# Military memoirs from more unusual combat roles? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 4, 2017, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-memoirs-from-more-unusual-combat-roles/778948 "2017-02-04T00:43:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Atomic\_Alex](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atomic_alex/32/175_2.png) [@Atomic\_Alex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atomic_Alex)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2017, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-memoirs-from-more-unusual-combat-roles/778948/1 "2017-02-04T00:43:16Z")
I’m currently reading the 'Worst combat role in WWII?" thread in general questions and someone made the comment that they’ve never seen a memoir by a flame-thrower operator. So I was wondering if people could recommend books written by people who served in less commonly covered roles, not necessarily direct combat positions and preferably 20th century conflicts. I’ve just finished reading _‘Love My Rifle More Than You: Young and Female in the US Army’_ by Kayla Williams about her experiences in Iraq in 2003 and while she doesn’t come across as a particularly sympathetic or likable person it was certainly interesting to read a memoir from the perspective of a female soldier. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2017, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-memoirs-from-more-unusual-combat-roles/778948/2 "2017-02-04T01:09:53Z")
**The Brass Ring** by Bill Mauldin, soldier and cartoonist for _Stars and Stripes_ in WWII, is a wonderful book. There were lots of incidents that, bit by bit, chipped away at his naive illusions about the world, like the overly-friendly French farm girls who he knew were exactly as friendly a week earlier to occupying German soldiers, the petty corruptions in the moral vacuum of wartime Italy, the crazy lengths he had to go to to obtain a hunk of zinc to make a printing plate to get out an edition of his unit’s newspaper, and the destroyed church at Monte Cassino that reminded him that America was sometimes the bad guy. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2017, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-memoirs-from-more-unusual-combat-roles/778948/3 "2017-02-04T01:26:42Z")
This book is about a black woman who became an RN in the Deep South in the 1930s, and later served in the Army, where she met her husband. Because they were black, they got the least desirable assignment, which in this case was in Africa. Not North Africa. Liberia. :eek: I hadn’t known until then that the U.S. military was active there in WWII. I know now that they set up a base there primarily to engage in research into malaria and other tropical diseases, which leads one to wonder how many troops there got Ebola, 30-plus years before the disease was identified. This woman and her husband both died just within the past few years. > **[Nurse: One Woman's Effort to Succeed: Ivory-Bertram, Margaritte: 9780913428733:...](https://www.amazon.com/Nurse-One-Womans-Effort-Succeed/dp/0913428736)** > > Nurse: One Woman's Effort to Succeed \[Ivory-Bertram, Margaritte\] on Amazon.com. \*FREE\* shipping on qualifying offers. Nurse: One Woman's Effort to Succeed ---
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2017, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-memoirs-from-more-unusual-combat-roles/778948/4 "2017-02-04T01:31:38Z")
[Fob Doc](https://www.amazon.com/Fob-Doc-Doctor-Front-Afghanistan/dp/1771621060) was pretty good, I enjoyed it ---
**Author:** ![LC\_Strawhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e19adc/32.png) [@LC\_Strawhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LC_Strawhouse)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2017, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-memoirs-from-more-unusual-combat-roles/778948/5 "2017-02-04T01:33:02Z")
[The Rigger](https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rigger-Operating-SAS-Jack-Williams/dp/0850528178) - a good read about a British dude who supported the SAS by climbing communication towers in warzone conditions to conduct repairs. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2017, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-memoirs-from-more-unusual-combat-roles/778948/6 "2017-02-04T01:43:54Z")
I’d also recommend Dr. Gordon Seagrave’s books about his experiences during WW II, “Burma Surgeon” and “Burma Surgeon Returns”. Both are out of print but were huge best-sellers in the 1940s and relatively easy to find. He was actually a missionary doctor but these books are about his secular work as an Army surgeon in the Burmese theater. ---
