combat: A Paratrooper of the 101st Airborne Division Remembers the 1944 Battle of Normandy
Thomas M. Rice
Manufacturer: AuthorHouse
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 1418491306

Book Description

This is a thrilling personal account of a paratrooper's experiences in the 1944 battle for Normandy. In simple yet eloquent prose Rice tells how he and his regiment parachuted behind enemy lines six hours before the Allies stormed the beaches of Normandy on D-day. Rice doesn't sanitize or sensationalize his story; he tells us of the utter chaos of battle - the terror, the carnage, the horror, the folly of war. Words such as patriotism, courage, and honor are seldom written by Rice, but in the facts and eyewitness accounts presented here, we discover what genuine patriotism is, what courage consists of, and what a frightful price must sometimes be paid for honor.

Customer Reviews:

Love those memoirs.......2005-05-24

I am always fascinated by personal narratives. "Trial by Combat" is no exception. I know from past reading that personal narratives can from time to time be inaccurate due to a number of reasons. However, to get up close and personal and to feel the human element involved nothing beats personal narratives. They tend to be more in depth than battle histories. The down side to "Trial by Combat" is the frustrating sentence structure and punctuation. It is very distracting. The grammar is not the best either. That being said, I still enjoy memoirs and personal narratives because it is coming from the very soldiers who were there. "Trial by Combat" is still a good read.

Book Description

From the ancient Greek physician Agamede to physicist and chemist Marie Curie, in descriptions ranging from a single paragraph to several pages, Women in Science profiles 186 women who as patronesses, translators, popularizers, collectors, illustrators, inventors, and active researchers, made significant contributions to science before 1910. It adds a new dimension to the history of science by rescuing from obscurity the many women who overcame significant cultural barriers to pursue scientific objectives.

Marilyn Bailey Ogilvie is a historian of science who teaches at Oklahoma Baptist University.

Average customer rating:

Pretty Good

more of the same

I Use This Book Every Day

Offering 10, 20, and 40 minute fitness routines; sport-specific sequences; and specialty stretch sequences

simple

Full-Body Flexibility
Jay Blahnik
Manufacturer: Human Kinetics Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Exercise & Fitness | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
Stretching | Exercise & Fitness | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
General | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
General | Training | Sports | Subjects | Books
General | Sports | Subjects | Books
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Stretch and Strengthen

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Ultimate Core Ball Workout: Strengthening and Sculpting Exercises with Over 200 Step-by-Step Photos

Stretching & Flexibility

Stretching: 20th Anniversary (Stretching)

Accessories:

Tanita BC533 Glass Innerscan Body Composition Monitor

ASIN: 0736041508

Book Description

Release unhealthy tension and tightness from your muscles with an advanced stretching system tailored to how you move! The Full-Body Flexibility system blends the best stretching methods from yoga, Pilates, martial arts, and sports training into stretching sequences that

-challenge muscles with multiple techniques to attain maximum flexibility,
-strengthen muscles so that they can support the body throughout specific moves in the entire range of motion, and
-balance muscles equally in opposing muscle groups and on both sides of the body.

Stretch sequences are organized by body region and by type of movement so that you can quickly find a flexibility workout for performance, specific muscle relief, or recovery; or you can customize a sequence to your own special needs.

Customer Reviews:

Pretty Good.......2006-08-10

This is a pretty good book with tons of static and dynamic stretches for all muscle groups. It also contains several different stretching "routines" at the end of the book, which appear valuable.

The content is basic, but thorough, and I learned at least a few new stretches, which is why I bought the book.

My only complaint is that lots of the directions seem to be pretty vague and cryptic.

Pretty solid book.

more of the same.......2006-08-02

There are no new ideas or stretches here. Although doing these stretches regularly will work - I was looking for something a little more groundbreaking.

I Use This Book Every Day.......2006-07-27

I'm middle aged and was ordered by my doctor to exercise. I have to stretch to keep my lower back and shoulders and neck loose and to recover from aerobic exercise. The stretches in this book work to keep me flexible and loose. The descriptions are clear. I find the sets of stretches described in the last portion of the book useful: I do the 10-minute series after using the elliptical trainer and do the 20-minute series on my day off from aerobics. The book is inexpensive and you get very good value for the money.

