Every Man a Hero: A Memoir of D-Day, the First Wave at Omaha Beach, and a World at War Hardcover – May 28, 2019

This was a well-written memoir of not only a D-Day survivor but also of a veteran of U.S. combat in World War II in Tunisia and in Sicily (both in 1943). U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Ray Lambert (an amazing 98 when he wrote this book with Jim DeFelice; Lambert was born on November 26, 1920), was an Army medic from the 2nd Battalion of the 16th Infantry Regiment, part of the 1st Division (the famed “Big Red One,” a name derived from the unit patch worn). Lambert recounted his life from his humble roots in rural Alabama through the Great Depression well into the postwar years, though the book concentrates on his U.S. Army training and his involvement in north Africa, Italy, his landing on Omaha Beach, and his recovery from his injuries he received at Normandy. Though there are a few paragraphs here and there that recount the broader sweep of the war (even mentioning the events in the Pacific), this book is focused on one man’s experience and the things he saw and did (and experienced by those around him). Having read a number of books on say the broad sweep of the European theater or the war in the Pacific, it was very interesting to read the experiences of one man on one stretch of Omaha Beach or in a particular valley in Tunisia, of the exact experiences he had.The book can almost be read as a series of vignettes, not as one long narrative driven memoir but a series of recollections of his time in training, in the service, and in recovery. Some sections were a page or so, other went on for several pages, all describing what Lambert experienced. Though the bulk of the book is on his World War II service, not all sections dealt only with battle or his role as a medic, but also detailed a number of other things he did and experienced in the service. Asides ranged widely in their subject matter, from the surprisingly “accepted and expected part of war” that was the presence of prostitutes (both overseas and even say near Fort Riley in Kansas; Lambert himself, very happily married, never partook, but he did do a lot to caution and treat men who visited prostitutes), the often apparently deliberate policy of the Nazi targeting of medics (who wore red crosses on their helmets and armbands and were supposed to be immune from direct targeting thanks to the Geneva Convention, but whose targeting “was a deliberate policy, a war crime” on the part of the Germans), his thoughts on two of the best-loved generals of World War II (Major General Terry Allen and Brigadier General Theodore Roosevelt, son of President Teddy Roosevelt, two generals Lambert served under and thought extremely highly of though not always well-liked by those above the two generals, with General Patton in particular intensely disliking General Allen, though as Lambert wrote “We might fight for Patton, but we’d go through hell and back ten times again for Terry”), his thoughts on the famed incident of Patton slapping a soldier suffering from battle fatigue (Lambert was surprisingly sympathetic to Patton while not condoning the action nor saying he particularly a fan of the man, pointing to among other things the then current understandings of PTSD), to Lambert’s interesting history of his Silver Stars (he only claims one, as he the official paperwork to back up the award, but his other two Silver Stars despite promises he would get the documents around them he never received them and thus Lambert doesn’t claim them despite having the actual medals, though as noted in the notes and sources section 80% of the records of U.S. servicemen discharged between 1912 and 1980 were lost at a fire in 1973 at the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis), the role of the WAACs (Women Auxiliary Army Corps, “American women who had volunteered to work for the army behind the lines, taking jobs like drivers or clerks so more men could have combat roles”), and about “V Mail” or “Victory Mail” (to save on weight, letters were photographed and then sent overseas on microfilm, once at the destination then reproduced on a page about half the size of the original).The heart of the book is definitely his combat and medic experiences in Tunisia, Sicily, and most of all at Normandy and made for gripping reading. The writing about the D-Day landing was extremely vivid and also extremely intense, as Lambert wasn’t so much trying to storm the beach (though he was very much on it) but trying to give medical aid to those injured in the assault, a job by its very nature making him very much exposed to enemy fire, all while working in the surf and with little or no cover. In all three battles Lambert saved a lot of lives all at great risk to his own (and suffered a number of injuries but kept on working).The end of the book has a section of notes and several appendices that are worth reading, describing the processes used in researching and writing the book (an amazing amount of fact checking to make sure the names of ships or sites say in North Africa were accurately recorded) as well as an interesting appendix on the U.S. Army combat medics of World War II and another appendix about battle fatigue and PTSD in the war as well (well worth reading). There is also a section on further reading and extensive endnotes. Also some of the best maps I have ever seen in any World War II book (black and white but very well detailed). There is in addition an extensive collection of black and white photos in plates in the middle of the book, ranging from his childhood all the way to a memorial plaque on “Ray’s Rock” on Omaha Beach.

After reading "Every Man a Hero: A Memoir of D-Day, the First Wave at Omaha Beach, and World at War," unless one happened to be in Normandy on that fateful day of June 6, 1944, the story of the men that stormed the beaches could not be best told unless otherwise. Indeed, upon reading survivor and World War II veteran Arthur Ray Lambert was one of thousands of men on that day that made it up the hill to live through the experience. His account of that day and the days that proceeded cannot be compared to any other, although, Steven Spielberg comes close with the film "Saving Private Ryan" and William Wyler's "The Best Years of Our Lives."Lambert writes with concise detail of the beginnings of his entry into the United States Army Air Corps, predecessor to the Air Force and his place in the historic First Division, 2nd Battalion of the 16th Infantry Regiment and World War II in Europe in 1939 at the ripe age of 20 years old. His story reads much like something out of the movies but no doubt very much true from his down home farm in Clanton, Alabama, to the days before he departed and met who would be his wife-to-be Estelle while at Fort Bragg in North Carolina and the day he heard Pearl Harbor was struck December 7, 1941 his life would never be the same; Japan began its path to war in the Southwest Pacific and the US declared war, a domino effect thereafter with Germany's declaration of war on the US -- same week and month of '41. Lambert does a fine job writing the parallels of both fronts, and made an interesting insight of five star General Douglas MacArthur, "Douglas MacArthur's famous "I shall return" speech sounds thrilling now, but a the time it was only a bunch of brave words, and very possibly an empty prediction... not that we soldiers felt that way. We were eager to fight... that we'd been attacked, and sure that we could beat anyone. Maybe too sure" (Kindle location 612). Lambert spoke with much bluntness and told it like it was having served in the African, Middle East, and European fronts of the war. He saw it all of the ravages of war from injury, illness and health. And one of the footnotes he concludes with at the end of the book, the effects of war that was not only physical but mental. What was described as Shell Shock in World War I can now be described as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder PTSD, it existed then and it existed during the Second World War and beyond."Every Man a Hero" is not the typical memoir that readers may have encountered in the past. It is the story of one man's life, a history lesson, and an enlightening experience that was told by someone who lived to tell. Ray Lambert shares his no nonsense story that is worth reading and understanding not only his life but the lives of the Greatest Generation during war time.

Very good book. Well researched and written. One of the best WWII books I have read.

Describes what all these brave men went through very well. Will make you appreciate all we have and how easy most of us have had it. Thank you to all the veterans!