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I Will Tell No War Stories: What Our Fathers Left Unsaid About World War II
When Howard Mansfield grew up, World War II was omnipresent and hidden. This was also true of his father’s time in the Air Force. Like most of his generation, it was a rule not to talk about what he’d experienced in war. “You’re not getting any war stories from me,” he’d say.
Cleaning up the old family house the year before his father's death, Mansfield was surprised to find a short diary of the bombing missions he had flown. Some of the missions were harrowing. Mansfield began to fill in the details, and to be surprised again, this time by a history he thought he knew.
I Will Tell No War Stories is about undoing the forgetting in a family and in a society that has hidden the horrors and cataclysm of a world at war. Some part of that forgetting was necessary for the veterans, otherwise how could they come home, how could they find peace?
I Will Tell No War Stories is also about learning to live with history, a theme Mansfield explored in earlier books like In the Memory House, which The New York Times called “a wise and beautiful book” and The Same Ax,Twice, said by the Times to be “filled with insight and eloquence … a brilliant book.”
Cleaning up the old family house the year before his father's death, Mansfield was surprised to find a short diary of the bombing missions he had flown. Some of the missions were harrowing. Mansfield began to fill in the details, and to be surprised again, this time by a history he thought he knew.
I Will Tell No War Stories is about undoing the forgetting in a family and in a society that has hidden the horrors and cataclysm of a world at war. Some part of that forgetting was necessary for the veterans, otherwise how could they come home, how could they find peace?
I Will Tell No War Stories is also about learning to live with history, a theme Mansfield explored in earlier books like In the Memory House, which The New York Times called “a wise and beautiful book” and The Same Ax,Twice, said by the Times to be “filled with insight and eloquence … a brilliant book.”
159 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 16, 2024
About the author
Howard Mansfield
35 books39 followersHoward Mansfield sifts through the commonplace and the forgotten to discover stories that tell us about ourselves and our place in the world. He writes about history, architecture, and preservation as he seeks to understand the soul of American places. He is the author of a dozen books about the stories we tell each other and the ones we refuse to tell. In short, how we chose our ancestors
He is the author of thirteen books, including In the Memory House, of which The Hungry Mind Review said, “Now and then an idea suddenly bursts into flame, as if by spontaneous combustion. One instance is the recent explosion of American books about the idea of place… But the best of them, the deepest, the widest-ranging, the most provocative and eloquent is Howard Mansfield’s In the Memory House.”
Among his other books are Turn & Jump, The Bones of the Earth and The Same Ax, Twice, which The New York Times said was “filled with insight and eloquence. A memorable, readable, brilliant book on an important subject. It is a book filled with quotable wisdom.”
“Howard Mansfield has never written an uninteresting or dull sentence. All of his books are emotionally and intellectually nourishing,” said the writer and critic Guy Davenport. “He is something like a cultural psychologist along with being a first-class cultural historian. He is humane, witty, bright-minded, and rigorously intelligent. His deep subject is Time: how we deal with it and how it deals with us.”
His newest book to be published in October is Invisible Monuments: Tribute, Memory, and the Summoning of the Past. It's about the memorials we debate, dedicate, and then ignore.
We live in an era of monument building. Our monuments, often after fierce debate, are dedicated in ceremonies that try to bring life to the stone -- and then we walk away. The mute stones are left to the pigeons. Our grandest efforts at creating a shared, cultural memory melt to invisibility. Why?
Invisible Monuments looks at these moments of commemoration in the familiar and the unfamiliar. We visit the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the Bunker Hill Monument, and a once- venerated World War I memorial in England. We journey to a little-known memorial that one grief-stricken family built stone-by-stone for their son lost in war, a place that still draws thousands each year.
And Invisible Monuments looks at the failure to commemorate in the recently rediscovered African Burial Grounds in Manhattan and Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and in the unmarked graves of the Irish immigrants who built the railroads in the woods of New Hampshire. We’re also introduced to an audacious attempt to memorialize the future by building a clock deep in a mountain that is designed to run for 10,000 years.
These memorials are attempts to bring us closer to our ancestors, to say that we are still joined hand-to-hand across the centuries. In Vietnam, says Viet Thanh Nguyen, there are two burials. The first to return the body to the earth, and then the second, when the bones are dug up and brought closer to the village. We do the same.
When we commission memorials, we are trying to bring the bones closer to home. The memorials we build are a second burial. In all the current controversies about what to build and how, and what to tear down, we’ve lost track of why we build monuments. We want the counsel of our ancestors – edited, and chiseled into stone.
