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Mission Accomplished: Stop the Clock
" Mission Stop the Clock" is a memoir detailing my life in three parts, Pre-War, The War and Post-War. I share my storeis from early childhood during the Great Depressiion through my years as a student nurse detailing both hilarious and sad experiences, The War section covers my three years as an Army Nurse, serving in England, France and Belgium, detailing life in a 1000 bed tent hospital, caring for wounded American soldiers while besieged every fifteen minutes for two and a half months by buzz bombs. We were also bombed and strafed by a German plane during the Battle oif the Bulge. Post- War experiences is the largest section of the book as it covers the next forty years of my life. I write of adjusting to civilian life, meeting up with my husband Mel, the family we raised and the riotous experiences we enjoyed in our travels.Throughout this section, one sees how the war did have a profound impact on the remainder of my life.
366 pages, Paperback
First published December 8, 2008
About the author
Muriel P. Engelman
2 books4 followersMuriel Phillips Engelman is the author of the memoir Mission Accomplished: Stop the Clock. She was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Army Nurse Corps in April 1943 during World War II. She was later promoted to first lieutenant. Two of her three years in the Army Nurse Corps were spent overseas in England, France, and Belgium, the latter where she helped maintain a 1,000-bed tent hospital during the Battle of the Bulge and lived under the constant bombardment of buzz bombs. In 2018 she was appointed a Chevalier of the National order of the Legion of Honor by the French government for her wartime work. She regularly speaks to students, civic organizations, and veteran groups about her experiences and work during the war.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
December 14, 2008
This is a well-written book. As I mentioned in my Amazon review, Muriel and her husband have had a great life and after reading about it, I wish they'd been my neighbors. If the cover picture and the title give you the impression the entire book will be about Muriel's experiences as an Army nurse during World War II, then you'll probably be unhappy with the book. I'm not sure why the decision was made to put the best material into the shortest part of the book. That part is exceptional.
February 27, 2026
The section of serving as an Army nurse in WW2 and serving in the Battle of the Bulge was interesting. The remainder of the book regarding life postwar is probably a great memoir to her children and grandchildren.
September 13, 2022
This a fascinating memoir of a woman's life, not yet over. About 25% of the book narrates Muriel's experiences as a nurse with the U.S. Army in France and Belgium after D-Day. Terrifying are the arrival of buzz bombs.
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The seventy or so years after he end of World War II are not less engaging, as she is a spellbinding writer.
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The seventy or so years after he end of World War II are not less engaging, as she is a spellbinding writer.
August 9, 2022
This self-published memoir is riotously funny. That's not what I expected from a memoir about World War II, but even though there are grim and tragic details related to war violence and death, the author's amusing characterization and memory for funny anecdotes fills the book with engaging details that you'll find nowhere else.
The author shares slice-of-life stories throughout the book, beginning with her childhood and going through to current events in her eighties. The WWII content takes up about a third of the book, so if someone is just looking for information about her nursing experiences, they will be disappointed, but if someone wants the whole arc of a Greatest Generation life, they will read this with delight, as I did.
This book is full of fascinating details, and Engelman did a wonderful job explaining things that she knew future readers wouldn't necessarily understand related to the culture, social norms, and technology of her day. I usually knew exactly what she was talking about, but when I didn't, I appreciated her explanations, and I always admired her ability to consider her audience so well, instead of just reminiscing.
Engelman paints vivid pictures of eccentric characters, to the point where I hope she disguised at least some of their names. She was old enough when she wrote this that many of the people who appeared were already dead, but she shares a lot of completely candid and unfiltered impressions that the subjects would not appreciate! Since it's an obscure book and most of the subjects are dead and gone, I enjoyed laughing over their shenanigans and eccentricities.
Although the war chapters follow a general chronology, the rest of the book is a grab bag of funny anecdotes she remembers. And they are HILARIOUS. She wrote this with a wonderful sense of how much detail to share, and how to pace her stories, and they are gems. I was so entertained. Some of the chapters deal with serious issues, such as her mother-in-law's dementia and ongoing decline, but even then, she shares such engaging, humorous details about life.
