Reviewed By Divine Zape for Readers' Favorite

My Father's War: Memories from Our Honored WWII Soldiers by Charley Valera is a compelling book that brilliantly captures the grim reality of World War II, exploring the lives of soldiers in combat, heroes who risked their lives in a war that some of them didn’t even validate. In these pages, readers are intimately treated to the perils of war, the acts of courage and bravery, the uncertainty of the whole experience, and the fears that occasionally stole the hearts of the warriors. From dropping bombs to close range fighting to rifles, the reader is immersed in a world of intense action and occasional moments of ease.

In clear and compelling narrative, Charley Valera revisits memories of the war, bringing to readers the experiences of many soldiers and allowing readers to see how these soldiers saw the war. Meet compelling characters and heroes like Captain Vincent “Bill” Purple, Corporal Fernand E. Frechette, Private George J. Pelletier, and many others. The prose is excellent and it is spiced with thoughtful and philosophical utterances that allow the reader to look at life differently.

I enjoyed the powerful images that come across in the writing, the emotionally charged descriptions, and the thought-provoking passages. In the introduction, the author makes a powerful allegory of life when he compares it to a hallway. “We’ve all opened doors we wished we hadn’t; some we can’t seem to close fast enough. But like secrets, once you cross through them, they are forever a piece of you — like it or not.” My Father's War: Memories from Our Honored WWII Soldiers is a book that celebrates soldiers and the sacrifices they made; it is entertaining and utterly gripping.