Book Review – W.E.B. Griffin’s “Brotherhood of War: The Lieutenants”

W.E.B. Griffin’s Brotherhood of War novels tell the stories of U.S. Army officers as they tackle problems both on an off the battlefields.

The Lieutenants, book number one in the Brotherhood of War series, begins in February of 1943 as the Allies are still fighting the Germans in northern Africa.  Major Robert Bellmon is leading a few tanks when they’re ambushed by the Germans.  All of his men are killed and Major Bellmon is thrown clear of the action.  He plays dead but the German soldiers don’t buy it.  Bellmon is captured and taken to a German prisoner-of-war camp in Poland.

Robert Bellmon’s father-in-law, Major General Peterson Waterford, is powerless to conduct a search in hostile territory for the missing soldier.  The general is aware that Bellmon may have been taken prisoner, but the odds of seeing his son-in-law alive again were incredibly small.

While Major Bellmon is being held captive in Poland, the POW camp commander, Generalleutant Graf Peter Paul von Greiffenberg, treats Bellmon favorably and allows the prison certain liberties.  Robert Bellmon would later discover that General Waterford and General von Greiffenberg have been friends since before World War 2.  While a prisoner, Robert Bellmon is used by the Germans and taken to a site where Russian troops massacred Polish army officers.  Bellmon sees the horrific sights and allows his photograph to be taken as proof of him seeing the truth.  Bellmon agrees to take the evidence of the massacre to his superiors and bring the Russian troops responsible for it to justice.

While in captivity, Robert Bellmon receives news that just before he was captured he was promoted to lieutenant colonel.  General von Greiffenberg allows the promotion to proceed inside of the prison camp, and Bellmon is even awarded the correct American rank to wear on his uniform.

Back in the United States, a U.S. military academy cadet in West Point convinces his superiors to let him drop out and enlist in the army.  Sanford Felter believes that his linguistics skills can help army intelligence gather information about the German troops and other assets over in Europe.  Because Felter has already completed a few years at the academy and the army needs linguistics experts, Felter is commissioned as a second lieutenant and sent overseas.

The war in Europe has progressed and the Allies and Russians are closing the trap on Germany.  By 1945 most of the combat against Germany is finished.

Lieutenant Felter finished interrogating some troops, and he believes that he knows the location of Lt. Col. Robert Bellmon.  He locates General Waterford and presents his evidence.  General Waterford is not allowed to deviate from his current mission to rescue prisoners, so he sends Felter to another commander who proceeds with the rescue.

It turns out that the Russians have already “liberated” the prisoner camp and killed most of the German guards.  The Americans pass through the Russian line and force their way into the camp to free their companions from a gruelling fate in the Soviet Union.  The rescue mission succeeds and Robert Bellmon, along with many other captured soldiers, return to the American side.

One of the prisoners, a senior NCO named George MacMillan, was with the 82nd Airborne when he was captured during Operation Market Garden.  Because of his heroic actions and leadership in combat, MacMillan received a battlefield commission to second lieutenant along with the Congressional Medal of Honor.  MacMillan is flown back to the U.S. to receive his medal from President Roosevelt.  He would later join the Army Air Corps and complete flight training.

The war in Europe finally ends and things begin to calm down, at least in western Europe.  Greece is about to go through more combat as it tries to repel communists infiltrating the country from Albania.

It turns out that General Waterford is an enthusiast for the game of polo.  He gathers together some officers with horseback riding skills and organizes a team to play against the French polo team.  The only problem is that General Waterford needs one more player.  The player has to be an officer as the French polo team considers the game to be for gentlemen and they will not play against enlisted men.  Private Craig Lowell is working in the stables and has polo skills, so the general orders for him to be commissioned as a second lieutenant.  Lt. Lowell joins the team and the game commences.  Towards the end of the polo game General Waterford suffers a heart attack and dies on the playing field.

