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My War
The author recounts his experiences as a young reporter to "Stars and Stripes," the American forces' daily newspaper in Europe, including his personal account of the liberation and entry into Buchenwald.
336 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1995
75 people are currently reading
660 people want to read
About the author
Tom Brokaw
93Ìýbooks170ÌýfollowersThomas John Brokaw is an American television journalist and author, previously working on regularly scheduled news documentaries for the NBC television network, and is the former NBC News anchorman and managing editor of the program NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw. His last broadcast as anchorman was on December 1, 2004, succeeded by Brian Williams in a carefully planned transition. In the later part of Tom Brokaw's tenure, NBC Nightly News became the most watched cable or broadcast news program in the United States. Brokaw also hosted, wrote, and moderated special programs on a wide range of topics. Throughout his career, he has been the recipient of numerous awards and honors.
Brokaw serves on the Howard University School of Communications Board of Visitors and on the boards of trustees of the University of South Dakota, the Norton Simon Museum, the American Museum of Natural History and the International Rescue Committee. As well as his television journalism, he has written for periodicals and has authored books. He still works at NBC as a Special Correspondent.
Brokaw serves on the Howard University School of Communications Board of Visitors and on the boards of trustees of the University of South Dakota, the Norton Simon Museum, the American Museum of Natural History and the International Rescue Committee. As well as his television journalism, he has written for periodicals and has authored books. He still works at NBC as a Special Correspondent.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 88 reviews
September 17, 2009
Picked this up thinking it would be light, enjoyable reading. Well, it was enjoyable, but light it was not. Rooney traces his feelings from conscientious objector to Nazi hater. He served as a correspondent for Stars & Stripes, first following the air war and the Eighth Air Force and after D-Day the land war from Normandy to the meeting of US and Russian forces at the Elbe River.
While he was not a combatant, he did fly five missions on B-17s and on B-24's. On the first one, his plane was badly damaged and the pilot died. He describes his feelings quite well on this mission - he was sure that he would not survive. His stories which came from interviewing flight crews are quite graphic to the point of being grisly.
Anyone who feels that war is glamorous should read this - The "good war" was horrible and he does not spare us the details.
A few quotes:
"Most of us live our lives at half speed and on schedule. We sleep when we aren't tired, eat when we aren't hungry and go to the movies or watch television to laugh or cry in order to transport ourselves out of our real lives.... Life is real at war.... It is lived at full speed. Most people don't understand how terrible parts of it are because the stories about war are almost all concerned with the drama of survival and victory over great odds.... War brings up questions to which there are no good answers. One question in my mind, which I hardly dare mention in public, is whether patriotism has, overall, been a force for good or evil in the world.... War brings out the kind of pride in country that encourages its citizens in the direction of excellence and it encourages them to be ready to die for it.... If only I could get out of my mind the most patriotic people who ever lived, the Nazi Germans." (page xv)
"There are no more heroes in war than in peace. It's just that in peacetime heroism is not so dramatic, is not apt to be life-threatening, and so doesn't call as much attention to itself." (page 102)
He quotes A.A. Milne, of Winnie-the-Pooh fame, "If war is to be made tolerable, the romantic tradition must be handed on. 'Madam, I took away your son, but I give you back the memory of a hero.'" (page 102)
He has a low opinion of spying, "There's no evidence spying did us much good in World War II, and the faulty intelligence provided us by the CIA about the Soviet Union in the postwar years cost us billions [if not trillions:] of dollars" (page 145)
"Infantrymen are no braver than anyone else and they do what they have to do, which is often to be killed, not so much because they are ordered to but because each man feels a sense of obligation to the man next to him. It is for that man, not the officer or noncom ordering them, that they go into the face of fire. I laugh when I hear the phrase 'He gave his life for his country.' No one give his life. His life is taken" (page 172)
If you are turned off by the "F" word or other profanity, you may not want to pick this up. The words are used but only sparingly - far less than they are used in real life in the Army or any other branch of the Defense Dept.
While he was not a combatant, he did fly five missions on B-17s and on B-24's. On the first one, his plane was badly damaged and the pilot died. He describes his feelings quite well on this mission - he was sure that he would not survive. His stories which came from interviewing flight crews are quite graphic to the point of being grisly.
Anyone who feels that war is glamorous should read this - The "good war" was horrible and he does not spare us the details.
