World History Quarter Book Project

Please submit to Canvas by the end of the quarter. It will not be accepted late.

 

General Information – 10 points

Title of Book: The Lost Eleven

Genre of Literature (historical fiction or nonfiction): Historical nonfiction

Author(s): Denise George and Robert Child

Publisher: Berkley

Copyright Date: 2017

Number of pages (150-page minimum): 347

Setting(s): At  the beginning of the book, the setting takes place in the Ardennes Forest of Belgium on Germany. Then the book takes us back 8 years to Berlin, and the Olympic games. Next, it goes to the future to a main character by the name of George Davis who lived in Bessemer Alabama.

Characters – Name and give a brief description of 3-5:

 

The Lost Eleven

Charley Battery, 333rd Field Artillery Division

 

George Davis- He was a Private First Class, and was originally from Alabama. He served in Liege, Belgium during the Battle of the Bulge. He was a European African-Middle Eastern , who served in WWII.

Robert Green- He was named as ‘Tech Corporal’, among those who possessed specialized skills and were rewarded with better pay. He was a native of Georgia. He was also classified as a Private.

George Shomo- He was a Sergeant, and great commander. He was a Newark, New Jersey native, and all of his men respected and followed him. He was also called MacCloud, who was a white officer in command of his african american troops. His race and ethnicity had not affected his relationship with his soldiers though.  

 

American Officers

Dwight Eisenhower- He was Supreme Commander of the Allied Force in Europe. He was an American General. His headquarters was on the outskirts of Paris, France. He led the invasion of Nazi-occupied Europe that began D-Day.

 

Book summary/point of view – 10 points

In about 100 words, provide a brief summary of the plot of the book. Include the time period in which it takes place.

The story takes place mainly in Wereth, Belgium and Germany in 1944. This book recorded what it was like to fight in the Battle of the Bulge. This book captures the picture of eleven American soldiers who were massacred by the Nazis. The stories told in the book talk about individual stories as well. It talks about how one Belgium family took the men in to help them. One young boy who helped host the American soldiers talked about how he couldn’t forget the contributions that the black Americans gave during WWII. This book truly captures what the 333rd Field Artillery Battalion did, and how they were among the few who managed to escape the Nazi’s. One farmer took in the exhausted men, but unfortunately the Nazi authorities learned about where they were staying. INstead of taking the men as prisoners, they had the men executed in a nearby field.

 

From whose point of view is the book told?  How does this influence the story?

This story was talked about in third person, and was narrated to show how all of the men reacted. This gives the story a great meaning, because by having a narrator over all the events that occur we can see how everyone may have reacted to certain events. It gives you sort of a movie feel, and allows the readers to respond to circumstances in a certain way. IF one character were to die, then it just adds to the effect of sadness.

 

Application questions – 35 points

5 points each – each answer should be a minimum of 50 words)

What is the most important event in the book?  Why is it the most important? When does this event take place in the book (page numbers)?  

I believe the most important event takes place on page number 1. This first chapter is only two and a half pages long, and illustrates the event taking place beautifully. The scene takes place in the Ardennes Forest in Belgium. This one event underlined every other event that will take place afterwards. It tells us how it was winter time and everyone was exhausted, worried, and timid. They sat there waiting for the war to end. Everything was perfectly fine shen holding the line, until they saw what they called “fireworks” in the sky. After the Germans left the field inhabitable, many people were injured or dead. The 333rd Field Artillery Battalion held their ground as best as they could, until the Germans infiltrated the area. This story shows great emotions of over the time, and how everyone was distraught.

 

Choose one character – Give a more detailed   of their role in the book, and then compare them to someone you know personally today.  Use two quotes from the book to help illustrate your description – cite page numbers where the quotes are found.

