Every Man a Hero

April 15, 2019
The vast majority of World War II veterans have died in recent decades, but at 98, Lambert, who earned a Silver Star and multiple Bronze Stars and Purple Hearts, is still around to tell his story. Readers will be grateful. Born in rural Alabama in 1920, Lambert joined the Army in 1939 because it offered a steady income. Learning that he had once assisted a veterinarian, the recruiter assigned him to the medical corps. Nearly three years passed before he saw action, and Lambert and co-author DeFelice (West Like Lightning: The Brief, Legendary Ride of the Pony Express, 2018, etc.) deliver a lively account of his training and maneuvers in America and then in wartime Britain. By this time, Lambert was a noncommissioned officer in charge of a unit. He landed with the first wave on North Africa in November 1942 and then again with the first wave attacking Sicily in July 1943. Medical units worked at the front, enduring as many casualties as infantry, and the narrative features plenty of action and suffering, including several of Lambert's own nasty, if minor, injuries. After Sicily, everyone returned to Britain to train for the invasion of France. For the third time, his unit landed with the first wave, this time on Omaha Beach, an experience far worse than the others. Within hours, Lambert received life-threatening injuries--ironically, from the ramp of an American landing craft that crushed him as he was helping a soldier in the water. Thanks to outstanding American medical care, he survived and, despite not finishing high school, went on to a prosperous career and extremely long life. Veteran ghost writer DeFelice admits to a great deal of research filling in details of the training and fighting, and Lambert's narrative flows smoothly throughout, clearly showing the author's heroism. One of the better recent World War II memoirs.

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April 22, 2019
In this gripping memoir, the now-98-year-old Staff Sgt. Lambert, a U.S. army medic who was awarded Silver and Bronze Star medals and Purple Hearts, recounts his prewar life and his experiences at Omaha Beach, “the bloodiest of all the places the Allies landed on D-Day.” After a brief introduction to that battle, the story rewinds to Lambert’s upbringing on an Alabama farm during the Great Depression, his and his brother’s 1939 enlistment in the army, and being shipped off to England in 1942. A treasure trove of details about WWII military life follows: how the army and its battalions were organized, how medics were trained and how they handled malaria and trench foot, and how the soldiers reacted to encountering members of the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps. Lambert was in Tunisia as Operation Vulcan unfolded in April 1943, in Sicily for Operation Husky that July, and in the Normandy landing on D-Day, where his back was broken saving soldiers. This tale is further enriched by descriptions of life on the home front (ration books, price controls, Victory Gardens). Told with both dramatic immediacy and charming folksy flourishes (“I like to tell people I’m older than Noah and the Flood, but that’s not true”), this excellent memoir stands out among this year’s crop of D-Day books.

Starred review from June 1, 2019

By writing this memoir, Silver Star recipient Lambert has fulfilled one last duty for his country. While the book might not be the best on D-Day (see Cornelius Ryan's The Longest Day and John C. McManus's The Dead and Those About To Die) it is among the most poignant. The affecting quality partly comes from Lambert having written this in his 90s, collaborating with author DeFelice (American Sniper). Though primarily focused on the D-Day operations, this account tells much more about the American fight with Nazi Germany. Lambert served as a medic within North African and Sicilian campaigns prior to D-Day and recalls how he treated soldiers in combat, honoring the men whom he saw fall on and off the battlefield. By not naming them yet providing historical insight and character, he grants them honor. VERDICT Released in time for the 75th anniversary of D-Day, this is possibly one last testament to those valiant soldiers who helped secured American victory.--Jacob Sherman, John Peace Lib., Univ. of Texas at San Antonio

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Starred review from May 15, 2019
Lambert, a 98-years-young recipient of the Silver Star, finally agreed to commit his WWII experiences to paper after realizing that he is one of the last survivors of the D-Day landings at Normandy. As his coauthor, DeFelice, put it, Lambert never bothered to write it all down because, true to form for the Greatest (Silent) Generation, he just didn't think his story was anything special. As a medic with the First Infantry Division, Lambert landed in the first waves on three enemy-occupied coasts: North Africa, Sicily, and France. He was wounded multiple times while providing medical care to fellow soldiers and only left the field when he was crushed by a landing craft's ramp, nearly drowning and breaking his back. Lambert is nothing short of miraculous?his recall of events 75 years ago is amazingly sharp?and his humility is just as striking. Reading Lambert's account is like sitting at your grandfather's feet and hearing some of the best tales you'll ever know. All Americans owe Lambert gratitude for his service and sacrifice, and for sharing his memories so that we never lose our connection to the ever-relevant past.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)