From the back cover: "The real heroes of World War II are the men and women who never came back. If there was anything heroic about my story, it is my recovery from the wounds I received. I could not have made it without help -- lots of it -- from fellow soldiers, doctors, loved ones, friends, and others. None of us who travels the valleys of life ever walks alone."

A book about Bob Dole would not normally be my first choice, but because of my work at VA, I was interested in his story of recovery from the wounds of war and the veteran perspective on some of the work I am associated with.

An interesting look at the life of the Senator and former Presidential Candidate and his experiences recovering from the injuries sustained in World War II. It was his combat experience and his recover that mostly drew me to this book, because of my current work adjudicating disability claims for US veterans. Like most Americans, I knew that Dole lost the use of his right arm due to his injuries, but I knew nothing about the circumstances. And I didn't know that he had so little use of his "good" left arm, lost a kidney, and nearly died at least 3 times. I didn't realize he had been paralyzed for a long time or that he had such extensive nerve damage. The examination of that aspect of his life was interesting.

I also enjoyed the look at his upbringing and his athletic achievements prior to the war. Given that my political philosophy is quite different, I was glad that most of his story after entering politics was not included. He did explain at least some of the reasons he felt the way he did about government but I think he missed a few basic points. Oh well, I enjoyed the book and was largely able to set aside the politics to get to know the man -- and he seems to have been a pretty good man, on the whole. And I appreciated the strength and determination he brought to dealing with his disability.

I selected this book from MT TBR because of the medical aspects, since I thought it would work for the Medicine Chest Book Box I signed up for. Only about half of the book deals with the medical aspect, so I am unsure if it is a good fit or not.

"A book is a mysterious object, I said, and once it floats out into the world, anything can happen. All kinds of mischief can be caused, and there's not a damned thing you can do about it. For better or worse, it's completely out of your control." -- Paul Auster

This book is going into the Medicine Chest Book Box, which is off to Florida and azuki.

Came home in the Medicine Chest IV bookbox.

I tried reading this a few times, but my own politics got in the way. That's unfair, so I will be sending it off to find a better reader.

Left on the shelf to find a new reader!

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