A few quotes:
"Most of us live our lives at half speed and on schedule. We sleep when we aren't tired, eat when we aren't hungry and go to the movies or watch television to laugh or cry in order to transport ourselves out of our real lives.... Life is real at war.... It is lived at full speed. Most people don't understand how terrible parts of it are because the stories about war are almost all concerned with the drama of survival and victory over great odds.... War brings up questions to which there are no good answers. One question in my mind, which I hardly dare mention in public, is whether patriotism has, overall, been a force for good or evil in the world.... War brings out the kind of pride in country that encourages its citizens in the direction of excellence and it encourages them to be ready to die for it.... If only I could get out of my mind the most patriotic people who ever lived, the Nazi Germans." (page xv)
"There are no more heroes in war than in peace. It's just that in peacetime heroism is not so dramatic, is not apt to be life-threatening, and so doesn't call as much attention to itself." (page 102)
He quotes A.A. Milne, of Winnie-the-Pooh fame, "If war is to be made tolerable, the romantic tradition must be handed on. 'Madam, I took away your son, but I give you back the memory of a hero.'" (page 102)
He has a low opinion of spying, "There's no evidence spying did us much good in World War II, and the faulty intelligence provided us by the CIA about the Soviet Union in the postwar years cost us billions [if not trillions:] of dollars" (page 145)
"Infantrymen are no braver than anyone else and they do what they have to do, which is often to be killed, not so much because they are ordered to but because each man feels a sense of obligation to the man next to him. It is for that man, not the officer or noncom ordering them, that they go into the face of fire. I laugh when I hear the phrase 'He gave his life for his country.' No one give his life. His life is taken" (page 172)
If you are turned off by the "F" word or other profanity, you may not want to pick this up. The words are used but only sparingly - far less than they are used in real life in the Army or any other branch of the Defense Dept.
February 11, 2022
I am fascinated with World War II and enjoy reading books about its far-flung battlefields and outsized personalities. Despite that, sometimes I believe accounts of the war veer a bit too close to hero worship. Tom Brokaw's The Greatest Generation books a perfect examples. Enough of that and you need a corrective. Say, a book by one of TV's greatest curmudgeons.
Andy Rooney bluntly told Brokaw the people who fought that war were just like any others, nothing special about them. He proves that in this, his account of working as a journalist for Stars and Stripes covering the European Theater of the conflict. His tale is unsentimental, at times funny and at others horrifying (his account of flying with bomber crews over Germany being only one vivid example). His warriors were tired, sometimes scared, but they fought on.
Rooney's war was filled with courage, if not the kind of wartime movies or Brokaw's books. His book leaves a reader thinking, as he did the rest of his life, of those who did not survive and the great sacrifice they made while he had a long, happy life. An excellent World War II memoir.
Andy Rooney bluntly told Brokaw the people who fought that war were just like any others, nothing special about them. He proves that in this, his account of working as a journalist for Stars and Stripes covering the European Theater of the conflict. His tale is unsentimental, at times funny and at others horrifying (his account of flying with bomber crews over Germany being only one vivid example). His warriors were tired, sometimes scared, but they fought on.
Rooney's war was filled with courage, if not the kind of wartime movies or Brokaw's books. His book leaves a reader thinking, as he did the rest of his life, of those who did not survive and the great sacrifice they made while he had a long, happy life. An excellent World War II memoir.
November 13, 2021
Very readable and personal account of Rooney's experience as a Stars and Stripes* correspondent during WW II, along with a brief account of his youth and high school/college days and his immediate post-war experience. Rooney was first assigned to cover the Army Air Corps in England (he made several flights in American bombers), then to the ground war following D-Day, and finally to the China-Burma-India theatre, where he saw no action.
Some of the book sounds like the curmudgenly Rooney we came to know (and perhaps love) during his CBS "60 Minutes" commentaries, but much of it is reportage of what he saw and how he felt about it. Many insights on people he encountered, from the plainest and lowly to generals and even FDR. And plenty of entertaining comments on all of it, including the character of the English, French, and Germans.
While this overall is my favorite kind of book -- a primary source -- it also contains some of those errors that make one doubt the accuracy of the entire thing. Mostly I think it's accurate and true . . . the obvious errors may illustrate the lack of good editing and/or proofreading that plagues modern publishing. Of course, Rooney's age and memory when he wrote the book may have played a part.