Offering 10, 20, and 40 minute fitness routines; sport-specific sequences; and specialty stretch sequences.......2005-09-10

Athletes stretch before and after exercise sessions in order to warm up their muscles, prevent injuries, and cool down after their exertions. Personal trainer and fitness educator Jay Blahnik blends the best of yoga, Pilates, martial arts, and sports training in Full-Body Flexibility to create "user friendly" stretching sequences that anyone can safely use for warm-ups and cool-downs, as well as during the course of performing challenging workouts on their own. Blahnik operates with three key stretching principles in mind: Variety (challenging muscles with multiple techniques to attain maximum flexibility); Strength (ensuring that muscles can support the body throughout the entire range of motion); and Balance (developing equal strength and flexibility in opposing muscle groups on both sides of the human body). Offering 10, 20, and 40 minute fitness routines; sport-specific sequences; and specialty stretch sequences, Full-Body Flexibility is an ideal and recommended introduction for even the most novice of beginners, while also holding much of value for even the more experienced athlete and fitness enthusiast.

Betsy L. Hogan
Reviewer

simple.......2005-06-25

What can I say. I am not getting paid to write this, but the benefits of this book are immense. I am a 33 year old male, I have always been fairly athletic, but put on a lot of weight over the last three years and in the process have become entirely stiff. I can feel that, for example, in my hip flexors when I go jogging, also my harmstrings feel very tight.

After buying this book you can plunge right into it (except the author asks you to read his forword, which really helps though). There is exercise upon exercise, 8 for harmstrings alone (of course the entire body gets covered in the book. Just happens to be that I am into harmstrings right now).

And it's not that you have to do them all, it doesn't make a difference in the world. You do whatever you want. But some you do laying down, some standing up, some with a chair, etc, so pick whatever you are comfortable with. Some require just holding the stretch for 10 to 30 seconds, some ask to execute a movement 10 to 12 times.

So what is so good about it? Well, just that, the variety, and how incredibly easy everything is.

Example. The "Dynamic Knee Kick".
Stand tall and lift one leg up to hip heigt, keeping the knee bent.
Start: Straigthen the knee.
Finish: Rlease the stretch by bending the knee.
Repeat as a continuous , controlled, fluid sequence 10 to 12 times.
Repeat on the other leg.
Touch a wall or hold on to someting for balance, if necessary.

Then there is a foto that goes with it. THIS is easy to understand and won't waste your time trying to figure it out. This exercise takes up a page and they're ALL like that, in some cases you can read up on the next skill while you are still performing the previous one (after all, sometimes you just stand there).

Man, I have done just the 6 different ones for the neck...and feel rejuvenated. All of them are gentle and even simplistic, but some I really wouldn't have figured out myself. The exercises were on to someting.....something evil in my body.

And it doesn't take any time...let's say, conservatively, 8 minutes for all of them. And of course there are fullbody-workouts in the book that won't make you do 6 different ones for the same muscle group, but for the entire body. But I am not there yet. There is also some andvanced stuff which I haven't done yet, which goes a bit into yoga. As for now, I am content being a lot more flexible than last week.

Nuevo Metodo de Estiramientos Para Todos/Full-Body Flexibility

Average customer rating:

Nuevo Metodo de Estiramientos Para Todos/Full-Body Flexibility
Jay Blahnik
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Exercise & Fitness | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

Spanish | Foreign Language Nonfiction | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Average customer rating:

Full-Body Gym Circuit
Chris Bohlin
Manufacturer: audible.com
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio Download
ASIN: B0009IINZW

Book Description

302 authentic recipes offer the best in Austrian home cooking: beef broth with dumplings, potato soup, kalbsgulash, four kinds of schnitzel and more, including 171 dessert recipes — apricot dumplings, Linzertorte, Sachertorte, apple strudel, and much more.