Greece erupts into a civil war, and American troops need volunteers to serve as trainers and observers for the Greek soldiers.  Lt. Felter volunteers to serve in Greece thinking that it’ll improve his linguists skills along with gathering more intelligence on the communist trying to take over Greece.  Lt. Lowell, on the other hand, is a bit of a hell-raiser and he’s ordered to Greece.

Despite their differences, lieutenants Felter and Lowell become good friends while serving in Greece.  Felter stays behind and analyzes intelligence reports while Lowell stays with Greek soldiers on the front lines.  On more than one occasion Lt. Lowell proves himself as a leader in combat and the Greek soldiers greatly respect him.  During that time frame Lt. Felter is forced to execute a superior American officer for cowardice, and he himself takes command of a rescue mission to help Lowell and the Greek soldiers.

After serving (and Lowell nearly being killed) in Greece, both Felter and Lowell return to the U.S.  After Lowell’s return we learn that he’s an heir to a fortune and is actually quite wealthy, making it that much easier for him and his German wife, Ilse.  Lowell is sent to Basic Armor Officer’s course at Fort Knox where he befriends a black officer named Lt. Phillip Parker IV, who happens to be one of many in his family to have served in the military.  Parker’s father, Colonel Phillip Parker III happened to also be good friends with General Waterford.  Both Lowell and Parker excel in their training, finishing the course as the number one and three students in their class.

Craig Lowell later leaves the Army after his required service and gains admission to a prestigious business school, but Lowell joins the Pennsylvania Army National Guard when he learns that his tank skills are in demand.  He’s promoted to captain and given command of a tank company.

After returning to the U.S., Lt. Felter is later shipped back overseas to Berlin to work as an intelligence officer.  At the end of The Lieutenants, Felter has been promoted to the rank of captain and he’s incremental in locating General von Greiffenberg, a German officer originally thought to have been executed by the Russians at the end of the war.  Von Greiffenberg is then reunited with Colonel Robert Bellmon and then with Ilsa, von Greiffenberg’s daughter.

As a whole, W.E.B. Griffin’s Brotherhood of War: The Lieutenants is a fantastic novel that takes a look at the lives of four key Army officers (mainly two of them in this book — Felter and Lowell) from 1943 to 1950, basically the end of World War 2 and the start of the Korean War.

The key thing with the Brotherhood of War series is to NOT expect much combat in these books.  This series of books primarily takes a look at the lives of several main characters and shows their strengths and weaknesses when dealing with the Army’s bureaucracy, their fellow soldiers, and life outside of the military.  What combat is there is fantastic and very detailed, but as a whole the combat itself is limited.

It’s also that attention to detail and military jargon that’s going to turn away some readers.  You’ll get more out of these books if you’ve served in the military or done extensive research into the military lifestyle.  There is no glossary to help you with the terms or acronyms.  Griffin’s style of writing jumps feet first into the details, leaving it up to you to conduct further research if you don’t understand part of the story.

As it was mentioned, the combat scenes in this book were short but outstanding.  Some of the other scenes, such as the extensive coverage of General Waterford’s obsession with playing polo, was a complete bore.

One thing that’s irritable with W.E.B. Griffin’s style of writing is that it seems like each of his series of novels has at least one main character that’s wealthy.  In Brotherhood of War it’s Craig Lowell, The Corps has “Pick” Pickering, and The Presidential Agent has Carlos Castillo.  When a character is wealthy it’s makes it too easy for them as their deep pockets can open more doors and gain quicker access to greater opportunities.  When an author repeats this pattern over and over again in different settings, then it just gets boring.

Aside from that W.E.B. Griffin is a very talented writer and his books are wildly popular, especially with the military crowd.  If you’re planning on enlisting in the military or heading to Officer Candidate School, do yourself a favor and read Brotherhood of War: The Lieutenants first.  You’ll learn a lot about leadership, respect, and supporting your fellow soldiers.

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This article was originally published at www.chamberofreviews.com on February 9, 2013.