Gary Lewis’s Reviews > From Private to General: An African American Soldier Rises Through the Ranks > Status Update

Back in Vietnam again, then Colonel Curry discovers that his Vietnamese counterpart is handcuffed because his Vietnamese superiors are more concerned with casualties than victories. Finding a balance between getting the job done while keeping the casualty rate down becomes a restraint that Colonel Curry is compelled to work within. By doing so he saves his counterparts command and maintains his own objectives.

A startling reminder of what it feels like to be the only person of color in Officer’s housing or training. General Curry recounts the relief he and his wife experienced when they were posted in other countries like Germany, only to return to he Jim Crow South and reexperience 2nd class citizenship.

Great opening in the middle of a war zone unable to save a friend who is cutoff from the primary military corps destined for decimation but the enemy, Curry turns to his faith for answers and direction. Held in this suspense, the book turns to where and how he grew up in Liberty, Pennsylvania, digging coal out of a homemade mineshaft in his backyard to stay warm in the bitter winters of Western Pennsylvania.