I'm so glad that I finally read this after putting it on my to-read list in 2014. I would highly recommend this obscure, out-of-print book to other WWII buffs and to people who enjoy hilarious real-life anecdotes. Although I borrowed this from inter-library loan, I plan to eventually pursue my own copy, because I know that I'll want to read this again.
The author shares slice-of-life stories throughout the book, beginning with her childhood and going through to current events in her eighties. The WWII content takes up about a third of the book, so if someone is just looking for information about her nursing experiences, they will be disappointed, but if someone wants the whole arc of a Greatest Generation life, they will read this with delight, as I did.
This book is full of fascinating details, and Engelman did a wonderful job explaining things that she knew future readers wouldn't necessarily understand related to the culture, social norms, and technology of her day. I usually knew exactly what she was talking about, but when I didn't, I appreciated her explanations, and I always admired her ability to consider her audience so well, instead of just reminiscing.
Engelman paints vivid pictures of eccentric characters, to the point where I hope she disguised at least some of their names. She was old enough when she wrote this that many of the people who appeared were already dead, but she shares a lot of completely candid and unfiltered impressions that the subjects would not appreciate! Since it's an obscure book and most of the subjects are dead and gone, I enjoyed laughing over their shenanigans and eccentricities.
Although the war chapters follow a general chronology, the rest of the book is a grab bag of funny anecdotes she remembers. And they are HILARIOUS. She wrote this with a wonderful sense of how much detail to share, and how to pace her stories, and they are gems. I was so entertained. Some of the chapters deal with serious issues, such as her mother-in-law's dementia and ongoing decline, but even then, she shares such engaging, humorous details about life.
I'm so glad that I finally read this after putting it on my to-read list in 2014. I would highly recommend this obscure, out-of-print book to other WWII buffs and to people who enjoy hilarious real-life anecdotes. Although I borrowed this from inter-library loan, I plan to eventually pursue my own copy, because I know that I'll want to read this again.
September 4, 2022
Finished Mission Accomplished: Stop the Clock by Muriel Engelman, a retired WW2 combat nurse. Another book by a member of the Greatest Generation that describes why they were just that. Muriel describes her initial career as a nurse abandoned to answer the call of tending to wounded soldiers. She does a great job putting you in Europe in primitive conditions, especially the harrowing days when the German Army launched the Battle of he Bulge at Christmas 1944 very close to her MASH unit. Muriel Engelman died in June of this year and when I read her obituary, I was intrigued enough to buy her book written in 2008. The first half of the book is her WW2 experience and the second half the balance of an interesting life by an interesting no nonsense person.
February 28, 2018
I loved this book. Historical books/movies about WWII are my favorite part of history and this lady has a fabulous memory and plenty of stories to fill her memoir. I'm hoping she will be here in Torrance in May for our annual Armed Forces Day Parade and with any lucky I will get to meet her! I actually borrowed her book from my friend/co-worker that met her (the author) two years ago and trusted me with her her autographed copy. Thanks for the read Scheppie and thank you for sharing your stories Mrs. E. I enjoyed them.
October 21, 2022
I read Ms. Engelman's obit (101 years!) in the Washington Post, and so sought out her autobiography.
She recounts her vivid experiences in nurses' training, going overseas, being 10 miles from the Nazis at Liege during the Battle of the Bulge, and romances and excursions through Europe at this fraught time.
I suspect once you have lived through that, you face the rest of your life with a certain equanimity. How I wish I'd been able to talk with her just once.
Thank you, family members, who encouraged her to publish her autobiography.
She recounts her vivid experiences in nurses' training, going overseas, being 10 miles from the Nazis at Liege during the Battle of the Bulge, and romances and excursions through Europe at this fraught time.
I suspect once you have lived through that, you face the rest of your life with a certain equanimity. How I wish I'd been able to talk with her just once.
Thank you, family members, who encouraged her to publish her autobiography.
October 9, 2024
Good book but don't expect much about her war experience. There are few letters she read home when she was in France and Belgium. There arent many photos.
