Before Allan Zullo began writing stories about history and sports he was a kid with a dream to someday play Major League Baseball. He could never achieve his dream though because he could field perfectly his batting was horrific. He eventually hung up his cleats, but he wanted to still be invloved in sports so he became a reporter for the school newspaper. He would write articles about the baseball team and other events that happened. Allan Zullo went on to graduate college with a degree in reporting. He wrote for many newspapers and magazines writing about anything from sports to murders. This sparked his interest in old history and things in the past. His first history book he wrote was The Baseball Hall of Shame which told stories about bad baseball teams and players. The book was a major succes and he continued to write about history. He wrote anything from old ghost stories to WW2. (Allanzullo.com)
I think that this is why he wrote the book WW2 Heroes. He has a major history based back ground with his journalism skills and always writing about current events that have happened. Also with the fact that every book that he has written has been based on history. He is obviously more of a sports person and wrote many books about sports. He also wrote many books about WW1 Heroes and Vietnam Heroes. I think that Allan Zullo just really likes writing about history.
Since these are history books and the book is about WW2 Heroes Allan Zullo can't really identify with any character in the book. Personally I think the whole book can identify with him. It was a major event that any reporter or journalist would love to write about. Also the fact that the stories are about medal of honor heroes it makes the book even better just to hear what people had to go through while theynwere in combat. http://allanzullo.com/about/
I think that this is why he wrote the book WW2 Heroes. He has a major history based back ground with his journalism skills and always writing about current events that have happened. Also with the fact that every book that he has written has been based on history. He is obviously more of a sports person and wrote many books about sports. He also wrote many books about WW1 Heroes and Vietnam Heroes. I think that Allan Zullo just really likes writing about history.
Since these are history books and the book is about WW2 Heroes Allan Zullo can't really identify with any character in the book. Personally I think the whole book can identify with him. It was a major event that any reporter or journalist would love to write about. Also the fact that the stories are about medal of honor heroes it makes the book even better just to hear what people had to go through while theynwere in combat. http://allanzullo.com/about/
Literary Analysis
One interesting aspect about the WW2 heroes mentioned in the book is that all of them are Medal of Honor recipients (pg.3-4). Many things that all of these men did during the war time are unbelievable courages feats. Every story has a different main character to it, and every single story has an entirelly different plot and setting to it. Some stories take place in Europe while other stories take place in the Pacific ocean and Japan. The many different characters in this book are all from different branches of the military as well. Most of them I have found to be mainly from the U.S. Army. Also while a lot of the recipients recieved the Medal of Honor in person some of the other heroes weren't so lucky and unfortunately died before they could receive their reward for their courages acts. Back then there was a lot of racial tensions but African Americans still received the Medal of Honor for things they did. Although it would be years later before they were actually recognized for their actions (pg. 146). The book even includes an outcast that was one bad move away from getting dishonorably discharged but ended up as a hero.
A rather important thing to realize is that back in WW2 African Americans were viewed as no good soldiers and there only use was for the front line. Second Lieutenant Vernon Baker proved all those things wrong on April 5, 1945 at hills code named hills X, Y, Z, which lead to an important castle (pg. 137). Baker was the leader of a group of 26 black men who were all shorthanded on weapons. His task was to invade and capture the castle. They were overrun by the Germans within hours. There was supposed to be reinforcements on the way but none never arrived. Baker fought to save his men which he lost 19 of (pg. 143). Thanks to Bakers efforts though when the Americans returned to capture most of the Germans had fled (pg. 144). Baker was awarded the Medal of Honor in 1997 by Bill Clinton more than 50 years after that day (pg. 146). This is an important detail to think that just because someone has a different skin color meant they couldn't be congratulated on their efforts until 50 years later.
A rather important thing to realize is that back in WW2 African Americans were viewed as no good soldiers and there only use was for the front line. Second Lieutenant Vernon Baker proved all those things wrong on April 5, 1945 at hills code named hills X, Y, Z, which lead to an important castle (pg. 137). Baker was the leader of a group of 26 black men who were all shorthanded on weapons. His task was to invade and capture the castle. They were overrun by the Germans within hours. There was supposed to be reinforcements on the way but none never arrived. Baker fought to save his men which he lost 19 of (pg. 143). Thanks to Bakers efforts though when the Americans returned to capture most of the Germans had fled (pg. 144). Baker was awarded the Medal of Honor in 1997 by Bill Clinton more than 50 years after that day (pg. 146). This is an important detail to think that just because someone has a different skin color meant they couldn't be congratulated on their efforts until 50 years later.
Reader's Journal
I'm a huge history buff and I absolutely love reading about stuff like this. Just to think what brave soldiers did for our country and for their men many years ago is just incredible. Some of the things I learned while reading this book is getting to hear actual first person views of the war and how hard they actually had to fight just to survive. Instead of a history book which mentions like four battles and just said we won then go on to the next thing. These stories go into real depth about the reality of WW2. It is really a unique thing to be able to read something like this. I think that a lot of other people would agree with me in the fact that a lot of these war heroes mentioned were both gutsy and a little lucky in some actions they took. I learned that war is not like Call of Duty where you get unlimited chances to accomplish something. In real war you get one shot at becoming a hero and if you fail you're going to be toast along with a lot of other men. I really think that the most I learned about thing I learned from this book is that no matter what courage and bravery is what got those men through the war and that is what can get anyone through any type of situation no matter the difficulty. I think that other people would really learn the same things that I did. Or maybe people would just learn that they wouldn't want to go into combat any time soon. Either way this book can teach many different life lessons and show people what real courage is all about.