Examples:
--page 87, discussing the German bombing of Coventry on the night of November 14-15, 1940, Rooney writes "Thousands of civilians were killed and most of the people of the city were made homeless." OK, maybe that's the way Rooney remembered it, but shouldn't an editor have checked? The historian Martin Gilbert (Churchill's official biographer) says 507 civilians were killed. Wikipedia (who knows their source?) says 568 people were killed.
--page 60, discussing the P-47 (American fighter plane), the book says it was armed with eight "50-mm cannon." Well, "eight" was correct, but the armament was 50-caliber machine guns -- and that's about one-half inch in diameter or 12.7 mm -- a long way from 50 mm. And machine guns are a long way from cannons.
--pages 246-247, describing the actions of "green" troops when encountering battle for the first time, he sometimes says the 106th Division and twice says the 105th Division -- but since there was not 105th Division active in Europe, if that's what Rooney wrote, it clearly is an editing or proof-reading downfall in catching the error.
*The newspaper by and for GIs
Some of the book sounds like the curmudgenly Rooney we came to know (and perhaps love) during his CBS "60 Minutes" commentaries, but much of it is reportage of what he saw and how he felt about it. Many insights on people he encountered, from the plainest and lowly to generals and even FDR. And plenty of entertaining comments on all of it, including the character of the English, French, and Germans.
While this overall is my favorite kind of book -- a primary source -- it also contains some of those errors that make one doubt the accuracy of the entire thing. Mostly I think it's accurate and true . . . the obvious errors may illustrate the lack of good editing and/or proofreading that plagues modern publishing. Of course, Rooney's age and memory when he wrote the book may have played a part.
Examples:
--page 87, discussing the German bombing of Coventry on the night of November 14-15, 1940, Rooney writes "Thousands of civilians were killed and most of the people of the city were made homeless." OK, maybe that's the way Rooney remembered it, but shouldn't an editor have checked? The historian Martin Gilbert (Churchill's official biographer) says 507 civilians were killed. Wikipedia (who knows their source?) says 568 people were killed.
--page 60, discussing the P-47 (American fighter plane), the book says it was armed with eight "50-mm cannon." Well, "eight" was correct, but the armament was 50-caliber machine guns -- and that's about one-half inch in diameter or 12.7 mm -- a long way from 50 mm. And machine guns are a long way from cannons.
--pages 246-247, describing the actions of "green" troops when encountering battle for the first time, he sometimes says the 106th Division and twice says the 105th Division -- but since there was not 105th Division active in Europe, if that's what Rooney wrote, it clearly is an editing or proof-reading downfall in catching the error.
*The newspaper by and for GIs
August 14, 2023
I never saw Rooney on 60-minutes nor had read him previously. Picked up this book as I've enjoyed Pyle and Mauldin and wanted to round out WWII correspondent writings.
Rooney's self-deprecating humor about being one of the "lesser" journalists of the war is funny and also true; he really was a lesser journalist. However, his impish pluck is fun. He has no genuinely fresh or revelatory insights-- other than the insight of what the war felt like to your average joe. Pyle is purported to have conveyed that, but he did it through artistry, recreating other's experiences. Pyle was not an average joe. Rooney is something closer to "average" so he just says what he was feeling at the time and reveals a lot that way.
Definitely worth reading.
Rooney's self-deprecating humor about being one of the "lesser" journalists of the war is funny and also true; he really was a lesser journalist. However, his impish pluck is fun. He has no genuinely fresh or revelatory insights-- other than the insight of what the war felt like to your average joe. Pyle is purported to have conveyed that, but he did it through artistry, recreating other's experiences. Pyle was not an average joe. Rooney is something closer to "average" so he just says what he was feeling at the time and reveals a lot that way.
Definitely worth reading.
August 28, 2016
Tedious at times, but a very sobering view of World War II while Andy Rooney served in the Army as a correspondent for the news magazine, The Stars and Stripes . His assignment gave him a front row seat to many of the major events during the war, including bombing missions and entry into Paris during the liberation of France. More than anything, his book is a tribute and dedication to those who did not come home. Throughout the book, he remembers these men.
March 24, 2016
I can sift through profanity in a good WWII story, but this book managed to be off-color yet barely interesting.
January 16, 2020
Very candid and honest assessment of author as he experienced WW II.
A definite read for the military minded historian.
A definite read for the military minded historian.