Invisible Monuments is about tribute, memory, and the summoning of the past.
Howard Mansfield has written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, American Heritage, The Threepenny Review, and other publications.
He has served as a writer and consultant for museums, written and performed a stage show with composer Ben Cosgrove that was the subject of an Emmy Award-winning film, and he has co-written a documentary film about “The Old Homestead: The Play of the Century.”
He is the author of thirteen books, including In the Memory House, of which The Hungry Mind Review said, “Now and then an idea suddenly bursts into flame, as if by spontaneous combustion. One instance is the recent explosion of American books about the idea of place… But the best of them, the deepest, the widest-ranging, the most provocative and eloquent is Howard Mansfield’s In the Memory House.”
Among his other books are Turn & Jump, The Bones of the Earth and The Same Ax, Twice, which The New York Times said was “filled with insight and eloquence. A memorable, readable, brilliant book on an important subject. It is a book filled with quotable wisdom.”
“Howard Mansfield has never written an uninteresting or dull sentence. All of his books are emotionally and intellectually nourishing,” said the writer and critic Guy Davenport. “He is something like a cultural psychologist along with being a first-class cultural historian. He is humane, witty, bright-minded, and rigorously intelligent. His deep subject is Time: how we deal with it and how it deals with us.”
His newest book to be published in October is Invisible Monuments: Tribute, Memory, and the Summoning of the Past. It's about the memorials we debate, dedicate, and then ignore.
We live in an era of monument building. Our monuments, often after fierce debate, are dedicated in ceremonies that try to bring life to the stone -- and then we walk away. The mute stones are left to the pigeons. Our grandest efforts at creating a shared, cultural memory melt to invisibility. Why?
Invisible Monuments looks at these moments of commemoration in the familiar and the unfamiliar. We visit the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the Bunker Hill Monument, and a once- venerated World War I memorial in England. We journey to a little-known memorial that one grief-stricken family built stone-by-stone for their son lost in war, a place that still draws thousands each year.
And Invisible Monuments looks at the failure to commemorate in the recently rediscovered African Burial Grounds in Manhattan and Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and in the unmarked graves of the Irish immigrants who built the railroads in the woods of New Hampshire. We’re also introduced to an audacious attempt to memorialize the future by building a clock deep in a mountain that is designed to run for 10,000 years.
These memorials are attempts to bring us closer to our ancestors, to say that we are still joined hand-to-hand across the centuries. In Vietnam, says Viet Thanh Nguyen, there are two burials. The first to return the body to the earth, and then the second, when the bones are dug up and brought closer to the village. We do the same.
When we commission memorials, we are trying to bring the bones closer to home. The memorials we build are a second burial. In all the current controversies about what to build and how, and what to tear down, we’ve lost track of why we build monuments. We want the counsel of our ancestors – edited, and chiseled into stone.
Invisible Monuments is about tribute, memory, and the summoning of the past.
Howard Mansfield has written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, American Heritage, The Threepenny Review, and other publications.
He has served as a writer and consultant for museums, written and performed a stage show with composer Ben Cosgrove that was the subject of an Emmy Award-winning film, and he has co-written a documentary film about “The Old Homestead: The Play of the Century.”
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
May 24, 2024
3.5 stars. I was hoping for more about his father, but I appreciate that he could only tell about what he knew.
This isn't a book about the glory days of war. Rather, this is the nitty gritty about real facts and human experiences. I learned a lot, but it was hard, at times.
This isn't a book about the glory days of war. Rather, this is the nitty gritty about real facts and human experiences. I learned a lot, but it was hard, at times.
April 4, 2024
Father. Grandfather. Farmer. Engineer. Clerk. WWII Badass. Wait. What? While this book focuses more on the air war over Britain and Europe, it does in fact get to the heart of what so many of us born in the post WWII era have only been learning over the last 20-30 yrs or so: Our fathers (in the case of Boomers/ maybe Gen Xers) or grandfathers (for Millenials and Zoomers) that we knew as just that (+ whatever occupation they may have had as we knew them) had experiences during WWII that most of the rest of us can never imagine. For Mansfield's dad and his dad's fellow Airmen, Mansfield does a fairly thorough job of combining the personal and the global, of showing both where his dad was and when and also what was going on in the overall war effort - at least as it related to the air war over Europe and what the fliers encountered up there.