Customer Reviews:

Nice but...........2007-10-04

Great recipes, but you need a scale to measure products. I also didn't like the fact that no oven temperatures were given unless you have an oven from England. If this book is to be sold in the US market, the editors could have at least adapted the information to our standards. I'm no amateur in the kitchen, but someone who is will have a tough time calculating oven temps. The layout of the recipes could've been better by listing the ingredients and then instructions. Instead it was done in a paragraph form which can make it confusing. All in all I'll keep the book, but am a bit disappointed with how it was put together.

Authentic Austrian Cooking.......2007-01-18

This small book is chock full of Austrian recipes. As I was told, my grandmother from Austria regularly cooked these meals from scratch. Unfortunately, the recipes were not put down on paper to pass on through the generations. If you think boiled meat sounds frightening, think again. Purchase this book and prepare Tafelspitz and your taste buds will never stop thanking you for it!

You can gain weight just reading this book, but your mouth will be happy!.......2006-06-23

A passionate home cook that has been honing her cooking skills for the last 25 years, concentrating on Italian cooking for the last 10 years, writes this review. My favorite cookbooks are "The Professional Chef" by the Culinary Institute and "Culinary Artistry". With more than 500 cookbooks in my collection I am usually disappointed in my recent cookbook acquisitions. This particular book is on loan from an Austrian friend, whose two brothers are chefs in Austria. Given that a woman born and raised in Austria thinks the recipes in this book are authentic I have to assume that she knows more than the reviewer that disagrees.

The book is outlines as follows:
1. I'd like to explain
2. Soups and their Garnishes
3. Fish
4. Meat, Game and Poultry
5. Some Cold Dishes
6. Vegetables
7. Salads
8. Savoury Sauces
9. Dumplings and the Like
10. Desserts - Hot and Cold - including Sweet Sauces
11. Cakes, Pastries and Biscuits
12. Gateaux and Icings

Before I review the book, I must say that if you are on a diet, this is not the book for you. I think that you could gain weight just reading this book. However, if you are a fan of desserts, WOW what a book!

The first chapter the author explains the difference in some of the typical ingredients of Austria. She also provides a table that translates the European Gas Marks into degrees, which I do not see very often in foreign cookbooks.

The garnishes for the soup alone are worth the cost of the book. I have never seen such variation in noodles and dumplings. And then, there are the schnitzel recipes. Can you say yummy? Where do you even begin talking about how wonder a well-made schnitzel can be? Makes me long for Berghoff's Restaurant in Chicago, an institution that is now gone.

The Austrians apparently have their own version of Risi Bisi, which I was certain was Venetian. But maybe I am incorrect. The difference between the two versions seems to be that the Austrian's do not use Arborio rice.

The Dessert sections are absolutely amazing. The Austrians have taken dessert making to a new level. Each recipe is more mouthwatering than the next. There is a recipe for Strudel dough, and every Austrian dessert that I could think of. If you love desserts, these chapters make the book worth buying alone.

Overall, I would highly recommend this book to anyone that loves Austrian food, or just good food. I borrowed this copy from an Austrian friend, but I will be ordering my own copy.

Austrian chef tested this book and cooked 2/3 of recipes.......2005-07-30

I am an Austrian chef and very interested in cookbooks; especially books that are written in English, for they are read worldwide and so influence what people think of Austrian cuisine, and how they cook if they want to cook Austrian. (...)
All in all that book is worth the money, most recipes are quite original, and the instructions are good. Photos not to beautiful, but that is not what counts.
I would buy it again.

Bland Offering of Exciting Cusine.......2002-05-17

Having some Austrian ancestry in me and having sampled some fine Austria fare, ventured to try and find a good source. This isn't completely what I am looking for.

Recipes are too basic, not enough purchasing and prep hints. No photos whatsoever to entice.

Did find some interesting stuff, though: Wuerstelbraten, Galantine of Chicken, Souffle Rothschild.

For baking, see "Kaffehaus" by Rick Rodgers; for Austrian cooking, see W. Pauk.

