Unbroken: A Book Review

 

Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption                

By Laura Hillenbrand

Paperback, 528 pages (2014)

Published by Random House                                                                         

My daughter gifted me with this book for Christmas and as soon as I opened it’s pages, couldn’t put it down.  What an incredible and inspiring life Louis Zamperini lived!  Hillenbrand’s meticulously researched story was years in the making; her rigorous efforts and gifted writing style have resulted in a national treasure.   She has brought to light not only one man’s journey through WWII, but raised a nation’s awareness of an often hidden reality: POW camps, the depth of man’s depravity and the inner battle to overcome the lasting effects of traumatic experiences for men at war. 

This book is liberally sprinkled with wonderful photographs and illustrations to document the tale; it’s easy to be swept up in the sunshine and sand of the Pacific Islands in the 1940’s... equally thrilling and heart-pounding to be aboard a B-24 with Louis and crew, so skilled is Hillenbrand at her craft.   I laughed, I cried.. I was awestruck reading Unbroken.  As a Christian, I found the complexities of war, of evil and suffering to bolster my faith.  Maybe it’s because when honor, strength, miracles and sacrifice are contrasted against such a bleak canvas, truth and light are most clearly seen.   

Stories of survival have always piqued my attention, and this one is no different.  It’s the essence of man at his most extreme moments that fascinates me.  How does one respond physically and mentally in history’s bleakest hour?  What drives one to survive under extreme conditions?  And how does man cope mentally to overcome his witness to horrific crimes...?  Answers and insights are given to these types of questions by sharing in the life of Louis Zamperini.  The reader is truly left feeling amazed, inspired, even empowered by learning the life lessons this man has to offer.

Skip the movie, read the book.

Five stars.

The Long Walk Home, With Miracles Along the Way: A Book Review

By Anatole Kurdsjuk

Published by Printing and Publications, Corp. (2005) 

Softcover, 266 pages

This amazing true story of Jacob and Olga Kurdsjuk is lovingly shared by their only surviving child, Anatole Kurdsjuk.  What a treasure Mr. Kurdsjuk has given the world in chronicling his family history through Communist Russia as well as Nazi Germany and the tribulations of WWII.  

Even though Anatole Kurdsjuk admits in the preface that he lacks “formal writing skills”, I found his work so engaging I could hardly put it down.  He generously weaves old photographs, excerpts from diaries, and family documents into the story, which gifts the reader with a wonderful vision of his family’s experience in the early part of the 20th century.  

This story is one of love, survival, enduring faith in God against a bleak backdrop of Stalin’s vision for Russia.  It’s a story that will make you smile at the innocent love between a young man and woman who labored - with joy - as peasants.  But also a story that will leave you in wonderment at the zeal of the human spirit when faced with persecution.  

But there’s more.  This book belongs alongside The Diary of Anne Frank as required reading for America’s youth.  It provides the reader a cross-section of life during WWII by a family who endured imprisonment by both their native land and the occupying German forces.  The reader is given a view of America that is, in most American public schools,  completely absent.  And that’s just it.  Our children need to see America through the eyes of those who’ve endured unspeakable hardships...by those who pursued the freedom in America at all costs. 

I encourage you to read The Long Walk Home; you can only be enriched by knowing the story of Jacob and Olga Kurdsjuk.  

To God be the glory for all things †

The Greatest Generation

With Veterans Day fast approaching my thoughts are on our Greatest Generation, those amazing men & women of the ‘30s & 40s and the lessons they have for us today.

They are a strong-willed people, not giving up when the stock market crashed, thus leaving a quarter of our nation unemployed. Those who could, found menial jobs that required a tenth of the skills they possessed, but took them without complaint. It meant bread on the table. And they were thankful for it. They persevered, often at great cost to those held most dear. Families were separated in order to search for work and boys swiftly became men, working wherever they could to feed young brothers & sisters. Theirs is the motto, "Waste not, want not."

They are a resilient people, those who survived the Great Depression and went on to fight in World War II.

They are a conservative and innovative generation...they knew how to grow their own food, lend a hand, work hard and still find time to visit with neighbors over the fence. Victory Gardens were planted all around, not just at private residences but in public squares as well to reduce the demand on public food supplies; imagine that, self-reliance rather than looking to government to meet a need.

The women enjoyed raising their families, finding great satisfaction in making a house a home, cooking - the kind of meals that took most of the day - and making due while the men were at war. And not just getting by, that is, keeping the children clothed and fed, but helping in the war effort by working long hours in factories to maintain a supply of heavy equipment and ammunition. And yes, they were most likely underpaid compared with their male counterparts, but this didn’t deter them from a role they felt necessary to help America win the war.

They are a patriotic people, possibly the most American loving generation we’ve seen since the mid 18th century. They know the value of a dollar, good tilled earth and honest work. And they love America because they have ingrained on their hearts the blood sacrificed for it in the World Wars, never losing the vision of this great nation given to us by our forefathers. This is the generation that knows what the US Constitution actually says, flies the US flag proudly and cries when the National Anthem is played. This generation gave us boys who would lie about their age in order to enlist, their desire so great to see the world and have a chance to defend the country they loved. These men & women understand what love and sacrifice is because they lived it. They didn’t have the comforts and distractions we have today, they are a people of mettle.

They are a generation that champions life. If you’ve never watched a documentary interviewing servicemen who were there when Dachau was liberated and learned of the Auschwitz liberation by the Red Army...do so. It is worth your time to contrast the views of Americans when they became a witness to the Holocaust, verses those of Stalin, who also helped to overthrow the Third Reich. This generation promotes, preserves and values innocent life.

My hat is off to you, men and women of the Greatest Generation. I am thankful that some of you are with us still. May we of younger generations learn from your lives and honor the sacrifices you made by upholding your greatest virtues: strength, resilience, perseverance, courage and love for the United States of America.