4 out of 4 stars
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Upon being given the opportunity to read a story about the Korean War, I jumped at the chance to read Lost Bastards:A Story of Honor, Courage, and Redemption written by L. Todd Wood. My own knowledge of the war had been limited to old episodes of M.A.S.H. and knowing that the 38th parallel was a pretty big deal between North and South Korea. I found myself suddenly hungry to learn more about this conflict and Mr. Wood’s book definitely satisfied my desire.
The book starts out in Germany where our main protagonist, Corporal Richard Carpenter finds himself presently stationed. It is 1952, and we find Russian and Americans troops living in a shaky cohabitation of Germany at the very beginnings of the Cold War. The book starts here because this is where Corporal Carpenter soon meets his wife and quickly begins a family with her. It is a tough beginning for the couple as neither the United States military nor Germany will recognize their union. Through various methods, Carpenter provides for his family, finding a way to get the money they need to cover the expenses that military benefits usually would be providing for them. He is always looking for a way to make a buck and to get ahead while still doing his regular duty. But his life takes a drastic turn when he gets picked to be trained on a new technology which will land him smack dab on the front lines in Korea.
Their mission is classified top secret and very few individuals know that they are even in Korea at all. They are stationed on Hill 433 where they are complimented by a unit of the Republic of Korea (ROK) troops who will be assisting them on their mission. As they are testing out their equipment, the fighting around them begins to go badly for the other ROK and American troops near them which eventually leads to them being cut off and surrounded by the encroaching Chinese. In radio contact, they are told to hold their position at all costs and to be prepared to destroy their equipment if they are overrun so that it does not fall into the hands of the enemy. As the men around him start to die, Corporal Carpenter finds himself thinking of his family and his great desire to live and see them again, while yet acknowledging his duty and the likely possibility of his death. This truly pulls the reader right into the middle of the bloody business of war and helps us to see what true courage under fire looks like.
This was a superbly written book about an amazing group of men who stood back to back (even literally at one point) and fought against the evils of emerging communism in the world. Mr. Wood, himself a former Air Force pilot, crafted a great story based mainly upon Richard Carpenter’s memoirs and remembrances by his children of the stories he told them about his life and military career. I loved how he expertly patched any gaps in the real-life story with his reasoning of what likely was said and done in any given situation. The seams were completely unnoticeable between the confirmed and the envisioned events. It is a wonderfully crafted retelling of such an incredible part of the Korean War.
Only two things bothered me with the book. The first is there was a lot of swearing throughout the story. This can quite be expected, since it is a story about men put in extremely stressful and life threating situations which often make it difficult to speak cordially. The second reason is that the formatting of the story at times cut off the bottom portion of some letters throughout the book, which was kind of irritating. I cannot explicitly know if this is true for the book itself, or just was a problem that I couldn’t fix with my display in iBooks on my tablet.
Overall, I have to rate this book a 4 out of 4 stars. It gives such an incredible insight into the life of a soldier, especially in the midst of battle. Anyone who is a history buff, loves war stories, or enjoys gaining insight through watching others persevere through tough times would heartily enjoy reading this story. I recommend it as highly as I can.
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Lost Bastards
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