Average customer rating:

Requires meticulous planning; excellent results

gut! (good in german)

Festive Baking: Holiday Classics in the Swiss, German, and Austrian Traditions
Sarah Kelly Iaia
Manufacturer: Doubleday
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Baking | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
Pastry | Baking | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
General | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0385197314
Release Date: 1988-10-04

Customer Reviews:

Requires meticulous planning; excellent results.......2006-09-18

Recipes in this book are not for novice bakers, neither are they for habitual offenders of baking mixes aisles or those who are afraid to touch dough with their bare hands. Following recipes of Sarah Kelly Iaia requires well-stocked pantry, precision, discipline, and ability to plan ahead. Many recipes specify that the dough is made a day in advance, and many baked goods are better 2 weeks - a month after baking. On a positive note, many ingredients are quite accessible and not expensive.

The taste and look of all those goodies is distinctly European and suit best those who like artisan baking. If you prefer chewey cookies, heavy cakes like German chocolate cake (which is not German at all), supermarket-sold white bread, and chemically tasting birthday cakes sold at price clubs, chances are you will not like most of cakes, breads, and cookies made from recipes in this book. However, this book is very usefull if you wish to enrich your baking repertoir, impress your guests or coworkers, or need to send a lot of presents across the country around Christmas. The author, using very specific easy-to-follow directions helps muster different types of gingerbreads, Sunday breads, stollen, crumbly sweet pretzels, and nut layer cakes. Both children and adults like chocolate-glazed heart-shaped honey cookies, the recipe for which alone is worth the price of this book.

I would prefer more photographs of finished products, but overall I have been quite satisfied with the results even without them.

gut! (good in german).......2001-11-05

DIS BOOK WAS GUT!
i recommend dis book to
people dat love to cook in German.austrian
or swisse.

Average customer rating:

Patisserie of Italy
Jeni Wright
Manufacturer: Mcgraw-Hill
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Baking | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books

Pastry | Baking | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books

General | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books

Average customer rating:

better than stated
This cookbook just looks pretty.

Patisserie of Vienna
Josephine Bacon
Manufacturer: Mcgraw-Hill
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Baking | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books

Pastry | Baking | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books

General | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books

Customer Reviews:

better than stated.......2007-08-11

this book has an excellent presentation and, while I have not tasted all the recipes, te ones I did seemed good.

This cookbook just looks pretty........1999-02-19

This seems to be one of those cookbooks that just looks pretty but no one bothered to test the recipies. Don't attempt anything in this book without allowing for plenty of time to perfect the recipies. Unless your a cordon bleu-trained pastry chef the directions are way too vague. Proportions are off for various componets as well as with individual ingredients. If you like pretty pictures of food this is the book for you. If you want usable recipies for great desserts you'll be very very disapointed...and feel the need to write a review. I have to wonder if the author has ever been in a kitchen

Average customer rating:

Austrian Cooking and Baking
Gretel Beer
Manufacturer: Dover Pub
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000LC0P34

Book Description

Arts and Crafts is more than a style of architecture. It is an enduring furniture style that honors the tradition of fine craftsmanship and attention to detail. This book takes a fresh look at the history and influences that resulted in beautiful, functional pieces designed to enhance the interiors of classic Arts and Crafts homes. From William Morris and the roots of the movement, through Gustav Stickley, the Prairie School, and including contemporary pieces, this book celebrates the classic furniture — and the master craftsmen who made it. Arts and Crafts Furniture gives a comprehensive look at the design and construction of this furniture, with nearly 500 color photos illustrating examples of the style. An extensive list of resources and full bibliography is included.

Customer Reviews:

This is a wealth of information.......2005-03-10

As a librarian and a lover of all things relating to Arts & Crafts style, I recommend this book to anyone desiring a greater knowledge of this furniture's history and design evolution. With clear color photographs and just the right amount of text, this book illustrates the origins of Arts & Crafts furniture in England and its progression, first to our East Coast, and eventually Westward across America. In fact, my only 'complaint' about this book is that the photographs are good enough that they leave you wanting for more.

Because of the depth of information presented here, I would not say that this is a general interest read - rather this book is geared toward those seriously interested in the history of the Arts & Crafts movement and its recent revival.

