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| Plot Summary of Soldiering for Freedom |
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"Herman J. Obermayer was a staff sergeant in the U.S. Army during WWII. He was born and raised in Phildelphia, PA, to a well-to-do Jewish family and graduated cum laude from Dartmouth before enlisting in the Army. He wrote hundreds of letters to his "folks" during his time in basic training, a special military school at the College of William and Mary, and while in Europe. He was a medic in France, worked on the gasoline lines that fueled the Allied war machine on the Western Front, and, through a twist of fate (and well-placed connections) was present at the historic proceedings at Nuremburg after the war's end.
This book is a compilation of his letters, in which we learn about the goings-on of the time from the vantage point of an educated "grunt." He talks everything from the tedium and misery of some of the camps he stayed in to the exhileration of watching Nazis squirm. He talks about the secret code he used to relay secret messages to his parents -- messages that U.S. censors would have removed. He discusses racism and bigotry in the military and society at large. He talks about aspects of war and occupation that are timely in this day and age with the United States once again engaged in helping a people emerge from despotism and develop a democratic culture to support a liberal, Western-style state.
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Tom Crowe, Resident Scholar
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| Review Analysis of Soldiering for Freedom |
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Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
War/Cloak & Dagger story?
- Fought as soldier
War/Spying
Yes
Period of greatest activity?
- 1900+
Which war?
- World War II
Subject of Biography
Gender
- Male
Profession/status:
- infantry soldier
Age:
- 20's-30's
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events?
Yes
Ethnicity
- Jew
Nationality
- American (!)
How sensitive is this person?
- middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other people
Setting
How much descriptions of surroundings?
- 4 ()
United States
Yes
The US:
- Northeast
Europe
Yes
European country:
- France
Misc setting
- fort/military installation
Century:
- 1930's-1950's
Style
Person
- mostly 1st
Accounts of torture and death?
- moderately detailed references to deaths
Book makes you feel?
- thoughtful
Story of entire life, or part?
- story of set of events during life
Autobiography?
Yes
Pictures/Illustrations?
- A ton 16-20 B&W
How much dialogue in bio?
- little dialog
How much of bio focuses on most famous period of life?
- 76%-100% of book
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Click here for more information about this book
Herman J. Obermayer Resident Scholar Profiles
TOP SCHOLAR:
 Tom Crowe
SCHOLARS:
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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