"The frightful experiences of the inexperienced World War ll draftees"

There have been many books written about World War ll, however, few describe the frightful experiences of the inexperienced teenage combatants.

The Young Draftee is an intimate accounting of what it was like to be a teenage draftee just out of high school and sent to the South Pacific to fight the Japanese.

Induced by the discovery of a box of approximately one hundred old faded wartime photographs, author Monte Howell decided to put down on paper his person experiences of the horrors of war. However, as he states, the war he encountered was "beyond being called a brutal, savage war or some other words which can explain what these men went through. The terrain, climate and disease those men had to fight besides the enemy was unbearable. The war in the South Pacific was a war without mercy."

The unknown was always the frightening component of the war. From basic training to the actual deployment in the theatre of action, we are apprised of the awful fear that was always prevalent. Never knowing where you would be stationed. What to expect once you arrived at your destination? Who would die and would survive? These queries were always foremost in the minds of the soldier.

Howell does not hold back in his disdain for General Douglas McArthur whom he described as old, vain, egotistical and who had an inflated ego. In fact he even recounts an incident where McArthur and his staff delayed the evacuation of some seriously wounded men in order that the General could have his picture taken while performing an inspection at the front lines. Unfortunately within this four-hour delay, two of the wounded men had died lying in the hot sun. The author goes on to say that McArthur had made some very bad decisions that caused the death of many Americans, however, he never shared the blame for these tragedies. This is the kind of a story that is omitted from our history books and it is only when we read first person accounts of the war can we truly appreciate the suffering of the soldiers.

For many of us who are unfamiliar with the war in Japan, this book will serve as an excellent introduction, devoid of the dry scholarly texts that perhaps we read as students in high school or college. The author's penetrating personal perceptions of the war only confirm to us that war is about people and we never seem to learn that no one wins.

Reviewed by Norman Goldman
Courtesy Rebeccas Reads
Posted August 22, 2002

Summary

Of all of the stories to come out about World War II few are written about the young 18 year old inexperienced soldiers who were thrust into a brutal part of the war. None were professional soldiers, most were draftees or civilians who were allowed to play soldier for the duration of the war. This true story identifies those everyday occurrences which a "young soldier" experiences as he goes through Army basic training, being sent overseas to an infantry replacement depot in New Guinea, never quite knowing where he was or where he was going. Finally experiencing the horrors of combat in Leyte and Luzon, Philippines and wondering if his luck was going to see him through these ordeals. The war in the South Pacific was beyond being called a brutal, savage war or some other words, which can explain what these men went through. The terrain, climate and disease those men had to fight besides the enemy was unbearable. The war in the South Pacific was a war without mercy. This is a descriptive march through history.