September 16, 2017
One man's experience in war, real war, is not the same as anyone else's experience. Rooney lived war first hand and documented that experience as well as anyone has done. He also learned and wrote about the experiences of others and described his means of doing so. This is not a history of any war, including the one that is its setting. This is not a book to be read casually. It is certainly going to clue you to what goes through the minds of men in and out of combat.
November 20, 2018
An intensely personal account of WWII by a former Stars and Stripes journalist who later became a famous broadcaster. Rooney shares his experience like he told the news - with a certain frankness coupled with deep emotion. Worth the read for a good perspective on the Greatest Generation as well as for those interested in war journalism.
April 9, 2014
Some unneeded profanity and mean remarks about others. Lots of ego boosting for the author.
May 25, 2018
My War by Andy Rooney It’s around 300 pages and contains a few photos of Rooney during the war. Andy was an American radio and television writer who was best known for his weekly broadcast "A Few Minutes with Andy Rooney", a part of the CBS News program 60 Minutes from 1978 to 2011. He died back in 2011 at the age of 92. My War was written in 1997 and is a first-person memoir of his experiences during the Second World War mainly as a combat correspondent for the Stars and Stripes military newspaper. The second world war was waged from September 1939 until September 1945. It pitted the Axis powers, Germany, Japan, & Italy, against the rest of the world. Although the war had started in 1939 in Europe, the United States remained neutral in the conflict until the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in Hawaii on December 7, 1941. War was immediately declared against all Axis powers after the surprise attack. My rating for this book is (pick a number 0-10). I took on reading this book at the suggestion of my grand-parents. They had both read and enjoyed it. They had enjoyed the author, Andy Rooney as a weekly commentator on the long running TV show, 60 Minutes. Now, anybody ever heard of Andy Rooney? He died when I was 11 and I don’t remember ever watching 60 minutes so I’ve had to take my grand-parents word that he was entertaining. Now after reading the book I have to admit there was a lot of details about things I’d never heard of. He had some amusing stories about pranks he pulled and his opinions on various famous people he encountered in real life. He hated General Patton, a well know war hero. An interesting story he relayed was how he had written a commentary once about his dislike for General Patton and General Patton’s daughter had seen it. She sent him a letter that told him “He wouldn’t have like you either�. He just ended the story by saying she’s probably right. I think I am a bit too young to appreciate this book. So many of the events took place so long ago and don’t have much meaning to me. I think it would be more meaningful to the “Greatest Generation� and the baby boomers. Those generation either lived through these events or at least interacted with people who did to an extent that their experiences were relatable by the younger generation. Now my grand-parents didn’t live through the war, but their parents did. Their parents lives were significantly affected by the second world war and this was passed onto my grand-parents. I rate this book a 5 out of 5
March 21, 2020
Like many Americans, I always enjoyed listening to Andy Rooney. He was the best part of the CBS news show 60 minutes and even if I missed the show, I tried to catch Rooney’s monologue at the end. Reading this book about his war years, I could hear his voice and imagine him reading the words to me. The book is filled with insight and humor, as only Rooney was able to pull off.
Rooney was in college before the war. The draft had begun, and he had been called up for the Army.
Rooney trained to be in the artillery. Even back then, Rooney was something of a troublemaker. He told about one officer whom he disliked and who was bucking for a promotion. Rooney’s job was to put the right amount of powder bags into the gun behind the projectile. They would call out the coordinates and the bags of powder needed, and Rooney would either put too many or two few and the projectile would either fall short or overshoot the target. The officer didn’t get the promotion. Rooney’s unit was packed up and sent off to England, where he received a lucky break. He transferred into the correspondence pool, become a writer from the Army’s Stars and Stripes newspaper. With a million Americans in Europe, the newspaper was a major production. It was also a training ground for those who would step up and take starring roles in American media for the rest of the century.
While in England, Rooney was assigned to a wing of the 8th Army Air Force. He would write stories about the mission and the men whose daring raids over German was attempting to crush the German industrial might. But it was a costly business as planes were often lost behind enemy lines. As a correspondent, Rooney even had an opportunity to go on one such mission. In this book, he also writes honestly about what he didn’t write. He’d heard and witnessed many horrors, which would not have been good for morale
As D-Day approached, Rooney was assigned to go ashore with the Army. He spent most of the rest of the war driving his own jeep around Europe in search of stories. At times, he was dangerously close to the enemy and at other times he was enjoying the good life of food and wine. He did miss out on the Battle of the Bulge when he was temporarily reassigned to New York (each of the correspondents took turns of working a few weeks in the New York offices). But he was back toward the end of the war. When other reporters told him of the horrors of Buchenwald (one of the German concentration camps), he wouldn’t write about it as he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He set out to see for himself, an event that continued to haunt Rooney for the rest of his life.
