Raw, gritty, no nonsense, graphic... words which describe both war and the no nonsense telling of battle in Currahee! A Screaming Eagle at Normandy. The story of Currahee!, told in the first-person by Donald R. Burgett, is a honest, no-nonsense telling of his time as a Screaming Eagle. Burgett was part of the initial formation of the 101st paratroopers, a unit that earned widespread praise for their courage and effectiveness on the battlefield. The Screaming Eagles formed and trained in time to be used during the critical time leading up to and including the D-Day invasion, the series of battles which turned to tide of World War II. The language is vivid, bringing his experiences to life. It seems as though doesn't hold anything back, telling the good experiences, the bad experiences, the bloody and deadly experiences. I've never been in combat, but this comes across as a raw look into the life of a tough, no nonsense soldier involved in some of the toughest battle scenes ever captured on paper. ( )

A quick read but a good one. The author of this memoir was a paratrooper in WWII. In this book he tells his story of going thru training and how incredibly tough they were on people. Shocking how many people died during training. Those who washed out were sent to the military police (MP). Leading the paratroopers who made it resent the officious demeanor of the MPs.

If you have seen Band of Brothers and enjoyed it this is a great supplement as it shows some of the rougher edges and interesting things that happened that didn't make it into the show. He also talks about the paratrooper mindset where you didn't get attached to people around you because you never knew who might get killed next.

A couple parts that stood out to me was when he talked about while they were training in England a very pretty young woman who didn't think she was being watched took off her shoes, waded into a stream, and drowned herself. They ran to the edge of the stream to pull her out but could not find her. The author does not speculate why and so you don't have any idea either.

He also talks about how they killed several Japanese troops in Japanese uniforms in the fighting around D-day and how Russian troops fighting with the Germans attacked them mounted on horseback in classic cavalry charges.

His story is told with no literary flourishes in a very direct style.
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Excellent memoir, honestly written, truly a no holds barred look at training and the fighting in Normandy as seen by Burgett. Highly recommended. ( )

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