messengers_of_the_lost_battalion-the_heroic_551st_and_the_turning_of_the_tide

by Gregory Orfalea

The author of Before the Flames and the son of a member of the ill-fated infantry battalion discusses America's 551st Battalion and their heroic, little-known role during World War II's Battle of the Bulge. 20,000 first printing.

Genres: History, World War II

Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Gregory Orfalea was born and raised in Los Angeles. He is the author of ten books, including Journey to the Sun: Junipero Serra’s Dream and the Founding of California, published in January 2014 by Scribner.

With degrees from Georgetown University and the University of Alaska, Orfalea has published ten books, including a history of his father’s unit in World War II, Messengers of the Lost Battalion, and Angeleno Days, a memoir of growing up in Los Angeles, which won the Arab American Book Award and was a finalist for the PEN USA Prize in Creative Nonfiction. He is also the author of a collection of short stories, The Man Who Guarded the Bomb, as well as the seminal study, The Arab Americans: A History.

Orfalea directed a writing program at the Claremont Colleges and has taught at several universities, including his alma mater, Georgetown University and California Lutheran University. For the past six years (2010-2015) Orfalea has been writer-in-residence at Westmont College in Santa Barbara and director of its Creators of California speakers series.

In 2013, Orfalea visited Turkey and Armenia with the University of Iowa International Writers Program and the US State Department.

Orfalea and his wife have three sons. He divides his time between Santa Barbara and Washington, DC.

Reviews

[Singleton Mosby · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall this book was a good read but there was too much 'fuzz' around the real history of the 551st. Hence I tended to skip some parts even while the parts on Dragoon, the Bulge and the training were very interesting and well written.

Next time I go to Trois-points I will be sure to take the book with me and walk over the battlefield where the 551st fought. I've been to Rochelinval but didn't know what happened over there before reading the book. I only bought it after stumbling upon a momument dedicated to the unit near Dairomont. Their story most certainly is a harrowing, bloody and terrible one.

[John Nevola]

This is the heart-wrenching and compelling true story of the 551st Parachute Infantry Battalion. Orfalea does a masterful job recreating a history all but lost in the archives of the United States Army. Using numerous interviews, he reconstructs the short but glorious battle history of a long-forgotten independent parachute battalion. The surviving veterans of that outfit provide the backdrop of a story that should never be forgotten. From training in Panama to a combat drop on southern France to its destruction at the Battle of the Bulge, Orfalea recounts the exploits, trials and tragedies of this orphan battalion and their treatment at the hands of an aloof higher command. The stories are real, the maps are great and the conclusions will elicit some controversy. This is an outstanding piece of literature relying on meticulous research to inform the American people of the quality of the heroes among them.

John E. Nevola - Author of The Last Jump
U.S. Army Veteran
Military Writer's Society of America

[Peter Reitmeyer · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s a 250 page book jammed into 400 pages. GOYA!

[David Winston · Rating 4 out of 5]

Always enjoy accurate historical information

[Phil Teves · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad history of this lost battalion, but the leftist, pinko Commie author detracts.

[Becca · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'll have to give this book another try later. I got bogged down in the first section which was more about the author's dad then about the lost battalion. Later I'd like to come back and read it starting with the section that actually deals with the battle. I wanted to learn about that, not the author's search to understand his father.

[Gordon Holloway · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read too many WW2 histories to count and I can honestly say this was one of the best I've ever read. It's very well written by a son who is attempting to finally share a long lost story about his father and his father's unit, the 551st Parachute Infantry Battalion.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

My children's great grandfather was in this unit in WWII. I own the book so I can pass it down to them. I'm so proud of his contribution, and they need to know the whole story.