The Berets: Brotherhood of War, Book 5

All of his books are outstanding. Sadly he died in 2019, so there won't be anymore

WEB Griffin is one of this reviewers TOP FIVE Authors, has been for nearly forty years.. OWN all of his Badge of Honor', Presidents Agent', and Clandestine Agents, Series. Mr. Griffin's attention to detail for military life, FACTS on gear, and especially airplanes (if not a pilot himself, must done Umpteen HOURS of research); only Tom Clancy (original author, not ghost writers writing under his name after 2013). One thing about Griffin's SERIES, is character development which is carried forward from one book to next, WITHOUT repeated pages duplicating same stuff like some do... Own ALL books in Brotherhood of War Series. Read many thousands of books over many decades (am Reader going back to Jr. High) and normally not interested in 'military books, or World War II era stories, with exception of Mr. Griffin's books. His attention to detail and HISTORY is Excellent, bar none.. His KNOWLEDGE is incredible,, as Clandestine Agent series. NOTE: most books when original author has passed nd is being ghost written by other authors, rarely meets expectations. EXCEPT, Wm Butterworth IV , Griffin's son, are every bit as good as original books by Griffin only (another rare exception is Cussler with Dirk Cussler who's continuing his Dirk Pitt series). OTHER end of spectrum where crass commercialism to make money off original author, churning MULTIPLE books a MONTH, so bad that 'ghost writer' has obviously NOT READ a single one of the books on character he's copying, i.e. Wm Johnstone books and MULTIPLE writers using J.A. Johnstone.)ANYWAY, MR, GRIFFIN AND HIS SON, WM E BUTTERWORTH IV HAVE CARRIED ON THE TORCH WITH EXCELLENT WRITING WORTH A READERS SPENDING HIS HARD EARNED MONEY. 5-STAR AUTHOR AND 5-STAR SERIES. This reviewer OWNS and keeps these books, some after 10-20 years, read series again., Presidential Agent is exception,, finished reading in some cases three times Characters in Presidential Agent, and Badge of Honor, two favorite series. Brotherhood of War is on par with Clandestine Agent (real details on end WWII and start of CIA after WWII, Historically accurate as best can tell when checked, Great Read to boot.DAVZWAY

In the aftermath of the Bay of Pigs, Eaglebury’s body is recovered from Cuba in a handoff that almost goes awry. Ellis meets Eaglebury’s sister, a Duke student, and screws up his nerve to ask her out over her father’s objections; Eaglebury’s wife is now a widow and Dad doesn’t want Dianne dating a soldier.The Army’s organizational battle over the Green Berets – whether they’ll be a new and independent fighting force, or a subordinate part of Airborne, and whether they’ll keep wearing those funny hats – continues.Lowell’s nephew Geoffrey Craig, a draftee, faces court-martial after punching out a bullying drill sergeant. Lowell faces the ticklish task of whether to use his influence to help Craig or whether that will backfire, and even if successful teach the boy the wrong lesson.New characters include Karl-Heinz Wagner and his sister Ursula. Wagner is a former East German soldier who has escaped, with his sister, by crashing a truck through the Berlin Wall. He joins Special Forces but he and his sister teeter on the brink of poverty as he tries to support her on a private’s salary.Felter develops the same relationship with Kennedy that he had with Eisenhower. Griffin really captures Kennedy’s wit, charm and appreciation for fighting men.Parker accompanies to Vietnam a secret shipment of armed Army small planes – secret not from the enemy, but from the Air Force as the Army struggles under its restriction to leave air combat to the Air Force, which does little to support ground troops. Parker’s wife, an Army doctor, struggles with his going to war once more.Lowell is too talented a paper-shuffler for the Army to give him a field command, and chafes under the restriction. The brass exile Lowell for a month to keep him away from Defense Secretary Robert MacNamara, whom the brass fears is close to accepting Lowell’s recommendations to expand Army aviation. Lowell’s latest flame is an attractive Army psychiatrist.

Book stays in context to previous books, really enjoyed it! I would recommend reading all the books in sequence but each one does stand on its own.

This series is very good. The writers attention to detail draws you into the story and you feel a part of the series.

Although there are two more books in this series, the Berets has an epilogue for the main characters in the book series. Most of this book is about the small group of men, mostly Berets comprising though who were Lts in WWII and now are Colonels and Generals working with the next generation of "fighting soldiers" as Sandy, Lowell, McMillan and others plan and execute an attack on the North Viet Nam POW camp "Hanoi Hilton". I graduated high school in 1968 and this book; along with the Generals; was one of the hardest to read. All the anger, frustration, fear and heartache associated with the South East Asia conflicts came rolling back and I almost didn't finish it which only proves that Mr Griffin is a very good writer. This book also points out the hypocrisy of both Gen. Bellman and Mac in relationship to Col. Lowell's character which also was very blatant during this time era along with the egotism of each branch of the military instead of what was best for the nation. The problems haven't improved or altered much within the military establishment in the 40 plus years"sigh".

Got the whole Brothers of War series. The early books were the best. Each one build up to the next one. Was only a bit disappointed how "everything turned out" in the final volume. Was expecting, after the buildup, a much happier ending, but I guess that's the way life is - like a box of chocolates! Printing Quality was very good.

I started with the Lieutenants and read all the series since then.I like them all and if you liked the first ones, you experience will be fully complete when you will have read all of them.

A good reading of the original text, although there are parts where the reading is too exact, i.e. 2000 being read as two thousand vice as a time, 20 hundred. Also there were some skips on the discs.

very good

Great