Excellent book.......2005-02-05

The book provides an excellent introduction in the history of furniture at the end of the 19th century and the evolution of the Arts & Crafts movement. The nice thing about this book is that it's giving the larger context, showing the influence designers in England and continental Europe had on Arts & Crafts movement in America. The book has excellent pictures of representative furniture pieces.

Towards the end of the book, there's a small collection of contemporary furniture makers and designers that build classic pieces, or new ones inspired by the classic designs. You can google the name of the furniture makers to find showrooms and stores that carry their products, which is a very good way to start when you want to buy such furniture.

If you like this type of furniture, and you're technically inclined, it might also help getting a book that describes how this furniture is built. This helped me enormously to understand what is involved in producing good quality furniture.

Book Description

From Europe to South America, from Japan to the United States, this extraordinarily varied survey covers the work of garden and landscape designers whose names are familiar to both lovers and scholars of the modern garden, including Robinson, Jekyll, Jensen, Farrand, Sessions, Mawson, Church, Sørensen, and Jellicoe. It traces the revolutionary change brought about in the postwar period by the Harvard Rebels—Eckbo, Rose, and Kiley—and examines the impact of Noguchi, Burle Marx, and Barragán, among others, as well as the powerful international influence of Scandinavian landscape architects and designers. The garden city is also given attention, from its beginnings in late Victorian Britain, through the Greenbelt towns in the American Midwest, to the contemporary regeneration of urban centers worldwide.

A long line of artists and architects of international renown have earned a place in the history of the modern garden, including Monet, Le Corbusier, Wright, Mies van der Rohe, and Gaudí. Land artists such as Michael Heizer, Kathryn Gustafson, Andy Goldsworthy, and Ian Hamilton Finlay have brought new ways of thinking about landscape and the garden into the twenty-first century. This compelling account of the modern garden sets the best-known names in their historical and international context, and assesses the latest and boldest responses to the landscape that surrounds us. It will delight and inform everyone with an interest in gardens and modern culture. 213 illustrations, 121 in color.

Customer Reviews:

An essential key to unlocking trends and influences on garden paths.......2005-08-06

The elements of modern garden design technique actually begins in the Victorian era and continues to modern times around the world: Janet Waymark's collection reflects world trends and changes as it follows innovations post-1900, juxtaposing different approaches to landscape design. Changing theories, practices, and even urban design values are contrasted in chapters packed with color photo examples and history. College-level students with more than a casual interest in landscaping will find Modern Garden Design: Innovation Since 1900 an essential key to unlocking trends and influences on garden paths.

Modern Garden Design: Innovation Since 1900.

Average customer rating:

Modern Garden Design: Innovation Since 1900.
Janet Waymark
Manufacturer: Publisher Unknown
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000UY9ZGQ

Average customer rating:

A Great Baby Book

Great

A Wish Upon a Star Baby Journal: A Keepsake Journal for Baby's First Three Years
Alex Lluch
Manufacturer: Wedding Solutions
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Parenting | Parenting & Families | Subjects | Books
General | Parenting & Families | Subjects | Books
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Baby Play (Gymboree)

Accessories:

Health o Meter HDC100-01 "Grow with Me" Teddy Bear Scale for Babies and Toddlers

ASIN: 1887169431

Book Description

Provides guided pages to thoughtfully capture baby's development and milestones. Cheer-ables stickers to use as photo corners, as well as envelopes to store baby's keepsakes.

Customer Reviews:

A Great Baby Book.......2005-09-09

This is a really cute baby book. The illlustrations on each page are precious. The book covers everything you could possibly want to record for your child's future reading. I can't think of any thing that was left out. I highly recommend this book.

Great.......2005-07-27

This a great baby book for the first three years of life. The only thing I would change is that there was more space to write about the pregnancy.

Book Description

Recent reserch has called into question many of Van Gogh's best-known works, including the most expensive canvas sold in the twentieth century, the SUNFLOWERS acquired in 1987 for just under 40 million dollars. The waves raised by this research have shaken museums and collectors, and have even reached into the corridors of government. These and their spokesmen are the characters of this book.