Personally, as the grandson of a pair of Infantrymen who both survived the Battle of the Bulge (and one of whom became a legit hero during its mop-up, earning a Silver Star and Purple Heart, while the other became one of the first to liberate the concentration camps on the American side of the war), I was hoping for more of a general look at this entire phenomena, of our fathers and grandfathers choosing to remain silent about their experiences during this pivotal time in human history, rather than the far more personal and specific look we get here - but that is more my own fault than the author's. My own pre-conceptions and desires, rather than any fault of the author's motivations or writing skills.
Indeed, the only actual fault vis a vis the writing itself is the dearth of a bibliography, despite the author clearly doing quite a bit of research. So that was the star deduction right there, simply for that. Beyond the lack of bibliography though, this really was an excellent look at the Air War in the European Theater as it was felt by the people flying as crew in the bombers themselves.
Truly an excellent book anyone remotely interested in that era and in particular that facet of that era will very much enjoy and may find quite informative. Very much recommended.
Personally, as the grandson of a pair of Infantrymen who both survived the Battle of the Bulge (and one of whom became a legit hero during its mop-up, earning a Silver Star and Purple Heart, while the other became one of the first to liberate the concentration camps on the American side of the war), I was hoping for more of a general look at this entire phenomena, of our fathers and grandfathers choosing to remain silent about their experiences during this pivotal time in human history, rather than the far more personal and specific look we get here - but that is more my own fault than the author's. My own pre-conceptions and desires, rather than any fault of the author's motivations or writing skills.
Indeed, the only actual fault vis a vis the writing itself is the dearth of a bibliography, despite the author clearly doing quite a bit of research. So that was the star deduction right there, simply for that. Beyond the lack of bibliography though, this really was an excellent look at the Air War in the European Theater as it was felt by the people flying as crew in the bombers themselves.
Truly an excellent book anyone remotely interested in that era and in particular that facet of that era will very much enjoy and may find quite informative. Very much recommended.
May 7, 2024
Pincus Mansfield (28 September 1924-15 June 2019) kept silent about his war experiences serving with the 453rd Bomb Group but his son,Howard,the book's author found his flight logs and began searching for the truth.The 453rd Bombardment Group was first organized at Wendover Field, Utah on 1 June 1943,with the 732nd, 733rd, 734th,and 735th Bombardment Squadrons assigned as its original elements. It then moved to Pocatello Army Air Field, Idaho, where it was brought up to strength and trained with Consolidated B-24 Liberators. The group completed its training at March Field, California, in December before departing for the European Theatre of Operations, with the ground echelon embarking on 2 December. The ground echelon arrived at the group's combat station, RAF Old Buckenham, on 23 December 1943. By January 1944, it was fully established at Old Buckenham with the arrival of the air echelon. The 453rd flew its first mission against an airfield at Tours on 4 February 1944.Toward the end of February, the squadron took part in Big Week, the concentrated attack on the German aircraft manufacturing industry.The group also engaged in air support and air interdiction missions. It bombed V-1 flying bomb and V-2 rocket launch sites, airfields,and coastal defence guns to prepare for Operation Overlord.On D-Day, it struck coastal fortifications between Le Havre and Cherbourg Naval Base and enemy positions inland from the landing area. It made attacks on enemy troops to support Operation Cobra,in July 1944. It bombed German lines of communication during the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944 and January 1945. In September 1944, it flew rations, gasoline and blankets to advancing troops in France. During Operation Varsity,it dropped medical supplies,food, and ammunition to troops at the bridgehead.The squadron flew its last mission on 12 April 1945, and was withdrawn from combat to prepare for possible redeployment to the Pacific.Hollywood star James "Jimmy" Stewart, was group operations officer during the spring of 1944.The group's 733rd Bombardment Squadron flew 82 consecutive missions without a loss,a record for Eighth Air Force bomber units.
July 15, 2024
I received a free proof of this book through Net Galley, but this hasn't affected my review. These are my own thoughts and feelings, and is in no way influenced by the author, the publisher or Net Galley.
This is a book that feels too short, but at the same, is absolutely perfect. I wish this was longer. I wish that the author had access to more information, though I understand why he had to be tight with what he wrote. Howard Mansfield beautifully moves from subject to subject. There never feels as though not enough information was given, or, that it's too much of an overload. He knows how to keep it interesting.
