Brave Men, Gentle Heroes: American Fathers and Sons in World War II and Vietnam

by Michael Takiff

Brave Men, Gentle Heroes presents the frank, moving, and harrowing stories of men who served in World War II and of their sons who served in Vietnam -- fathers and sons bonded as deeply by their common experience in war as by blood. These are men who served in the army, navy, air force, and Marine Corps. Officers and enlisted men, career servicemen and citizen soldiers. Men of European, African, Asian, Latino, and Native American ancestry. Men who speak with the authentic voices of an Indiana farmer, a Brooklyn bus driver, a Louisiana businessman, a Seattle machinist. The contrasts between World War II and Vietnam are everywhere in these compelling the clear aims of World War II, the muddled goals of Vietnam; the heroes' welcome accorded World War II veterans, the scorn heaped upon their sons. But the stories in Brave Men, Gentle Heroes are also rich with elements intrinsic to all wars and all courage, honor, service, duty, youth, adventure, fear, idealism, love of country and of family, exasperation with military bureaucracy. In these pages you will find war's carnage and war's heroism, war's purpose and war's futility, war's meaning and war's tragic meaninglessness. Taken together, the stories in Brave Men, Gentle Heroes tell the history of two wars, each the defining experience of a generation. This is history told not at the level of presidents and generals, but through the recollections of men who shouldered the rifles, manned the ships, and flew the planes. We're familiar with the effects of the two wars on world politics. But what did they do to American families? Molded by the awful crucible of war, these seemingly ordinary men offer extraordinary insights into what it means to be a warrior, an American, a father, and a son. Brave Men, Gentle Heroes is a book for those who have been to war and those who have been spared its horror. It is a book for individuals to reflect upon and families to share.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, War, Military Fiction, World War II

560 pages, Hardcover

First published October 21, 2003

About the author

Michael Takiff is an independent scholar and oral historian whose writing has
appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and The Huffington Post (on HuffPo, see his recent piece "Bill Clinton Feud With Rachel
Maddow Springs From a Legacy Full of Contradictions"). A graduate of Yale University and a former comedy writer and comedian, Takiff is the author of the oral history Brave Men, Gentle Heroes: American Fathers and Sons in World War II and Vietnam. Brave Men, Gentle Heroes was chosenby the Washington Post as a Critics Pick and was praised as a superb oralhistory (Kirkus Reviews, starred review), a major contribution (Library
Journal), and a stirring collection (AARP Magazine).Michael Takiff lives in New York City. More information about him and A Complicated Man, includinglinks to video and audio recordings of interviews, go to http://michaeltakiff.com/."

Reviews

[Al · Rating 5 out of 5]

A superb oral history of two generations at war—sometimes with each other.

It won’t come as a surprise that the Americans who fought in WWII and Vietnam often saw their missions in radically different ways. Takiff has done a very smart thing in pairing and playing off the remembrances of veterans of both conflicts. He adds yet more by focusing on father & son veterans, some of whom, nearly 30 years after the second war ended, have trouble talking about their experiences with each other, if less so with the interviewer. Where Gene Camp, a WWII veteran who was also one of the earliest American fighters in Vietnam, rails against the “all the liberals barking and carrying on” and “the people back here . . . protesting and making speeches and running to Canada,” his infantry captain son Greg says quietly, “I was young and naive and very patriotic. Now I would say we got into Vietnam for lots of reasons, but it wasn’t the sort of overarching, noble reason that I had thought. . . . It was like throwing good money after bad.” Even fathers and sons who more or less agree on the flawed nature of the Vietnam misadventure find difficulty in speaking in these pages. But speak they do, to each other and to the world, often eloquently, often quite movingly. To all their conversations Takiff adds a smart introduction and running commentary that addresses all the “well-rehearsed generalizations” we’ve long heard about both wars, reminding his readers that plenty of WWII vets returned with PTSD, plenty of Vietnam vets returned normal, and plenty of commentators have erred in thinking we won WWII just because we were the good guys and lost Vietnam because we were—well, something else.

[Alyssa Allen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loooooved it. I haven't read too much about Vietnam, but what I have I've liked. This took things to a different level and it was awesome. I loved reading about the fathers and sons who both served in the military in different wars. Their experiences were alike and different in so many ways. The personal stories made me feel closer to them, and made me want to meet every Vietnam vet and shake their hand, and then hug them! I'm even more grateful than before for our military and their sacrifices.

[David Highton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating first hand accounts from WW2 and Vietnam veterans 0 many contrasting experiences of fathers and sons

[Abby Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

This wonderful book cataloged fathers who served in WW2 and their sons who served in Vietnam. There are heroic stories, cowardly ones, good stories, and bad ones. I came away with a sense of how our soldiers in WW2 drew strength from the belief that what they did was right and the nation was behind them. While the lack of moral conviction – most of them had no idea if the war was right or not – and support from the nation pulled down our Vietnam soldiers. I disagreed politically and morally with many of the men who fought in Vietnam, while others amazed me with their courage. This book gives you insight into the everyday soldier’s reaction to sweeping historical events, the pain of sending your son off to war when you know exactly how hellish it is, and different paths of healing.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really good collection of Veteran interviews, from both Fathers who served in WW2 and Sons who served in Vietnam. After reading this book, one gets a very poignant and humbling view of what our combat veterans go through.

[Celi · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little sensational - or, if you prefer, sensationalistic - but still an easy and enjoyable read.

[Meghann · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have had this on my to read list forever and have no recollection of reading it and yet I put it on this list as a read in 2004 with a rating of 4 stars... hmm.