Book Description

In this extraordinary story of World War II, the author's father, who enlisted in the army at age 16, describes the experiences that would affect the course of his life. Douglas Valentine tells of his capture by the Japanese in the fetid jungle of New Guinea, as well as his internment with Australian and British prisoners-of-war in the Hotel Tacloban — a place where no mercy was shown or expected, and from which few came home alive. A celebration of camaraderie and a testament to "the soldier's faith", this is a story of murder, mutiny and an incredible military cover-up.

Customer Reviews:

this book is not out of print.......2004-02-02

Amazon.com is wrong when it says my book is out of print and that a picture of the dust jacket is not available. The Hotel Tacloban is published by iUniverse.com as an Author's Guild Backinprint book. You can get it by going to my website and clicking on the dust jacket for the Hotel Tacloban, which will take you directly to iUniverse.com, where you can order the book.

Truly a good story...but true?.......2001-08-03

The Hotel Tacloban is a fascinating read. The book flows well, reads easily, and keeps pulling you along to the next chapter - a marvelous peice of literary craftsmanship. The only downside is the nagging thought that it might just be a made-up story.

That would be easy to accept if the author said outright that it was fiction. It would also be easy to accept if we had independent confirmation of the events. What is hard to accept is that the story has the ring of authnticity - we do know that many things just like this happened - and the author claims that it is true, but we have no way of proving or disproving those assertions.

A war veteran myself, I can testify that things like the events related in this book are unfortunatly normal occurences in many circles throughout the world, even today. Further, the types of actions purported to have been carried out by the US Army at the end of the book have in fact been done before, another well-documented fact. More importantly, perhaps, is this - the words of the author ring with the tone of truth. A wise VA counselor once remarked to me, when we were discussing whether or not specific events had occured to a mutual aquaintance, that even if we could never establish the exact sequence or total sum of events, it was obvious that SOMETHING had happened to him. I get the same feeling from this book. Whether it is the story given here or something else entirely, there seems to be some dark chapter in the life of the man protrayed. Thus, while I will never quote from this book as history, I believe that it does bequeth an adequate portrayal of what life was like for some people during the war. I look at it more as historical novel than historical fact, which allows me great luxury in finding a place for it in my library.

Read it for what it is, though we can never know for sure. Is it eyewitness to history, a fascinatingly and cunningly crafted fictional masterpiece, or the dark broodings of a man with deep psychological problems of some sort? It is a remarkable example of whichever one of those it is, and it is also a reminder (no matter what the truth is) of the dark side of the largest war ever fought on this planet.

Fiction posing as truth........2001-06-08

To be honest, Hotel Tacloban does not pose as truth as long as you first read the "Publisher's note" hidden in tiny print in the introductory pages. If you just sail in and read it as an attempt to tell the truth then if you are me you do not twig to what is going on until the end, when the US Army somehow destroys forever all proof that the Japanese POW camp in which the author''s father was allegedly kept (along with 100 others) ever existed. Pure garbage. It is disturbing that a book like this can go out masquerading as truth ....it is only when you finish the book and then you go back to the front and carefully analyse the back of the cover etc that you realise you have been had, but that everyone has covered their backs.

Excellent read. Very believable. Another American tragedy........1999-11-15

Valentine shares with the world his father's tragedy--being in the wrong place at the wrong time, one might say. But he was doing what he thought was right--patriotically defending his country--in the jungle highlands of Papua New Guinea in WWII.Captured by the Japanese, his life spared apparently by his irreverent (unauthorized) sewing of another unit's patch on his uniform (the enemy thought he was an intelligence officer), he ended up the only U.S.soldier amidst Australian and British prisoners in a POW camp on Leyte. The story chronicles his struggle for survival, under terribly inhumane conditions, and the treachery of the POW's ranking officer, a British major. The Major's squealling to the Japanese commander about an escape by Aussies led to their immediate capture and beheading, and to Valentine's father acting to avenge their deaths--and to have nightmares for the rest of his life for his role in the assassination of the cowardly Brit Major. I have read another reader's skeptical review about this--that, horrors, the U.S. government might shred Valentine's fathers personnel file to try to hide the events in the POW camp--named Hotel Tacloban by the inmates. Get real buddy! We now are learning about the tragic events in Korea at No Gun Ri, where GIs machine gunned civilians. The dirty realities in our wars -- that the big honchos in authority in the government -- would rather hide, are thank goodness, being brought to the light of day by authors like Valentine, and Carroll Case (The Slaughter, 1998, isbn 0-9666499-0-7) and Bob King (Spooky 8, 1999, isbn 0-312-20579-1). My only concern is that, as a historian, there are no footnotes.