This is based around his own father, who never spoke about the war. His father's experience in the war was only dropped suddenly in conversation, but never expanded upon. The author had his dad's writings, and later on, what his father would dictate into a dictaphone. Yet, with this, Howard Mansfield searched for more. He wanted to know more about what his father, and everyone else who was involved in the war, felt, but he hit wall after wall. Not many would speak of their experiences, and the archive building of the people, the plans, the battles, etc. were stored was partly destroyed in a fire. And yet, what Howard Mansfield did discover...
That's where the real gems of this book lies. Weaving around what he does know of his father, are the other people involved. It doesn't matter if they are only written of for a few paragraphs, or a chapter. Or, if it's details of the planes, the people, who flew, who were wounded, who were killed; there isn't a possibility of feeling as though fact after fact is being thrown at you. The reader feels as though each fact contributes more to this story.
This book may be short, but it has a big impact on the reader. I'd highly recommend this, whether you are interested in military history or not. This is a biography, and reads like a novel. This isn't dry. It isn't difficult to follow. When I started this book, I didn't expect to finish it in three days. And when I did finish it, I had to take a few days to think over it. I wanted to write a review that this book was worthy of.
This is a book that feels too short, but at the same, is absolutely perfect. I wish this was longer. I wish that the author had access to more information, though I understand why he had to be tight with what he wrote. Howard Mansfield beautifully moves from subject to subject. There never feels as though not enough information was given, or, that it's too much of an overload. He knows how to keep it interesting.
This is based around his own father, who never spoke about the war. His father's experience in the war was only dropped suddenly in conversation, but never expanded upon. The author had his dad's writings, and later on, what his father would dictate into a dictaphone. Yet, with this, Howard Mansfield searched for more. He wanted to know more about what his father, and everyone else who was involved in the war, felt, but he hit wall after wall. Not many would speak of their experiences, and the archive building of the people, the plans, the battles, etc. were stored was partly destroyed in a fire. And yet, what Howard Mansfield did discover...
That's where the real gems of this book lies. Weaving around what he does know of his father, are the other people involved. It doesn't matter if they are only written of for a few paragraphs, or a chapter. Or, if it's details of the planes, the people, who flew, who were wounded, who were killed; there isn't a possibility of feeling as though fact after fact is being thrown at you. The reader feels as though each fact contributes more to this story.
This book may be short, but it has a big impact on the reader. I'd highly recommend this, whether you are interested in military history or not. This is a biography, and reads like a novel. This isn't dry. It isn't difficult to follow. When I started this book, I didn't expect to finish it in three days. And when I did finish it, I had to take a few days to think over it. I wanted to write a review that this book was worthy of.
February 15, 2025
Howard Mansfield’s “I Will Tell No War Stories: What Our Fathers Left Unsaid About World War II” is a poignant exploration of silence, memory, and the weight of history. Mansfield embarks on a deeply personal journey after discovering his father’s hidden diary of harrowing bombing missions during World War II. This discovery propels him to confront not only his father’s unspoken experiences but also the broader societal tendency to bury the horrors of war in silence. The result is a profound meditation on what it means to live with history and the cost of forgetting it. Mansfield’s prose is both lyrical and incisive, capturing the paradox of veterans’ silence. For many, withholding their stories was a form of protection—a way to shield their families from the trauma they endured. Mansfield reflects on this silence as an act of love but also as a barrier that left subsequent generations afloat on what he calls “a hidden history.” Through vivid descriptions of flak-filled skies and near-death moments, Mansfield reconstructs his father’s wartime reality, revealing a world where survival often hinged on mere inches or seconds. The book is more than a memoir; it’s an inquiry into how we grapple with collective memory. Mansfield connects his father’s silence to a larger cultural phenomenon, where post-war America chose peace over confrontation with its brutal past. Yet, Mansfield argues, this forgetting comes at a cost: it deprives us of understanding the full human toll of war and our shared inheritance. Mansfield’s ability to weave personal narrative with historical insight makes “I Will Tell No War Stories” a compelling read. Like his earlier works, such as “In the Memory House,” this book invites readers to confront the complexities of history with empathy and curiosity. It’s a moving tribute to those who lived through unimaginable events and a call to engage with the stories left untold.
June 1, 2024
Howard Mansfield (https://www.howardmansfield.com) is the author of more than a dozen books. I Will Tell No War Stories: What Our Fathers Left Unsaid about World War II was published last month. It is the 32nd book I completed reading in 2024.
I received an ARC of this book through https://www.netgalley.com with the expectation of a fair and honest review. Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own! Due to minor scenes of violence, I categorize this book/novel as PG.
