Against All Odds: A True Story of Ultimate Courage and Survival in World War I

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For those, who have already been introduced to the magical world of her books, Against All Odds would seem a light and fun read but that will only increase the curiosity to read more of her as it happened with me. Planning varied. Everyone from the military to Elon Musk, had ideas. But they were thinning. How could they swim out? Will they panic? Will the water levels rise further? Mr. Kershaw follows them from the invasion of North Africa through to the end of the War in Europe where the 3rd had taken Salzburg, Austria. Along the way the 3rd took part in 5 amphibious operations (North Africa, Sicily, Salerno, Anzio, and Southern France). Members of the 3rd were awarded 40 MOHs, including the 4 the main protagonists were awarded. In all these events, one can clearly see how Kate always treats her children as teenage kids, never letting go of them and never wanting them to get even a little bit hurt. While her children become irritated by that, they themselves have this feeling of their mother being right to some extent. As story moves forward, it is clearly seen how right Kate had been in all the cases. A world in a cave is like no other, they say, and for most of the world’s population, this story brings it alive. And with it, 13 live boys whose lives we get to know.

Veteran military historian Alex Kershaw delivers admiring accounts of four notable Americans who received the Medal of Honor and more than their share of Purple Hearts during World War II. All attracted worshipful publicity and survived the war more or less intact. Murphy had loved serving being part of "Company B, 15th Infantry Regiment, 3rd division. You trust the men on your left and on your right with your life, while as a civilian you might not trust either of them with 10-cents." The women who share their life stories in the book are real, that fact is unnerving. That someone out there is going through something so horrid, struggling to make two ends meet and live a decent life. While one’s life is a struggle for self-respect and the other battles to create an identity for her own self. One woman is trying hard to make two ends meet after her husband has become an addict while another is dreaming of having her own computer centre but has no means to do so. All the narratives have some common themes underlying—that of helplessness, abandonment, discrimination, challenges of surviving in a male dominated society and disparity. The fourth, Michael J. Daly, seemed unlikely material. Entering West Point in 1942, he set a record for demerits, dropped out and enlisted as a private. Landing at Normandy on D-Day, he amazed everyone with his battlefield feats. He, too, received the Medal of Honor for having stormed an enemy strongpoint. Within weeks of the German surrender he sustained a disfiguring facial injury. Returning Stateside, Daly rarely appeared in public, though he went on to a successful business career. It’s the adventure itself and the two ‘authors’ and their story, which gives this book its high rating. Not the literary style. Of course there could be further editing and certain aspects left out, especially Harry’s ‘kidnapping’ adventure with friends in the city streets of Adelaide. And involving police. There was a little too much spent about his early years.In June 2018, for seventeen days, the world watched and held its breath as the Wild Boars soccer team were trapped deep in a cave in Thailand. Marooned beyond flooded cave passages after unexpected rains, they were finally rescued, one-by-one, against almost impossible odds, by an international cave-diving team which included Australians Dr Richard Harris and Dr Craig Challen. The national bestselling author of The First Wave tells the untold story of four of the most decorated soldiers of World War II--all Medal of Honor recipients--from the beaches of French Morocco to Hitler's own mountaintop fortress Because he was a graduate of his university’s Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) Britt entered the war as a 2nd lieutenant and as a platoon leader, but was soon promoted to captain and company commander, winning all those citations along the way. While serving in Italy during the Anzio campaign he suffered a terrible wound that caused the loss of his right arm.

The story of the Thai cave rescue is remarkable. Recreational cave diving experts Craig Challen (a retired vet) and Richard Harris (an anaesthetist) were drawn into the rescue of 13 Thai kids and their soccer coach and this is their account of what unfolded. He is in a long term relationship with Richard and they want to have children, but not marry. A baby is soon on the way and will Kate’s reservations be realised and what does the future hold for Justin and Richard? As a former Marne Man, I highly encourage any current or former wearer of the Blue and White to read this work.But let me tell you, I have been reading this lady's books for over 30 years now and I am convinced that either a) there's someone else writing these "in the style" of Danielle Steel, or they have fed all her previous books into a computer and run the Steel Algorithm to produce new ones. The title suits perfectly to the story. It couldn't have been better. Multiple characters and their as interesting lives make the read more delightful and entertaining. Before I begin my review I would like to thank the publisher for providing me with the book in exchange of an honest and unbiased review. Truth is stranger than fiction as they say and the heroism of these soldiers, both those that survived and those that didn't, is truly beyond comprehension and humbling. Alex Kershaw does a tremendous job in transporting us into their daily experience in WWII, and their subsequent transition into civilian life afterward.

Dawn was now breaking off the coast of North Africa. In the far distance, men could make out the steeple of a Catholic church rising above the port of Fedala.4 There was the sound of machine-gun fire. Bright red tracers spat across the lightening sky. Ahead loomed a flat, broad beach a couple of miles to the east of Fedala. This book is quite a teacher on it's own. It gives an insight to the mental struggles of a mother, the regretful events of life, the mistaken decisions of humans. What I find odd about the book is how easily people fall in love here, if not easily then within a very short period of time. All the love affair seem to be rather fast pacing and wrong. The book shows how the six sense of a mother is too strong. These two men were chosen for their medical expertise and cave diving knowledge, but this dangerous rescue asked so much more of them. They had to remain calm under extreme pressure and intense scrutiny, adapt to constantly changing circumstances and importantly, build trust among the rescue team and with the young boys and their coach, whose lives were in their hands.There are many moments of stress; when diving face masks were too large, the breathing not heard underwater, and especially the panic of a diver as he loses ‘the line’ etc whilst pushing a body forward. Harry gets to him just in time and retrieved the boy to take out to the end himself.