Hotel with one guest.......1999-03-13

Is "The Tacloban Hotel" fiction, history or embroidered memoir? The first page carries a publisher's disclaimer in which it admits "It has not been possible to prove that the events did occur - nor that they did not." Like the X-Files, Elvis sightings and space alien abductions. No one questions the barbaric conditions of Japanese POW camps during World War II or the general savagery of the Japanese toward military and civilian populations. The literature of Japanese brutality is detailed and extensive, from Iris Chang's "The Rape of Nanking" and "Railway Man" by Eric Lomax to labeled fiction like "King Rat" and "The Bridge Over the River Kwai." The Pacific theater in that war was a place marked by a special ruthlessness. It's no accident that one of the most aptly titled histories to bubble out of that cauldron was "War Without Mercy" by John Dower.

Precisely because of this literature "The Hotel Tacloban" comes across like one of those tabloids at the checkout counter. The author, Douglas Valentine Jr., wrote the book "based on the recollections of his father," 40 years later, after receiving psychiatric care. Nothing that happened can be verified because the U.S. government [which couldn't keep the atom bomb secret] conspired to keep this one prisoner's experience secret. The son tells us that his father was a teenage POW who acted as lookout while two Australian prisoners strangled a British army major who was too willing to cooperate with the evil Japanese camp commandant, Capt. Yoshishito. Wasn't that what they were planning to do to Alex Guinness in the movie?

The author's father was the only Yank in the hell hole bitterly dubbed The Tacloban Hotel, which was located near the town of Tacloban on the Philippine island of Leyte. Only one problem: the American army erased all records of the camp. The murdered man? No record. The four brave Aussie's who were beheaded by Samurai sword because the major betrayed them? All expunged by the evil US Army, the same bad guys who freed Valentine and his fellow POWs from their Japanese torturers. That make sense? Everybody was dying in this camp, burials were a daily event. So the major gets buried too, so what? There's more. Valentine Sr. became a POW in 1942 when he was the sole survivor of an infantry patrol in the New Guinea jungles. No witnesses to that except the Japanese who bayoneted everyone but him. Why they spared him? Read the book. But surely there's a unit record of that patrol gone missing. So the vicious Army brass rewrites Valentine's complete military record and destroys all existing records. The world will never know Valentine was a rifleman in the 32nd Division. The record will show he belonged to the 375th Harbor Craft Company. The malaria, dysentery, tropical sores, the teeth kicked out by a Japanese guard? All that is erased. He can have an honorable discharge if he keeps his mouth shut for the rest of his life and agrees never to contact his old Aussie buddies. Otherwise, 25 years in military prison. Why are they doing this to a boy who has suffered so much for his country?

This story is so full of holes you'd have to be brain dead not to wonder what really happened. The son should write that story.

Average customer rating:

HIPS is YIPS

innocence lost, hello Hell

Innocence lost,hello Hell!