As the war in Europe came to an end, Rooney had a chance to travel to American bases in India, Burma and China, before traveling home.
I appreciated Rooney’s insight on heroes, which he suggests that it’s best that we don’t meet them. Hemingway had been a hero of his, until he met him in Europe. He was never much of a fan of General Patton, which he remarked in one of his 60 minutes monologues. He recalled how Patton’s daughter wrote to inform him that her father wouldn’t have been impressed with him, either.
My biggest complaint about the book was Rooney’s take on my home state of North Carolina. He didn’t like the state and even questioned why his friend and North Carolina native Charles Kuralt liked it so. Sadly, Rooney had the misfortune of spending 6 months in barracks at Fort Bragg, which is one of the less nice parts of the state.
A couple of quotes:
"Patriotism and war go together. Anytime anyone gets to thinking patriotism is one of the supreme virtues, it would be a good idea to remember that there was never any group of people more patriotic than the Nazi Germans. It's strange that a love for country brings out the vicious character in so many people. In that respect, it's a lot like religion. Here are two things that almost everyone believe are good, patriotism and religion, but between them they account for almost all the people who ever died in a war."
“The whole business of reporting makes me suspicious of history.�
Rooney was in college before the war. The draft had begun, and he had been called up for the Army.
Rooney trained to be in the artillery. Even back then, Rooney was something of a troublemaker. He told about one officer whom he disliked and who was bucking for a promotion. Rooney’s job was to put the right amount of powder bags into the gun behind the projectile. They would call out the coordinates and the bags of powder needed, and Rooney would either put too many or two few and the projectile would either fall short or overshoot the target. The officer didn’t get the promotion. Rooney’s unit was packed up and sent off to England, where he received a lucky break. He transferred into the correspondence pool, become a writer from the Army’s Stars and Stripes newspaper. With a million Americans in Europe, the newspaper was a major production. It was also a training ground for those who would step up and take starring roles in American media for the rest of the century.
While in England, Rooney was assigned to a wing of the 8th Army Air Force. He would write stories about the mission and the men whose daring raids over German was attempting to crush the German industrial might. But it was a costly business as planes were often lost behind enemy lines. As a correspondent, Rooney even had an opportunity to go on one such mission. In this book, he also writes honestly about what he didn’t write. He’d heard and witnessed many horrors, which would not have been good for morale
As D-Day approached, Rooney was assigned to go ashore with the Army. He spent most of the rest of the war driving his own jeep around Europe in search of stories. At times, he was dangerously close to the enemy and at other times he was enjoying the good life of food and wine. He did miss out on the Battle of the Bulge when he was temporarily reassigned to New York (each of the correspondents took turns of working a few weeks in the New York offices). But he was back toward the end of the war. When other reporters told him of the horrors of Buchenwald (one of the German concentration camps), he wouldn’t write about it as he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He set out to see for himself, an event that continued to haunt Rooney for the rest of his life.
As the war in Europe came to an end, Rooney had a chance to travel to American bases in India, Burma and China, before traveling home.
I appreciated Rooney’s insight on heroes, which he suggests that it’s best that we don’t meet them. Hemingway had been a hero of his, until he met him in Europe. He was never much of a fan of General Patton, which he remarked in one of his 60 minutes monologues. He recalled how Patton’s daughter wrote to inform him that her father wouldn’t have been impressed with him, either.
My biggest complaint about the book was Rooney’s take on my home state of North Carolina. He didn’t like the state and even questioned why his friend and North Carolina native Charles Kuralt liked it so. Sadly, Rooney had the misfortune of spending 6 months in barracks at Fort Bragg, which is one of the less nice parts of the state.
A couple of quotes:
"Patriotism and war go together. Anytime anyone gets to thinking patriotism is one of the supreme virtues, it would be a good idea to remember that there was never any group of people more patriotic than the Nazi Germans. It's strange that a love for country brings out the vicious character in so many people. In that respect, it's a lot like religion. Here are two things that almost everyone believe are good, patriotism and religion, but between them they account for almost all the people who ever died in a war."
