AGAINST ALL ODDS

World War II heroics with a touch of melancholy.

In his latest book of popular World War II history, bestselling author Kershaw tells the stories of four Americans who won the Medal of Honor and lived postwar lives that sometimes kept them in the public eye. The best known is Audie Murphy, diminutive son of a dirt-poor Texas family and an underage enlistee whose spectacular marksmanship and fearless aggression won him not only a host of medals, but a career in Hollywood. He often served under Keith Ware, a captain from Officer Training School who won the medal but also became the first draftee in history to end his career as a general. He played an important role in the Vietnam War before dying in a helicopter crash in 1968. Maurice Britt was playing professional football when he was called up. Seriously injured in 1944, he became “the first American in history to gain every medal for valor in a single war.” Michael Daly entered West Point in 1942, hated its brutal hazing and regimentation, quit, and immediately enlisted as a private, anxious to prove that he had the right stuff. Landing on Omaha Beach on D-Day, he performed feats of bravery until the very end. With a serious facial injury, Daly’s public exposure was minimal, and he lived modestly, dying in 2008. Movie-star handsome, Murphy appeared on the cover of Life, becoming the “Sergeant York” war icon of WWII. Actor James Cagney offered a film contract if he went to acting school and lost his Texas accent. Murphy enjoyed a successful career through the 1950s but had drifted out of the spotlight before dying in a plane crash in 1971. These men fought at the sharp edge, so Kershaw pours out a steady stream of vicious small-unit actions filled with merciless brutality and bloodshed. Some readers may feel the urge to skim some of the mayhem, but the accomplishments of the soldiers shine through.

Realistic portraits of four American superheroes.