Grace Under Fire: Letters of Faith in Times of War by Andrew Carroll

Grace Under Fire: Letters of Faith in Times of War Reviews

• 
  Brian Eshleman

  The reading experience for this book was over like Foxe's Book of Martyrs. If I had discovered one of the letters described in this book, or come upon one of the individuals tortured in that one, the experience would have been moving. Poignancy suffers from repetition, however. The letters start to sound the same.
  
  Grace Under Fire does allow the reader to appreciate continuity. Not every World War II soldier's every word was brave and patriotic. Not every soldier's every word from Vietnam forward was cynical. The stress of war shows the mixture of every human motivation.
• 
  David

  Grace Under Fire is a rather unique book that presents a collection of letters and emails by US troops and their families ranging from the Revolutionary War through the War On Terrorism. The author combed through his huge archive of previously unpublished wartime correspondences and selected ones he felt best represented inspiration and insight covering topics about God, religion, and spirituality. Fifty of the best were chosen for inclusion in this book. You can read in them the importance of faith in the lives of our troops and their families. There are letters by two brothers on opposite sides in the Civil War, one by a nurse during WWII, and a doctor serving in Iraq. It was interesting to note the change from a more formal writing style in the earlier letters to a more casual approach later on. They show many characteristics of our troops determination, hope, patriotism, fighting for a cause bigger than one's self, and the value of faith. This was an interesting as well as inspiring read whose contents were written as our nation was engaged in some of the most dangerous times in our history, and shows the courage of out troops under fire.
• 
  Colleen Mertens

  This collects letters across history showing how the writers were influenced by their faith. Some of the choices of people to exemplify for their faith could have been better. I don't think we need to emulate people like Mary Lee, a slaveholder and traitor's wife. I would also have liked to have seen more letters from modern wars from more than 1 or 2 people. It was interesting to see that faith matter to people but at times, it felt preachy. Not enough doubting of faith to make the people really seem human.
• 
  Cindy

  "Twenty-seven-year-old Lieutenant James R. Penton, who served in France... enjoyed drawing sketches of interesting people and places as he and his fellow soldiers pushed their way toward Germany. Handwritten correspondences have their own unique value. The offer a tangible connection to their loved ones, who can hold the actual paper that their sweetheart or child or parent also touched. " What I loved about this book is the truth of experience coming from the heart and hand of those in extreme life threatening situations. The letters show how War is most tragic and inspiring. "I truly believe, "writes a soldier in the book, "that it is when people face death, when they face the loss of all the trivia of modern day society and are face to face with the bare essentials of what is human, that they are the happiest, with less to gripe over and less to worry about. I think people are people only when they suffer." The truth of these soldiers, setting aside their differences, to survive together; makes these letters readable even in the midst of the harsh realities of much pain and loss. I never thought I would enjoy reading about War. I didn't realize how little I had been taught about our history and the Wars we've been a part of. This book opened my eyes and heart to the sad realization of how poorly we remember those who have taken the stance of giving up their life and loved ones for our freedom. I highly recommend this book for History Teachers to teach the generations of the truth about War.
• 
  Maria

  I enjoyed listening to this book but it wasn't as good as his other books that I had listen too. Mainly because there was only one narrator, who read all the letters, instead of the multiple readers for the other books. I also noticed that there were a couple of letters that were published in the other books. That being said, this was a solid book and I found myself crying at the pain, faith and strength depicted.
• 
  Claudia

  An exceptional assortment of letters to and from soldiers serving in various wars over our Nation's history. The theme linking these letters together is the faith shared by the writers. Grace Under Fire is an encouraging read for anyone. Life may seem tough at times, but I am not facing a battle knowing I might very well be the next corpse, and these soldiers still exhibited grace knowing the day they were writing the letter might very well be their last. Definitely a good read!
• 
  Nicole Marble

  These are letters to and from war fronts beginning with WWII, then Korea, then Vietnam, and then our invasion of Iraq, w/ brief references to God.
  Sometimes soldiers feeling fear need the hope of protection from the supernatural. This book is a random sampling.
• 
  Philip

  This gets a second star for being well-intentioned, but this slim nightstand book was just too repetitive and boring. Yes, soldiers loved their families and kept their faith - but after reading seemingly endless variations on the same theme, I just had to skim the second half to get through it.
• 
  Catherine

  A good read to juxtapose the darkness of The Things They Carried (which I'd read right before this one). I loved that faith and family and God were such strong themes throughout.
• 
  April

  My favorite story was from the Gulf War chapter.