Authors: Debi and Irwin Unger with Stanley Hirshson
Personal Rating: 3.5/5
George Marshall is one of the most underappreciated generals in American history. He never generalled armies in combat and fought no battles. His role was to organize the vast resources of the United States to win World War II. He is frequently slighted as a “managing general”. However, his vast personal integrity and dedication was respected by all. He was able to bring together huge egos so that collectively the war might be won. MacArthur never could have done it. He protected Eisenhower so that he could succeed.
I really like the topic, but I lowered the rating because the authors kept dropping out of their story to prove their credentials as historical skeptics. It is so easy to pick at flaws after the fact and they succumbed to this temptation a little too often.
Lorenzo Hill Hatch was my great-great grandfather. He was an early pioneer of Lehi, Utah. He then helped found the town of Franklin, Idaho where he was elected to the Idaho Legislature. He was then called to serve a mission in northeastern Arizona. He helped found the town of Woodruff where his wife Catherine lived and the town of Taylor a few miles away where his wife Alice lived. All of his life he kept a journal. This is a transcription of those journals.
During his lifetime my father, Dan Reed Olsen, wrote extensively about his life and his family. He grew up in the Depression, lost his mother when he was 16, sailed to China in the Navy, served a mission for the LDS Church in Denmark, and found purpose in life when he married my mother. After a long career in banking started over as a turkey farmer. When Mom died he married Cindy. Through all of this he was dedicated to the gospel of Jesus Christ.
These are the journals that my grandfather, Lars Alexander Lorenzo Olsen kept during his lifetime. He also kept several photo albums. Pictures from those albums have been interspersed with the journal text where appropriate.
