by Ray Lambert
First published 2019
Ray Lambert opens his memoir at ninety-eight years old, looking back on his service as a U.S. Army medic during World War II. The book centers on June 6, 1944, when Lambert led a medical team with the First Division's 16th Infantry Regiment onto Omaha Beach. That morning, he spoke with his brother Bill aboard a troopship off Normandy, both men knowing they faced their most dangerous mission yet. Lambert had already earned a Silver Star in 1943 for rescuing trapped soldiers behind German lines in North Africa and Sicily. On D-Day, he landed at a section of Omaha Beach code-named Easy Red. Over five brutal hours, Lambert saved dozens of lives while suffering multiple wounds under heavy German fire. He lost consciousness in the shallow water and awoke on a landing ship to find his wounded brother beside him. Lambert traces his wartime journey from the deserts of North Africa through the mountains of Sicily to the beaches of Normandy, showing how ordinary soldiers performed extraordinary acts of courage.
Genres: 20th-century, world-war-ii, non-fiction, biography-memoir, military-history, american-history
Vibes: emotional, fast-paced, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: heroic-sacrifice, survival
Setting: Germany, North Africa, Normandy, Sicily
Period: 1943, 1944, World War II
320 pages · Hardcover · William Morrow
Content warnings: graphic-violence, war