Locations and Hours
Services
About the Library
Support your Library
Contact Us
Downloadable
Audio Books
askMONTANA:
Reference 24/7
|
The Dogged And The Damned
Roland Cheek
This novel is based on fact - names and places have been changed or altered; However, the author knew a person and, or persons that are very like the characters that appear in this book.
Private Mikhail Baranovitch enlisted in the 128th Regiment of the 32nd Infantry Division. It was WWII - he was 19, and he was sent to the Pacific theater of war. His heroism and ability to survive is described in detail - the good and bad officers he served under create quite a picture of how it was.
We meet Mikhail in a United States Veterans Hospital in Roseburg, Oregon. He is being treated there for what was then called Battle Fatigue and is now known as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. He is being interviewed about his experiences in his war by a psychiatrist, Dr. Henderson.
There are many interviews in this book that tell us of Mikhail's unbelievable battle experiences. He won the Purple Heart, Bronze and Silver Star medals, which he dismisses as " doing what you had to do".
The staff at the hospital is understanding, kind and helpful. The psychiatrists are wise, thoughtful and resourceful - the one bad one that appears is finally sent packing through the dedicated and ingenious efforts of the staff. One kind doctor is posted to Korea, another dies of injuries from his own war and finally Mikhail is on the run again - a fugitive the media call a "Wild Man". Mikhail knows how to live off the land, but it becomes more difficult as time goes by.
In this book, Mikhail grew up in Butte, Montana and his father was a miner. During his interviews during treatment we also hear about growing up in Butte. Without any advantages, we see him become an all-state football player in Butte High School, with a B+ average scholastically.
We meet many kind , knowledgable and intelligent people in this narration. It is remarkable to see how several of them come together in the end to outwit the politicians, Sheriff Finch and the other powers that be in defense of this amazing man and soldier.
Roland Cheek is a talented writer and has written a story with a message/. This is a story worth reading., because it paints a picture that showcases " a man driven beyond his depths by the horrors of war."
One final note from Roger Moore , a psychologist who served in the very hospital used as a setting for this story. Dr Moore went on to say, " Symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorders were recorded in 490 BCE by Herodotus in his descriptions of the battles of " Marathon".
I can promise the author I will be recommending this book to my personal book loving friends from coast to coast and giving it as a gift as well.
Published:
Skyline Publishing
P.O. Box 1118
Columbia Falls, MT 59912
Copyright:
© 2009 by Roland Cheek
Reviewed:
02/15/10 - 296
Copyright:
© 2010 by Joan G. Smith
296
|
|
