REVIEWS

“Every global event is shaped by human stories … those who do not go into battle–and most did not–performed crucial support roles as mechanics, cooks, supply managers. Simmons records 19 such accounts.”
—Featured Article, Publishers Weekly

“Eye opening portraits of those heroes who also helped win the war.”dition to the World War II bookshelf.”
—Franklin Cox, author of Lullabies for Lieutenants

“An intensely personal portrait of each of the book’s nineteen noncombat veterans.”
—Scott W. Loehr, aPresident, National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force

“Over half the Americans who served in World War II served in noncombat roles, yet few among us know anything about these men and women. Their stories have not been told, their praises have not been sung . . . Painstakingly researched and compellingly told, The Other Veterans of World War II is a fine addition to the World War II bookshelf.”
—Winston Groom, author of Forrest Gump, 1942: The Year That Tried Men’s Souls, The Aviators, and The Allies

“The Other Veterans of World War II is a historical tour de force, bringing to light the engine of the Greatest Generation—the women and men who made victory in Europe and the Pacific possible. A masterpiece of research and prose . . . ”
—Jonathan J. Jordan, author of Brothers, Rivals, Victors: Eisenhower, Patton, Bradley and the Partnership That Drove the Allied Conquest in Europe

“Unlike those of us who work in fiction, with its great reach and flexibility, her concentration has been in the truth of history, rather than imagination. It is work that requires meticulous research, exhausting patience, and sensitivity to the memories of these quiet warriors. Her selection of people to profile invites interest, yes, but it is her dazzling talent as a writer that gives them mesmerizing personalities. . . . I’m proud to join Winston Groom and Franklin Cox and others in recommending Rona’s book. The very purpose of it is at the heart of our greatest need – unity.
—Terry Kay, author of To Dance With the White Dog and The Forever Wish of Middy Sweet

“… Sixteen million men and women were mobilized for the fights in Europe and the Pacific. Yet most of them never fired a shot in anger, serving in noncombat positions behind the front lines. In The Other Veterans of World War II: Stories from Behind the Front Lines, author Rona Simmons offers 19 accounts of those who served in less visible roles. Often overlooked in histories of the war, Simmons shows that noncombat veterans “served just as proudly and proved every bit as instrumental in winning the war. … They, too, have stories to tell.” The daughter of a World War II fighter pilot, Simmons spent years locating and interviewing veterans and their children, supplementing their personal experiences with additional research to present a wider view of the war and the people who fought it. … All nineteen did their part and served as proudly as any combat soldier or sailor,” Simmons writes. She has done a great service by bringing their stories to the public in this book.
—Don DeNevi for Army Magazine (Feb 2021) has reviewed books for five decades, focusing on military subjects, particularly World War II.

Many hundreds of soldiers, airmen, and sailors behind battle lines support the few carrying the rifle forward into combat. These unrecognized and inconspicuous warriors fade into the background but are there with everything from bullets to beer. They move combatants to or from the battlefields and bandage bodies or bury the dead. Author Rona Simmons looks behind the frontlines—revealing some even more daring accounts of those who did not engage in combat officially, never marching in the parade of accolades—to capture nineteen personal stories, seventy-five years following World War II.

Daughter of a WW II fighter pilot, Rona Simmons, writing The Other Veterans of World War II, brings to life memories of “heroes” who were not in the trenches. This book honors unsung veterans with details garnered through the author’s interviews, supported with families’ records and photos. This excellently crafted book, including an appendix, notes, selected bibliography, and index, is divided into parts. Each part begins with a history-setting preamble explaining the conditions behind the personal accounts in the following short series. Simmons completes each personal story with a brief epilogue detailing their life following their war experience. The nineteen stories reveal that unsung supporting troops contributed as much to victory as the soldier aiming a gun. This book is an essential example of stories that needed to be told. Further, this book offers, by example, an ideal form, from meticulous research and captivating writing, for others to tell their stories.
— Tom Beard for Military Writers Society of America (July 2021)