“The whole business of reporting makes me suspicious of history.�
August 22, 2019
Andy Rooney has opinions. The famed CBS broadcaster cut his chops as a 20-year-old World War II draftee correspondent for the military newspaper Stars and Stripes in the European Theater of Operations (ETO). My War is the story of those years. And it is magnificent. Initially based in England, Rooney followed the troops into Normandy after D-Day and stayed with them all the way through to liberation of the Nazi death camps. Along the way, he met nearly every important personality in the ETO, characters such as General Patton (who scores very low in Rooney’s estimation), Ernest Hemingway (not quite as low as Patton), plus nearly all the other well known and even famous correspondents in the wider press pool, people such as A. J. Liebling (IMHO one of the finest nonfiction writers of the 20th century), Walter Cronkite, Homer Bigart, Ernie Pyle, Robert Capa, Joseph Alsop, and many others. The book is based on Rooney’s copious notes and publications from the time. As such, it differs from many other memoirs that are based merely on recollections. Rooney preserved an almost day-by-day account of his activities.
His opinions as someone on the ground and well informed are priceless. And his mature reflections on the time have relevance today. “At no time do people work so well together to achieve the same goal as they do in wartime. Maybe that’s enough to make patriotism eligible to be considered a virtue. If only I could get out of my mind the most patriotic people who ever lived, the Nazi Germans.� (p. 5)
Rooney’s comment from his experience at the Thelkla concentration camp reflects the importance of a free press: “We talked to a few of the German citizens who spoke a little English and it was my first exposure to what we began to hear so frequently: ‘We didn’t know.� � If they didn’t know, which seemed impossible, they should have known.� (p. 269)
He does err in one insignificant detail. On page 230 he describes the use of “fast talkers� to maximize the text that could be transmitted over a three-minute call via transatlantic telephone cable. The first transatlantic cable was laid in 1955 and didn’t become operational until 1956. The transmission was obviously via short wave radio.
His opinions as someone on the ground and well informed are priceless. And his mature reflections on the time have relevance today. “At no time do people work so well together to achieve the same goal as they do in wartime. Maybe that’s enough to make patriotism eligible to be considered a virtue. If only I could get out of my mind the most patriotic people who ever lived, the Nazi Germans.� (p. 5)
Rooney’s comment from his experience at the Thelkla concentration camp reflects the importance of a free press: “We talked to a few of the German citizens who spoke a little English and it was my first exposure to what we began to hear so frequently: ‘We didn’t know.� � If they didn’t know, which seemed impossible, they should have known.� (p. 269)
He does err in one insignificant detail. On page 230 he describes the use of “fast talkers� to maximize the text that could be transmitted over a three-minute call via transatlantic telephone cable. The first transatlantic cable was laid in 1955 and didn’t become operational until 1956. The transmission was obviously via short wave radio.
September 3, 2021
I have missed hearing Andy Rooney's voice. When reading this book, I heard his voice again, and it was good to hear it. These honest memories of his service as simultaneously a U. S. sergeant and Stars and Stripes reporter during World War II are often riveting, and I found the book hard to put down (though admittedly I have a personal reason for wanting to know more about the war). Because of this book and its first section on Rooney's experiences with the bombing squads, I now have an even heightened appreciation for the airmen and a much more complete understanding at last of Randall Jarrell's poem "The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner." In this book, he doesn't hesitate to reveal imposters and those who he thought were blowhards, whether officers, famous writers, or other reporters. He offers praise equally well to those he feels deserve it. The section of the book about the European theater of war after Normandy gave many interesting personal insights. Rooney was obviously often in danger and was at the forefront of exciting, breaking stories. He reveals an appreciation of the U. S. service members at all levels from grave registration troops to those officers who weren't pompous. As Rooney admitted, there are few people left who can give first-person accounts of World War II. I'm glad he lived long enough to do so.
