∎ Read Gratis I Saw Them Die Diary and Recollections of Shirley Millard Shirley Millard Elizabeth Townsend Gard 9781610270236 Books

I Saw Them Die Diary and Recollections of Shirley Millard Shirley Millard Elizabeth Townsend Gard 9781610270236 Books

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I Saw Them Die Diary and Recollections of Shirley Millard Shirley Millard Elizabeth Townsend Gard 9781610270236 Books

I totally agree with Kathryn Atwood's five star review of this excellent book. I want to emphasize that it isn't all gut wrenchingly horrific in the telling, since some might avoid it if they think it would be too bloody and grim a slog. Yes, Shirley Millard's work as a volunteer wartime nurse was bloody indeed. But as Atwood points out, her story is filled with inspiring moments and characters, in addition to her own steady heroism under intense pressures including bombings of her field hospital. This wartime diary-based book was written in the looming shadow of WWII, motivated by Millard's fears for her son as a likely conscripted combatant in another war, which makes it even more poignant. I have known several nurses and other selfless medical servers, so I was immediately attracted to an original edition of this book I happened to come across in a used bookstore. I now also have a copy of this new edition, which I hope will attract a wider audience for this classic wartime tale of almost a century ago which still strongly resonates into the present day. As a writer, I appreciate the clarity of her narrative, coming to us straight from the heart of her experience.


Tags : I Saw Them Die: Diary and Recollections of Shirley Millard [Shirley Millard, Elizabeth Townsend Gard] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. This true contemporary account of an American nurse's horrific - and sometimes bizarre - experiences at a French battlefield hospital during World War I has poignant layers which even the oft-naïve author did not see. Too soon,Shirley Millard, Elizabeth Townsend Gard,I Saw Them Die: Diary and Recollections of Shirley Millard,Quid Pro, LLC,1610270231,First World War,History - Military War,History Military World War I,Military - World War I

I Saw Them Die Diary and Recollections of Shirley Millard Shirley Millard Elizabeth Townsend Gard 9781610270236 Books Reviews

Shirley Millard was an untrained but determinedly quick-learning American girl who traveled to France in the spring of 1918 in order to nurse the war wounded. She was also a brilliant diarist. Or rather, her clear prose brilliantly paints the stark realities of the Great War in a way that no textbook written after the fact could begin to do.

Millard stumbled upon her war diary 15 years after the Armistice and immediately decided to have it published after implementing it with additional detail. Her writing had only improved within that time frame and she had apparently forgotten little as all that she relates in the recollection sections seems so startlingly immediate that it brings one as through a time machine, face-to face with all the mangled horror that was the Great War.

From her initial desire to go overseas - "the lilt of "Tipperary," "Madelon," and "Roses of Picardy" heated my enthusiasm to a fever pitch" - to first hearing news of the Armistice while working in a "death ward" - "There is no armistice for Charley or for any of the others in that ward" - Millard not only clearly describes medical horrors but also reveals the philosophical transformation that was shared by so many of her generation and which became foundational for the American pacifism that was prevalent prior to Pearl Harbor.

Speaking of Americans, her description of the US wounded reminded me distinctly of Muriel Engelman's descriptions (found in her memoir "Mission Accomplished Stop the Clock.") of the WWII G.I.s who she nursed during the Battle of the Bulge. Ms. Millard has this to say about her fellow Americans "I hate to see them pouring in [to the hospital], yet I am proud of them. Such gallantry, such nerve, such pluck! Even the French nurses have remarked about it. Always Thank you, for every little thing . . . And Help him first, he has waited longer than I have." One might recall that the Americans weren't as trench-weary as their French counterparts at this point or one could surmise that Ms. Millard was experiencing an intense bout of patriotism but since all but a few of her other observations seem so level-headed one might assume that some members of the Greatest Generation were raised by those of a similar nature.

The descriptions of Millard's work with wounded men, which of course constitute the bulk of the book, had two affects on me. First, as already mentioned, it made the horrors of this war graphically clear and secondly, it made me agree with one French doctor's assessment of the young nurse "You can work like a man, and at the same time you are soft and sweet and very brave. That's the best thing of all, to be brave." Seeing the war through the eyes of an earnest young woman as she evolves from eager patriot to pacifist while tirelessly nursing her wounded patients makes this a profoundly moving read.
Very interesting take on a young woman's experiences as a WWI nurse. It was hard to put down, and provided a good view into that time and place, and how the war affected the people of that time.
If you're looking for a real look at what WWI was like on the western front, this is it. It was so riveting and gave me 1) a much better sense of how horrible war really is 2) it showed me the feelings of so many people during the war and their experiences 3) its all such a wake up call. So much respect for this book.
I read this in an hour and was a better person at the end. An unknown masterpiece and the best I’ve read about that miserable war.
This is a rare perspective on the first world war. I have never run into anything like it before. Exactly as the title says, it is the diary of Millard, with reflections added at a later date (somewhere before WWII?). It helped me gain a better understanding of what the war was like from the perspective of someone who was so close to the front lines, yet just a step removed. It is not just about who wins or loses, but the real human experience- doctors she does or doesn't like, the attitudes of German POWs etc.
Nurse Millard described the horror she saw in words that left no doubt of the gut wretching she felt. Her love of her patients and their dying moments are tear jerking.
I’ve been reading a lot of unsung accounts of women involved in WWI and WWII. Yes, I’m a guy! This was a short, easily read slice of life from the standpoint of a woman who was a volunteer nurse in WWI. A much under-reported arena of human experience, making it extremely valuable. Highly recommended!
I totally agree with Kathryn Atwood's five star review of this excellent book. I want to emphasize that it isn't all gut wrenchingly horrific in the telling, since some might avoid it if they think it would be too bloody and grim a slog. Yes, Shirley Millard's work as a volunteer wartime nurse was bloody indeed. But as Atwood points out, her story is filled with inspiring moments and characters, in addition to her own steady heroism under intense pressures including bombings of her field hospital. This wartime diary-based book was written in the looming shadow of WWII, motivated by Millard's fears for her son as a likely conscripted combatant in another war, which makes it even more poignant. I have known several nurses and other selfless medical servers, so I was immediately attracted to an original edition of this book I happened to come across in a used bookstore. I now also have a copy of this new edition, which I hope will attract a wider audience for this classic wartime tale of almost a century ago which still strongly resonates into the present day. As a writer, I appreciate the clarity of her narrative, coming to us straight from the heart of her experience.