**Author:** ![DinoR](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dinor/32/2821_2.png) [@DinoR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DinoR)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2017, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-memoirs-from-more-unusual-combat-roles/778948/7 "2017-02-04T01:55:22Z")
Tank Sergeant by Ralph Zumbro. It’s combat arms but in a war where the narrative is mostly about light infantry fights it stands out. It is a bit like telling war stories after he had a few beers. The Other Side of the Mountain: Mujahideen Tactics in the Soviet Afghan War by Lester Grau. LTC(ret) Grau interviewed mujahadeen leaders and the book is the vignettes he captured from them. It’s not a lone persons memoir but there is not all that much else out there capturing the stories of tactical leaders in an insurgency. Grau’s “Bear Went Over the Mountain…” is a great companion since in some cases it tells the other side of the same fight. That one is translated after action reviews so even stretching memoir doesn’t cover directly including it. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2017, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-memoirs-from-more-unusual-combat-roles/778948/8 "2017-02-04T02:31:51Z")
Soldat: Reflections of a German Soldier is written by a German officer who had a pretty unique viewpoint of the war. He was on both the Eastern and Western fronts. He was injured and sent to the rear before things went really bad in the east. He was one of the last officers to go through general staff school. He most unique role was as part of General Weilding’s staff he gave briefings at the Hitler bunker during the defense of Berlin. This book was used in part as the basis of the movie Downfall. It’s an interesting perspective since we usually hear about it from the allied side. Low Level Hell is written by a scout helicopter pilot in Viet Nam. There are not too many books about aeroscouts. ---
**Author:** ![Meurglys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/258eb7/32.png) [@Meurglys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meurglys)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2017, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-memoirs-from-more-unusual-combat-roles/778948/9 "2017-02-04T10:38:59Z")
[Take Mary to the Pictures](Take Mary to the Pictures - Alan ‘Kit’ Kitley) by Alan ‘Kit’ Kitley is a neat little memoir by a British fighter pilot who ended up flying missions over Burma from an offshore base in the Indian Ocean. It’s not very long but it’s full of interesting details. ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2017, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-memoirs-from-more-unusual-combat-roles/778948/10 "2017-02-04T21:39:15Z")
Spike Milligan served in a British heavy artillery regiment, initially post-Dunkirk and then into North Africa and Italy. There are four main books in his ‘trilogy’ - Adolf Hitler - my part in his downfall - Rommel - “Gunner who?” - Monty - his part in my victory - Mussolini - his part in my downfall. While they were a combat unit and saw action a lot of the story is about alleviating the boredom in between. Spike was a jazz musician and spent a lot of time as an entertainer. Spike is something of a god to many British and Australians, I have no idea if he even registers among Americans. ---
**Author:** ![Soulcatcher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/94ad74/32.png) [@Soulcatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soulcatcher)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2017, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-memoirs-from-more-unusual-combat-roles/778948/11 "2017-02-05T03:38:55Z")
Cutthroats is about serving in a Sherman tank in the Pacific theatre. Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2017, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-memoirs-from-more-unusual-combat-roles/778948/12 "2017-02-05T05:48:17Z")
> [@Banksiaman](#): > > Spike Milligan served in a British heavy artillery regiment, initially post-Dunkirk and then into North Africa and Italy. > > There are four main books in his ‘trilogy’ > > - Adolf Hitler - my part in his downfall > - Rommel - “Gunner who?” > - Monty - his part in my victory > - Mussolini - his part in my downfall. > > While they were a combat unit and saw action a lot of the story is about alleviating the boredom in between. Spike was a jazz musician and spent a lot of time as an entertainer. > > Spike is something of a god to many British and Australians, I have no idea if he even registers among Americans. I remember Spike from radio comedy shows in the 1970’s in the US. ---
**Author:** ![Atomic\_Alex](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atomic_alex/32/175_2.png) [@Atomic\_Alex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atomic_Alex)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2017, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-memoirs-from-more-unusual-combat-roles/778948/13 "2017-02-05T10:48:05Z")
Thanks for the recommendations everyone 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2017, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-memoirs-from-more-unusual-combat-roles/778948/14 "2017-02-05T12:06:45Z")
> [@Horatio\_Hellpop](#): > > **The Brass Ring** by Bill Mauldin, soldier and cartoonist for _Stars and Stripes_ in WWII, is a wonderful book. There were lots of incidents that, bit by bit, chipped away at his naive illusions about the world, like the overly-friendly French farm girls who he knew were exactly as friendly a week earlier to occupying German soldiers, the petty corruptions in the moral vacuum of wartime Italy, the crazy lengths he had to go to to obtain a hunk of zinc to make a printing plate to get out an edition of his unit’s newspaper, and the destroyed church at Monte Cassino that reminded him that America was sometimes the bad guy. I would also recommend **Up Front** , Mauldin’s first book. I must have read that book a dozen times when I was a kid. ---