August 1, 2023
If you're looking for a sweeping explanation of events during American involvement in World War II, you should pass this book by. But if you're interested in history from a first-person perspective, Andy Rooney's "My War" will bring the war, as he experienced it, to life. Rooney writes from the narrow focus of a bomber crew in England going out several times a week, knowing that 10% of their friends will not make it back every single mission. Later, as he lands in Normandy several days after D-Day, he reports the infantry experiences of fighting through the hedgerows, liberating Paris, and finally ending the European war. Throughout, he's plainspoken about the limits of what an individual American serviceman knew: these men fought, almost never knowing the greater goal of their efforts, instead knowing only the area within 100 yards of their positions. There's no self-aggrandizement in Rooney's book, but he conveys a sense of wonder, luck, and often bewilderment at what he sees happening, the bright spots of laughter illuminating the terrible darkness.
June 3, 2020
I would give "My War" 6 stars if I could. I bought this 20 years ago and would have never read it if not for Covid-19, when my public library closed and I rediscovered gems on my bookshelves. Andy Rooney reported for "Stars and Stripes", the US Army's newspaper in Europe, a role that allowed him wide-ranging access to the European Theater of Operations. In a witty, self-deprecating style, Rooney flies with bombing missions over France and Germany, and from D-Day on, logs 20,000 miles in his jeep. He points out that reporters were given unprecedented access to soldiers and the battlefield with minimal (mostly self-) censorship. Though an Army Sergeant, Rooney's correspondents shoulder patch allowed him considerable liberty to go after stories and move among combat units. This is personal story of the war in Europe, not simply for Rooney, but about hundreds of soldiers and airmen, from privates to generals, who risked their lives to rescue Europe from unspeakable tyranny.
December 3, 2021
The old curmudgeon was once young in a fateful time.
Most Americans who were adults in the 1980-90s knew Andy Rooney as a funny but grumpy essayist on �60 Minutes� each week. But he was much more than that, starting with being a talented almost self-taught journalist who covered WWII close up in France and Germany.
Working as a small-town newspaperman, I met him once at a convention, drinking a beverage and reading � a newspaper. What you saw on TV was what he was in real life - charming, grouchy, well-informed, and opinionated - opinions he was paid to share as an essayist but couldn’t as a newsman.
This book contains his recollections as a Army newspaper reporter. As a reporter, he couldn’t share his opinions. But he could by writing this book.
I miss Andy Rooney. This book serves his memory and those of millions of others of “the greatest generation� with love, respect and caring.
Most Americans who were adults in the 1980-90s knew Andy Rooney as a funny but grumpy essayist on �60 Minutes� each week. But he was much more than that, starting with being a talented almost self-taught journalist who covered WWII close up in France and Germany.
Working as a small-town newspaperman, I met him once at a convention, drinking a beverage and reading � a newspaper. What you saw on TV was what he was in real life - charming, grouchy, well-informed, and opinionated - opinions he was paid to share as an essayist but couldn’t as a newsman.
This book contains his recollections as a Army newspaper reporter. As a reporter, he couldn’t share his opinions. But he could by writing this book.
I miss Andy Rooney. This book serves his memory and those of millions of others of “the greatest generation� with love, respect and caring.
September 5, 2022
I think this is a must read for America's High School students. They should be able to keep with this narrative even if it is not a gritty, exciting war story book. Andy Rooney was there from early on until the very end and at some of the most important moments in the conflict. He writes what he saw, what he experienced, what he felt not what he heard second hand. He was an war correspondent for "Stars & Stripes", traveling right with may different units. He ate with, talked with, flew with and sorrowed with front line soldiers. This book was originally published in 1995, the 50th Anniversary of the end of WWII. The book I read was a re-release in 2000 with a Forward by Tom Brokaw and updates and an Afterword by Rooney. I am never one to read the end of a book, however I read the Afterword and it is very telling. When I read the Afterword again after finishing the book, I realized how poignant it is. We should never, ever forget this chapter in the history of America.
October 21, 2022
I have loved Andy Rooney since I first saw him on "60 Minutes." He was just delightful, funny in a curmudgeonly way. This book is about his time in the military as a news correspondent for the military paper, "The Stars and Stripes." He was there in England with fighter pilots. He ended up in Normandy shortly after D-Day, was there for the liberation of Paris, and marched into Germany with the ground troops. His memories and information were fascinating. I learned so much. I was disappointed to learn that some correspondents wrote articles when they weren't even present at the event. The war he described was horrible. You would think we wouldn't engage in war after learning what when on in WWII and how many people were killed or injured. He also shared some funny stories in the way only he can. I really enjoyed this book. I'm glad I read it.