October 20, 2015
Muriel Engelman’s fascination with human detail has spanned eight decades. The American octogenarian’s memoir, “Mission Accomplished: Stop the Clock” is filled with remarkably recalled details, humorous and heartbreaking stories, all focusing on what seems to be her favorite pastime: the wry, humorous but ultimately affectionate observation of people. The wide array of fascinating characters in her winning memoir – from a student nurse superintendent and a polio victim under her care, to a superb dancer (who, as Muriel discovered later, had been courting her after the war in part to cover his sexual orientation) and a maid who tried to woo a rich man by wearing three different colored wigs each week – each is made extremely compelling under her humorous eye and talented pen.
For WWII history buffs, the obvious lure of “Mission Accomplished” is the vivid strokes with which Ms Engelman paints her part in the European theater of war as an army nurse. She first kept American soldiers healthy in Wales before crossing the channel (a trip which was considerably slower than usual because of the debris left from the D-Day invasion).
She was then stationed in Liege, Belgium, for the rest of the war, where she and her fellow nurses did their best under nigh-impossible circumstances, nursing wounded GI’s in tent hospitals where frequent rain turned the “floors” to mud and where buzz bombs were a constant danger (her tent hospital was actually hit three times, killing and wounding patients and personnel). Especially riveting is a 12-page chapter entitled “Letters Home” which is comprised of many highly descriptive letters she wrote to her mother and which date from December 31, 1943 through October 31, 1945. These letters are a fascinating “oral” history describing of a branch of military service which is often overlooked in a general study of American contributions to WWII.
The phrase, “Stop the Clock,” in Ms. Engelman’s title refers to a phrase often uttered by her mother when she was repeatedly asked, “if it was in your power would you like to go back in time and not get any older?” Ms. Engelman’s mother would always reply: “No, I would not go back one single year but I’d just like to stop the clock. It’s going too fast.”
The picture on the cover -- taken during the Battle of the Bulge, when Ms. Engleman didn't know if she was going to be captured by the Germans or not -- might be a bit misleading. The bulk of book consists of her finely-tuned and often wry observations on post-war civilian life.
But she is an amazing story-teller, one of those people who can make anything hilarious and everything fascinating. The earlier chapters will bring obvious pleasure to WWII afficionados, but the rest will provide entertainment for anyone interested in a wide variety of characters, all of them painted with vivid and humorous detail.
For WWII history buffs, the obvious lure of “Mission Accomplished” is the vivid strokes with which Ms Engelman paints her part in the European theater of war as an army nurse. She first kept American soldiers healthy in Wales before crossing the channel (a trip which was considerably slower than usual because of the debris left from the D-Day invasion).
She was then stationed in Liege, Belgium, for the rest of the war, where she and her fellow nurses did their best under nigh-impossible circumstances, nursing wounded GI’s in tent hospitals where frequent rain turned the “floors” to mud and where buzz bombs were a constant danger (her tent hospital was actually hit three times, killing and wounding patients and personnel). Especially riveting is a 12-page chapter entitled “Letters Home” which is comprised of many highly descriptive letters she wrote to her mother and which date from December 31, 1943 through October 31, 1945. These letters are a fascinating “oral” history describing of a branch of military service which is often overlooked in a general study of American contributions to WWII.
The phrase, “Stop the Clock,” in Ms. Engelman’s title refers to a phrase often uttered by her mother when she was repeatedly asked, “if it was in your power would you like to go back in time and not get any older?” Ms. Engelman’s mother would always reply: “No, I would not go back one single year but I’d just like to stop the clock. It’s going too fast.”
The picture on the cover -- taken during the Battle of the Bulge, when Ms. Engleman didn't know if she was going to be captured by the Germans or not -- might be a bit misleading. The bulk of book consists of her finely-tuned and often wry observations on post-war civilian life.
But she is an amazing story-teller, one of those people who can make anything hilarious and everything fascinating. The earlier chapters will bring obvious pleasure to WWII afficionados, but the rest will provide entertainment for anyone interested in a wide variety of characters, all of them painted with vivid and humorous detail.
September 25, 2012
I couldn't put it down! I was honored to meet Muriel shortly after reading the book. Amazing woman!
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews