Mornings are changing in the coming weeks so I may post these the evening before my 'usual' day. :-)

I found Truce: the Day the Soldiers Stopped Fighting, by Jim Murphy, to be an interesting read. While designated a juvenile read, it was full of detail and featured some rather grim photos. It seemed to be a war where little progress was made, so trenches were dug ... 475 miles long, from the North Sea to the Swiss Border. Sometimes they were no more than 50 yards apart. They were hot in summer, cold in winter, and when the rains came, extremely muddy. The troops were far from supplies and replacements, dead bodies attracted rats, they were infested with lice and fleas, they were bored. The commanders (25 miles away) kept ordering raids, which only resulted in more death. Where the trenches were closer, soldiers exchanged conversation, and, sometimes, tins of food. This worried the commanders. And then came a bigger bother: Christmas. Good information presented well, I wish I had it for some of my history classes! Other books on this subject may be found in the post for December 17, 2016.

Fields of Battle: Pearl Harbor, the Rose Bowl, and the Boys Who Went to War, by Brian Curtis is a borderline "you read what?" book. It started out with a lot of information about football that, to be honest, just was not of interest to me ... but then things changed and it was a great read! College football was the most important thing going, until it wasn't. December 7, 1941 changed everything. There was some debate as to whether the Rose Bowl should even be played, but the decision was made that it would be good for morale, that life should go on, and so forth. The game was moved away from the west coast, however, and was played in Durham rather than Pasadena. Oregon State College beat Duke (something of a surprise) and then the players and many of the coaches headed off to war. (At least 70 players and coaches from the 1942 Rose Bowl served in the military). Some served together, others met up during various battles, once, two of the coaches (from opposing teams) came face to face with each other in a foxhole in Bastogne. You learn what happens to the men after the war, too. A very personal accounting here, as you get to know these men and sometimes, their families. Hard to put down.

Reading Hermit With Dog