Military Review English Edition January-February 2017 | Page 145

BOOK REVIEWS of the photos place dogs in whimsical poses, while others show dogs relaxing with the GIs, and still others show dogs recovering from battle wounds. If a reader is looking for a World War II book on campaigns and national strategy, this is not it. If the reader is looking for a book on military working dogs, or dogs used for policing or explosive detection, this is not it. If the reader is looking for information on mascot pets or purebred dogs that live a pampered life, this is not it. If the reader is looking of a book about mutts and strays that find a GI to take care of them and provide comfort, this is definitely the book. The book has seven chapters, with five dedicated to the buddies of the Coast Guard, Army, Army Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps. The two remaining chapters are dedicated to “War’s End” and “Humor in the Face of War.” Every photo in the book is an official military photo that was researched at the National Archives in Washington, D.C. Each photo has a caption, which the author edited to eliminate personal information and needlessly offensive language from the 1940s that is no longer used today. Journalists who were drafted or volunteered for the service wrote many of the captions. The intent of the photos was to keep the public feeling good about the war when times were hard and the news from the front was not always go od. The photos let the American public see our soldiers and sailors making the best of some very difficult situations. Some of these dogs have great combat stories, such as a dog named Cherbourg, who was at Normandy on 6 June 1944 when a tank landing ship landed. He decided it was a good time to get off the beach and run onto the ship. In addition, there is Skippy, a member of a B-17 crew serving in Northwest African theater with bombing runs over Tunisia and Sicily. This book is not relevant to the study of World War II history or to the current security concerns of MILITARY REVIEW  January-February 2017 the nation. However, it is a very good book for seeing World War II from a different perspective of soldiers and their adopted pets. Boyd Plessl, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas COURAGE, COMPASSION, MARINE The Unique Story of Jimmie Dyess Perry Smith, iUniverse, Bloomington, Indiana, 2015, 220 pages F rom start to finish, readers sense the pride and passion of the book’s author, Maj. Gen. Perry W. Smith, U.S. Air Force, retired, who took ten years to research and write Courage, Compassion, Marine: The Unique Story of Jimmie Dyess. The story resonates with the author because Smith is married to Jimmie Dyess’s daughter and only child. Together over the years, the Smiths have represented this American hero’s extraordinary achievements at multiple and various events around the globe. The book moves effectively in a chronology beginning with Jimmie Dyess’s prewar years, progressing to the Carnegie Medal, the evolution of U.S. Marine Corps, the war in the Pacific, the 4th Marine Division and its role in Operation Flintlock, perspectives on the Medal of Honor and courage, and a litany of Dyess’s honors and events. However, the book needs a more effective ending as Smith spends too much time discussing the anatomy of courage, which detracts from the book’s strengths—Dyess and historical research. As an Augustan, I reveled in the book’s description of “early Augusta”—the city, its citizens, and the attractions that made it the “before Florida” winter playground for wealthy northerners. Here, readers glimpse a young Jimmie Dyess who willingly risked his life to save two drowning strangers and who later would give his life to save marines on the twin islands of Roi Namur. The firsthand accounts by men who served, trained, and fought alongside Dyess capture the man who embodied the character and presence attributes of the Army Leadership Requirements Model. Smith’s book is not only a responsible and personal portrait of Dyess, but also a revealing historical account of the Marine Corps. This account examines the strategic contributions made by five men who influenced Marine 143