Sergeant George E. Shomo- He spent time in a German POW camp after he was found. Shomo had. A childhood friend by the name of Wesley Forehand. With his buddy, they trained together, went overseas together, and were both captured and spend time in the German POW camp. After he was released when the war ended, Forehand married Shomo’s sister and they ended up raising three children and eight grandchildren. After the war ended, Shomo worked for thirty-nine years at the former Bendix Corporation before he retired. I believe Shomo compares to my father. When a Shomo says, “with all due respect, as a noncommissioned officer I’m not required to do manual labor. You can put me in charge of a detail, but I’m not going to cut that grass” (Robert George pg.119) this reminds me of my dads stubbornness. I believe that my dad would say this same thing if in the same position. He goes by technicality. Another quote is, “No use in griping about it” (George pg.163). This quote reminds me when my dad says to stop complaining if there is no use.

 

Use two quotes from the book to show new things you have learned about this time period in history.  Explain what each quote helped you to better know or understand – cite page numbers.

“Hitler refused to shake Jesse Owen’s hand or congratulate other black medalists” (George pg.10) This quote was from the second chapter where it talks about the Olympics. This quote helps me understand something about history, which is how whiny Hitler was. He acted like a child when he didn’t get what he wanted. I knew he was a bad person, but this just goes to show how unsympathetic anyone who followed him was. “Over the hill, over dale, as we hit the dusty trail, and those caissons go rolling along…” (George pg. 141). This is in the 39th chapter where it talks about how the 333rd Battalion started training with the British troops. I honestly didn’t even know that this event happened, and I thought it was good how they uplifted themselves by a little singing when they were training. I think it is good to note the joyful things people did in war and not just the tragedies.

 

How might our world be different today if the historical events in your book had turned out differently?  Use two different examples to explain your answer.

One example how these countries would not be the same is from D-day. Had the U.S. not won in Normandy, France Then history would have obviously changed. In the book it talks about how this victory was the turning point for WWII in Europe. This shows that had the Germans won, then they would have more leverage over the territory in WWII. Who knows, maybe France would have been territory of Germany even today had they won. Another example of how things would be different is an event that occurred in 1940. During this time, rationing starts in the U.K. and the German ‘Blitzkrieg’ starts to overwhelm Belgium, Holland, and France. Churchill is prime minister during this time, and is when the “British Expeditionary Force” had evacuated from Dunkirk. Had the Brits not won during the Battle of Britain, then Hitler wouldn’t have to postpone his invasion plans. This means that Hitler would have taken more territory in the matter of months.

 

What are three life lessons that can be learned from this book – how does each apply to your life?

One life lesson to be learned is to care for our neighbors. This was taught to the men who fought on the battlefield that you have to look out for one another. I can then compare this to the Bible, and how it is taught to love your neighbor as yourself. This is how it compares to me, not only because I’m at a Christian school, but because I abide by that commandment. Courage- We should all learn to be brave and face your fears. We should all do things we normally wouldn’t do, and go outside of the box. As cliché as this sounds, I still apply this to my life because I adapt to new ideas and things. Respect- I believe one of the most important lessons we can learn is to respect one another no matter what. As soon as we start disrespecting our peers, the more it continues. I apply this into my life, because I don’t enjoy disrespecting people so they shouldn’t disrespect me. Although, most people are obnoxious at times, and make fun of people.

 

If you were to give this book an alternate title, what would it be?  Explain why.

The Forgotten Heroes. This reason why I would class it this is because; their stories were forgotten overtime and no one learns what impact they had. These eleven men had statues for their service, yet no one learned their stories. They were heroes since no one else would go through the trouble they went through in order to be executed in the end. They didn’t give up for what they were fighting for just because they were afraid of death.

 

Explain in about 50 words why you would or would not recommend this book to your classmates.

I would recommend this book, because not only does it show how important this small group of individuals were but it also shows the courage they had. I believe we all could learn how to never lose hope in the people around you, and every outcome can turn out for the better. These men risked everything, and were tortured for what they did. They however held their ground, and did not run away from the enemy. Their story was nearly lost, and forgotten. I think it would only be right to make the name known.

Cite any sources beyond the book that you used to complete this project.