Drawing from the massive collection of the Library of Congress Veterans History Project, Forever a Soldier presents unforgettable stories of wartime service from veterans of World War I,World War II, Korea,Vietnam, the Persian Gulf, and Iraq:

"I thought that I was the only GI to land on the coast of Normandy."

--Albert Hassenzahl, World War II

"I realized that if I don’t just respect and remember and honor the boys who were there with me, nobody’s going to."

--Richard DeLeon, Vietnam War

Every war is a tapestry woven of the individual stories of millions of men and women thrust into a violent world where simple survival acquires a new, often permanently life-changing perspective. Forever a Soldier captures this personal side of war in 37 extraordinary narratives that relate the American soldier’s experience of battle from the First World War to the ongoing struggle in Iraq.

These unforgettable personal accounts are culled from letters, diaries, private memoirs, and oral histories collected by the Library of Congress Veterans History Project and offer a fascinating, frequently poignant group portrait of America’s armed forces, enlisted and officers alike. Here are tales of’ frontline action, from doughboy Hillie Franz’s 1918 baptism of tire to battleship grinner Ray Brittain’s duel with Japanese planes at Pearl Harbor to medical officer Rhonda Cornum’s capture by Iraqis when her helicopter is shot down during the Gulf War. Here too are quiet periods or’relief and reflection, off-duty interludes like furloughs in liberated Paris or Koreanera Tokyo, and countless brief yet deeply intimate episodes: two badly wounded soldiers, one German and one American. clasping hands in wordlessly eloquent humanity as they wait to be treated: a downed pilot’s faith sustaining him under torture by NorthViemamese interrogators: a GI’s lifelong regret at his best buddy’s death by friendly fire on the last day or-World War II in Europe.

An indispensable contribution to understanding war and its impact on us all. Forever a Soldier presents famous incidents like the sinking of the Indianapolis and her survivors’terrifving four-day ordeal in the shark-infested Pacific, famous battles like D-Day or the Tet Offensive,and famous names like John McCain. but it is the heroic orctinarv Americans whose accounts put a familiar face on the universal realities of war: courage and Fern: horror and exhilaration, sorrow and triumph. Each story speaks powerfully for all American veterans, a family forged in fire whose experiences are seared into our national memory.

Foreword by Tom Wiener

Introduction by Andrew Carroll

CHAPTER ONE: ON THE FRONT LINES

Raymond Brittain: Present at the Beginning

Albert Hassenzahl: First into Europe

Robert Powell:The Modern Near-Ace

John Sudyk:The Soldier of i0,000 Rounds

Raffi Bahadarian: Addressing Spirituality

Hillie John Franz:The Spirit if Not the Letter

Kenneth Ray Rodgers: The Second Time Around

CHAPTER TWO: THE BROTHERHOOD

Asa Charles Ball: Everybody’s Bud

Richard DeLeon:Joining the Brotherhood

Robert Dunning: The Illusion of Brotherhood

Philip Randazzo: The Self-Contained Soldier

Charles Remsburg:The Careful Soldier

CHAPTER THREE: THE HEALERS

Ruth Deloris Buckley: Into Action with the Boys

Dodson Curry:The Reluctant Physician

Eugene Curtin: Holding Back Nothing

Julia Grabner Haskell:The Little Sister

Frances Liberty: The Straight-Arrow Nurse

Wendy Wamsley Taines: Healing Hands

Carolyn Hisako Tanaka: The Forgiving Nurse

CHAPTER FOUR: GROUNDBREAKERS

Darlene Iskra:The Unsung Pioneer

Augustus Prince:The Grateful Pioneer

Bertran Wallace: Too Proud to Bow

Norman Ikari: Eager for a Fight

Yeiichi Kelly Kuwayama: Not Playing it Safe

CHAPTER FIVE: SURVIVORS

Harold Lippard: Cool Under Fire

Giles McCoy:The Ultimate Survivor

Rhonda Cornum: Doing Something Honorable

Roger Dean Ingvalson: The Man of Faith

Johann Kasten IV:The Man of Confidence

John McCain: The Inevitable Warrior

Jose Mares:The Stubborn Spaniard

Harold Riley: The Last Prisoner

John Stensby: The Soldier Who Wouldn’t Surrender

Milton Stern: The Lucky POW

CHAPTER SIX: WAR’S CONSEQUENCES

James Dorris:The Liberator

John Dolibois: Confidant to the Nazis

Denton Winslow Crocker, Jr.:A Patriot for His Time

About the Veterans History Project

Research Resources

Contributor Biographies

Acknowledgments

Photo Credits

Index