The Hotel Tacloban

Manufacturer: Lawrence Hill & Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Personal Narratives | World War II | Military | History | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0882081675

Customer Reviews:

HIPS is YIPS.......2003-06-06

> > The Hotel Tacloban is a book I came to read after unknowingly reading
some of
> > Valentine's previous articles on the web, and then knowingly being
exposed to
> > an interview with him on Black Op Radio, not long after this government
> > unveiled Operation TIPS as a Homeland Security agency program, that
would help
> > helpful U.S. residents turn in their neighbors.
> > His appearance on the internet radio show pointed out the similiarity of
TIPS
> > to HIPS, the
> > "other way of saying" abbreviation for the genocidal program from the
60's and
> > 70's, in Viet Nam, called overall, Operation Phoenix, a program executed
by
> > the cia to root out Civilian dissenters, so that they could be
interrogated,
> > i.e. tortured & hideously executed under the umbrella consolidation of
25 or
> > more intellegence agencies called Phoenix.
> > The suggestion that Phoenix is a grandfather/mentor to Homeland
Security, and
> > a harbinger of things to come for the american citizen is more than a
> > possibility with a high probability .
> > "You have relatives in the homeland?"
> > The Hotel Tacloban is the beginning, a visit to the innocence of an
underage
> > soldier in ww2, (Valentine's father) and his encounter of the forces of
> > respect for military rank and where the beginnings of where real evil
takes
> > us.
> > A story that will stay with me for the rest of my conscious life. Honest
and
> > shocking.

innocence lost, hello Hell.......2003-05-26

The Hotel Tacloban is a book I came to read after unknowingly reading some of Valentine's previous articles on the web, and then knowingly being exposed to an interview with him on Black Op Radio, not long after this government unveiled Operation TIPS as a Homeland Security agency program, that would help helpful U.S. residents turn in their neighbors.
His appearance on the internet radio show pointed out the similiarity of TIPS to HIPS, the
"other way of saying" abbreviation for the genocidal program from the 60's and 70's, in Viet Nam, called overall, Operation Phoenix, a program executed by the cia to root out Civilian dissenters, so that they could be interrogated, i.e. tortured & hideously executed under the umbrella consolidation of 25 or more intellegence agencies called Phoenix.
The suggestion that Phoenix is a grandfather/mentor to Homeland Security, and a harbinger of things to come for the american citizen is more than a possibility with a high probability .
"You have relatives in the homeland?"
The Hotel Tacloban is the beginning, a visit to the innocence of an underage soldier in ww2, (Valentine's father) and his encounter of the forces of respect for military rank and where the beginnings of real evil takes us.
A story that will stay with me for the rest of my conscious life. Honest and shocking.
An emotional timebomb ... an appropriate introduction to Douglas Valentines thoughts & writings.

Innocence lost,hello Hell!.......2003-05-26

The Hotel Tacloban is a book I came to read after unknowingly reading some of Valentine's previous articles on the web, and then knowingly being exposed to an interview with him on Black Op Radio, not long after this government unveiled Operation TIPS as a Homeland Security agency program, that would help helpful U.S. residents turn in their neighbors.
His appearance on the internet radio show pointed out the similiarity of TIPS to HIPS, the
"other way of saying" abbreviation for the genocidal program from the 60's and 70's, in Viet Nam, called overall, Operation Phoenix, a program executed by the cia to root out Civilian dissenters, so that they could be interrogated, i.e. tortured & hideously executed under the umbrella consolidation of 25 or more intellegence agencies called Phoenix.
The suggestion that Phoenix is a grandfather/mentor to Homeland Security, and a harbinger of things to come for the american citizen is more than a possibility with a high probability .
"You have relatives in the homeland?"
The Hotel Tacloban is the beginning, a visit to the innocence of an underage soldier in ww2, (Valentine's father) and his encounter of the forces of respect for military rank and where the beginnings of real evil take us.
A story that will stay with me for the rest of my conscious life. Honest and shocking.
An emotional timebomb ... an appropriate introduction to Douglas Valentines thoughts & writings.

THE HOTEL TACLOBAN : Author Father Enlisted in Army at age 16, is captured by Japanese and sent to Philippines Prison camp.

Average customer rating:

THE HOTEL TACLOBAN : Author Father Enlisted in Army at age 16, is captured by Japanese and sent to Philippines Prison camp.

Manufacturer: Argus + Robertson Pub.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000ICTBNC

Average customer rating:

THE HOTEL TACLOBAN : Author Father Enlisted in Army at age 16, is captured
Anonymous
Manufacturer: Charter
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000PJ2LRG

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