**Author:** ![JHBoom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/13edae/32.png) [@JHBoom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JHBoom)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2017, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-memoirs-from-more-unusual-combat-roles/778948/15 "2017-02-05T17:45:19Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Low Level Hell is written by a scout helicopter pilot in Viet Nam. There are not too many books about aeroscouts. Safe to assume _Low Level Hell_ occupies a place of honor in your personal library? Excellent book, IMO. When I was a young PFC/LCpl barracks rat, I read a ton of “PX Special” paperback books written by Vietnam helicopter pilots; mostly slicks and gunships, but I do recall at least one or two books about scouts that _weren’t_ _LLH_. I wish I could remember their titles (or at least their authors); I left the books in various barracks rooms, base libraries, and “Have a free book” boxes on a couple continents during the previous century. Also excellent books IMO: [Once a Marine: An Iraq War Tank Commander’s Inspirational Memoir of Combat, Courage, and Recovery](https://www.amazon.com/dp/1611211441/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pd_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=3UJKWPTBO5267&coliid=I2FXLZ7I5TEV6H) [One Bullet Away: The Making of a Marine Officer](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003K16PS2/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1) Nate Fick was the actual platoon commander of the actual Marine Recon platoon that _Generation Kill_ was written about. [Outlaw Platoon: Heroes, Renegades, Infidels, and the Brotherhood of War in Afghanistan](https://www.amazon.com/Outlaw-Platoon-Renegades-Brotherhood-Afghanistan-ebook/dp/B005LC0S7W/ref=pd_sim_351_8?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B005LC0S7W&pd_rd_r=4A1X483KNZV5REXDWXBH&pd_rd_w=4vDNR&pd_rd_wg=4bjXU&psc=1&refRID=4A1X483KNZV5REXDWXBH) ETA: I’ll be adding a few more titles to my Books wishlist on Amazon after reading this thread. Thanks for the suggestions. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2017, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-memoirs-from-more-unusual-combat-roles/778948/16 "2017-02-05T17:50:03Z")
> [@Horatio\_Hellpop](#): > > **The Brass Ring** by Bill Mauldin Damn, pre-ninja’ed by the first reply. All three of Mauldin’s war-era books are worth reading - _Up Front_ and _Back Home_ as well as\* Brass Ring\*. The recent biography, not so much. It is interesting that Mauldin didn’t find out he was one-quarter Native American until he was almost middle aged. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2017, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-memoirs-from-more-unusual-combat-roles/778948/17 "2017-02-05T18:38:32Z")
This guy wrote About Face which is not your typical memoir of a soldier. He served in Vietnam but became very much against that war. [David Hackworth - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Hackworth) ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2017, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-memoirs-from-more-unusual-combat-roles/778948/18 "2017-02-05T19:58:41Z")
The one that came to mind was _My War_ by Andy Rooney. ---
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2017, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-memoirs-from-more-unusual-combat-roles/778948/19 "2017-02-05T20:46:40Z")
**From The Black Deck** - is just being launched, written by an acquaintance about her experiences dealing with sexual harassment and assault while in the Royal Canadian Navy. I have not read it myself, but I know her experiences were traumatic, including how the Chain of Command dealt with the reporting. One of the many stories I think of when working to help victim-survivors and hopefully prevent future victimization. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Pork-Chop\_Express](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@The\_Pork-Chop\_Express](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Pork-Chop_Express)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2017, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-memoirs-from-more-unusual-combat-roles/778948/20 "2017-02-05T22:25:43Z")
The Flashman Papers, George MacDonald Fraser. Historical fiction. > **[The Flashman Papers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Flashman_Papers)** > > The Flashman Papers is a series of novels and short stories written by George MacDonald Fraser, the first of which was published in 1969. The books centre on the exploits of the fictional protagonist Harry Flashman. He is a cowardly British soldier, rake and cad who is placed in a series of real historical incidents between 1839 and 1894. While the incidents and much of the detail in the novels have a factual background, Flashman's actions in the stories are either fictional, or Fraser uses t... [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-memoirs-from-more-unusual-combat-roles/778948.md?page=2)