The author knew his father had flown in the US Army Air Corps during WWII. He didn’t know many details as his father had always been reluctant to share his experiences. Shortly before his father passed, Mansfield found his father’s mission journal. This prompted him to investigate further and fill in the gaps found in the journal.
Sargent Pincus Manfield had been a waist gunner on a B-24 bomber serving in the 8th Air Force. This book focuses on Sgt. Mansfield’s experiences from the summer of 1944 through the end of the war. He lost many comrades in the raids over Nazi Germany. The book paints a bleak picture of those participating in bombing raids and their chance of survival.
I enjoyed the 5.5 hours I spent reading this 160-page WWII-era history. I found this book to be of particular interest because my uncle also served in the 8th Air Force. He was a radioman and gunner on a B-24. I like the chosen cover art. I give this book a rating of 3.7 (rounded to 4) out of 5.
You can access more of my book reviews on my Blog ( https://johnpurvis.wordpress.com/blog/).
I received an ARC of this book through https://www.netgalley.com with the expectation of a fair and honest review. Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own! Due to minor scenes of violence, I categorize this book/novel as PG.
The author knew his father had flown in the US Army Air Corps during WWII. He didn’t know many details as his father had always been reluctant to share his experiences. Shortly before his father passed, Mansfield found his father’s mission journal. This prompted him to investigate further and fill in the gaps found in the journal.
Sargent Pincus Manfield had been a waist gunner on a B-24 bomber serving in the 8th Air Force. This book focuses on Sgt. Mansfield’s experiences from the summer of 1944 through the end of the war. He lost many comrades in the raids over Nazi Germany. The book paints a bleak picture of those participating in bombing raids and their chance of survival.
I enjoyed the 5.5 hours I spent reading this 160-page WWII-era history. I found this book to be of particular interest because my uncle also served in the 8th Air Force. He was a radioman and gunner on a B-24. I like the chosen cover art. I give this book a rating of 3.7 (rounded to 4) out of 5.
You can access more of my book reviews on my Blog ( https://johnpurvis.wordpress.com/blog/).
December 22, 2024
This book was so good. I checked it out because my father was also a WWII veteran, and he too never told war stories - at least to us. I remember asking him a couple of times and he always responded with "It's not fit for women and children to hear." I think he was more open with my sons, when they, as adults, talked with him but they too would never tell me exactly what he said, except that "Private Ryan doesn't tell one tenth of it." My father's war was different from this author's father's war in that my dad was in the Pacific Theater on aircraft carriers storming beaches instead of flying in a bomber but the essential cost seems to have been the same. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn more about WWII specifically - absolutely fascinating descriptions of the daily lives and terrible battles these (so very young) men went through - war in general, and our own humanity.
August 4, 2024
I Will Tell No War Stories is one rewrite away from being a great book. As is, it is still a very good book. I have read several of Howard Mansfield’s books, and they are mostly collections of essays. This one strives to be a more cohesive whole, but doesn’t quite succeed in that endeavor. Still, Mansfield is such an excellent writer that I recommend this book. The material is heavy, and may be disturbing to some (it is about war, after all), but it is handled in a non-sensational manner.
September 2, 2024
This small book is (like the last one I reviewed) intensely personal: a touching and detailed attempt at explaining the author’s understanding of his father’s lifelong near silence regarding his experiences in WWII. In this exploration we are brought closer to the horrors but also begin to see the effects of the war on our own lives. You should read this if your interest is in history of any period but especially if you seek a better understanding of your loved one’s war experience.
August 25, 2025
I was hoping for more stories about his father. They finally come in the last short chapter ( there were only 2 chapters) The last chapter was the better one. I think there should have been more chapters.
Also it did not read real smooth for me. I guess the titles tells it all - " I will tell no War Stories" What I did like was the very real story of many war vets not wanting to talk about the war.
Also it did not read real smooth for me. I guess the titles tells it all - " I will tell no War Stories" What I did like was the very real story of many war vets not wanting to talk about the war.
July 17, 2024
Riveting. Should be required reading in every high school and by everyone working in the executive and legislative branches of government. Anyone that reads this book will come away more informed and vigilant when it comes to the madness of wars.
April 22, 2024
Very good. Excellent research, good voice and writing style and a whole lot of humanity. Mansfield is exceptional.
May 5, 2024
Amazing story of the early days of the Air Force or army air corps. For all I’ve read of WWII this is the first I’ve read about the carnage of the air corps
June 2, 2025
Any book that includes my family history, especially at such detail, deserves 5 stars
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews