This book came in yesterday's mail and I finished reading it tonight. That's how good it is. Retired English prof Leo Litwak waited fifty-five years to write THE MEDIC (2001), a memoir of his army service in the European Theater of WWII. Maybe he wanted to be sure he got it right. It's a pretty straightforward telling of his younger years, moving from his freshman year at University of Michigan, to getting his draft notice, basic training at Fort Jackson and rudimentary training as an Aid-man, a troop ship to England, then trains, trucks and marches across war-torn France and fighting his way into Germany at the end of the war. Along the way, he met all types, made some friends and lost some. As a medic, he saved some lives, never carried a weapon, but was often under fire. On leave in Paris, he fell briefly in love, lost his innocence. As the war wound down, his unit occupied and 'governed' a small village near Chemnitz, and he watched and participated in 'fraternization' with German women, and observed others making money on the black market. Litwak knows how to tell a story and make it mean something. And it does mean something even today, particularly in light of the fact that Leo's parents were Jewish refugees, who came to the U.S. and settled in Detroit, from Zhitomir, in Ukraine. Yeah, that Ukraine. And yes, I think he got his story right, and am grateful he finally got it all down. This is that rare memoir that oozes authenticity but never gets maudlin.

Leo Litwak died in 2018 at the age of 94. RIP, Leo, and thank you for telling your story. It's a good one. My very highest recommendation.

- Tim Bazzett, author of the memoir, BOOKLOVER ( )

I didn't like the fact that it was mostly about being a medic, he was a horny guy ,and was put to the test of war, it wasn't on topic. Q3P2 AHS/Matthew D