Four Trails to Valor: From Ancient Footprints to Modern Battlefields, A Journey of Four Peoples

by Dorothy Cave

Here are four men, representing the dominant cultures of the American Southwest, who set their feet upon trails which follow the physical and metaphysical journeys of their forefathers--the Pueblos' Cornmeal Path, the Navajo Beautyway, the Spanish Way of the Cross, and the Yankee Trail of Destiny. All lead to the great fact of the past century, World War II, in which each man blazes his own trail in his country's greatest crisis. Each carries to war his people's pride and his father's faith. Through the jungles of Bataan, the bloody battles of Tarawa and Iwo Jima, across the deserts of North Africa, and the formidable Italian mountain chain, each carries his bits of home--medicine bundle or crucifix, sacred cornmeal or pocket Bible--and each clings to the mystic thread that will bring him home. At journey's end the circle closes as each man, each race, each reader, must speculate on the untrodden paths ahead, leaving them, and us, with profound--perhaps painful--questions and a deeper understanding of man's relation to man, and to the trinity of Earth, Sky and Water.

404 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 31, 1997

Reviews

[Judy Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is out of print, but available in used bookstores. The state of New Mexico lost more men per capita in WWII than any other state. The book tells the story of four men who survived. They are from different parts of the state and different ethnicities. There is lots of history of their ancestors, their own family history, how they grew up, and their service. Their experiences are put in context of the overall war. The author did extensive research and interviewed each of these men in depth. The writing is wonderful. It is not a quick or easy read, but worth it.