BORN AT REVEILLE

by Colonel Red Reeder ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 4, 1965

Colonel Reeder's memoir of la vie militaire extends from his birth at reveille at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas in 1902 through his World War II experience both in Europe and the South Pacific. Colonel Reeder has no axes to grind about the Army nor its generals. He recalls life on Army bases where he grew up in the shadow of his officer father, affectionate memories of posts on both coasts, in Hawaii, and of living with his grandparents in the midwest for awhile. At West Point during MacArthur's superintendency, he distinguished himself more at athletics than in the classroom. Between the wars he toyed with resigning his commission to play pro ball and actually did play with some proteams. During these years life at the regimental level does not seem to have been particularly exciting. He reached his two greatest moments as an officer when General Marshall sent him on a tour of the South Pacific and he returned to write Fighting on Guadalcanal, and when he was given command of a regiment which he led into Normandy. The Guadalcanal pamphlet, a colloquial report from the mouths of Marine enlisted men on the line, was printed up at a million copies and its veracity made him famous throughout the services. A fighting officer, Reeder lost a leg in France. As a writer, the colonel hit his peak with that pamphlet, which he should have printed here as an appendix.

Pub Date: March 4, 1965

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Duell, Sloan & Pearce

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1965

Categories: NONFICTION