February 19, 2024
Any Rooney's My War was a short memoir which focuses on Andy Rooney's time in the Army in World War II, where he was assigned to Stars and Stripes. A Short read including the afterword 278 pages. A nice 3.5 star read of time in Europe the events he was part of D-Day, the Liberation of Paris, the crossing at Remagen and his entry into a concentration camp.
A personal account which appears very truthful and honest if his journey including both his successes and perceived failures and the paths of some of the other great deployed journalist of the day. I would not place this at the top of the pile but a worthy addition to the literature to an observer of World War II from England to the end of the war.
A personal account which appears very truthful and honest if his journey including both his successes and perceived failures and the paths of some of the other great deployed journalist of the day. I would not place this at the top of the pile but a worthy addition to the literature to an observer of World War II from England to the end of the war.
January 16, 2019
This is an interesting memoir, but it is only that...a memoir. It tells the story of Andy as a young reporter just starting out, and how good luck and good management launched his career. To his credit he was not afraid to approach "the front" in WW2 which gave him a perspective on the war that less adventurous journalists didn't have.
But this is not about the war itself, so much as his travels within it, the people he met, and his reminisces about those people and himself during this time.
I had some trouble finishing it, as there was nothing suspensful or gripping about the story. However, it is well-written.
But this is not about the war itself, so much as his travels within it, the people he met, and his reminisces about those people and himself during this time.
I had some trouble finishing it, as there was nothing suspensful or gripping about the story. However, it is well-written.
December 30, 2021
Andy Rooney is a wonderful writer, but not a very good soldier. I really wanted to gain a greater liking for Andy by reading this book. That didn’t happen. I was also in the military and understand a good bit of what he was going though. I also understand the need to conform in the military in many circumstances. I feel Andy did not. If not for getting lucky and receiving the job he was given, I wonder how he would have done. His story of his early Army days are full of him doing things that many would not consider very ethical. I enjoyed the book but I’m a little disappointed by one of the men I’ve enjoyed watching over the years.
January 9, 2024
Between a 3 and a 4 on the stars. More about Andy than the war, but interesting and entertaining just the same. Just enough 'early Andy' to set the stage for his entry into journalism. Might be a little unfairly judgemental and opinionated in places, but it's also not a lot of 'how great was I'. He relates his experiences pretty well and I think he does so honestly with no exaggeration. Lots of good tidbits, some humorous, and information we may or may not have known. It's a good, easy read. I enjoyed it.
November 3, 2019
One of the most raw and personal memoirs of the Second World War I’ve ever read. Written by the Stars and Stripes reporter, Andy Rooney, he describes riveting first-hand accounts from accompanying the 8th Air Force on B-17/24 bombing missions over Europe, to following the 1st Army from Normandy to Paris. Andy’s stories offer an incredible glimpse into one of the greatest conflicts of all time and you will not be able to put this one down.
November 6, 2020
A strong 4 rating for Rooney's personal account of WW2! Although not a new book, this goes to show that a good WW2 story never gets old. I had the opportunity to visit Normandy and the D-day beaches, an intensely moving experience. Rooney was able to provide a similar, emotionally charged depiction of the time and place, about the best that could be done without being there.
October 24, 2022
I always liked Andy Rooney's commentaries when he was on CBS' 60 Minutes. Hence, this ebook was acquired. It is a first hand account of some of the battles and what life was like for a soldier in World War II as he reported them in the "Stars and Stripes" newspaper. I enjoy reading about the not to distant histories from people who actually were there.
November 21, 2022
Yes, the curmudgeonly Andy Rooney comes through on occasion in his memoir of his time as a Stars & Stripes reporter due WWII. And he does meander at times. But he had a front row seat to the War in Europe. Very readable book for any WWII buff.
August 17, 2023
Great read
An honest history of his experience as an Army non com assigned to the Stars and stripes news paper in Europe. While not glorifying what he reported on he lent his good sense and humor tell the story of very brave men and women.
An honest history of his experience as an Army non com assigned to the Stars and stripes news paper in Europe. While not glorifying what he reported on he lent his good sense and humor tell the story of very brave men and women.
March 29, 2024
Wonderful first person account from a 60 Minutes correspondent we all know. Gritty account of WWII incidents. Sad reminder of the sacrifices our soldiers make serving our country. At the same time, many witty anecdotes shared as Rooney’s humor, seen on 60 Minutes comes through here.
June 1, 2017
He's cynical, yet humorous.
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