Any Rooney's My War was a short memoir which focuses on Andy Rooney's time in the Army in World War II, where he was assigned to Stars and Stripes. A Short read including the afterword 278 pages. A nice 3.5 star read of time in Europe the events he was part of D-Day, the Liberation of Paris, the crossing at Remagen and his entry into a concentration camp.

A personal account which appears very truthful and honest if his journey including both his successes and perceived failures and the paths of some of the other great deployed journalist of the day. I would not place this at the top of the pile but a worthy addition to the literature to an observer of World War II from England to the end of the war.

Good account of war days of an army reporter. Some editorializing about war and people. Worthwhile. ( )

My War is a blunt, funny, idiosyncratic account of Andy Rooney’s World War II. As a young, naïve correspondent for The Stars and Stripes, Rooney flew bomber missions, arrived in France during the D-Day invasion, crossed the Rhine with the Allied forces, traveled to Paris for the Liberation, and was one of the first reporters into Buchenwald. Like so many of his generation, Rooney’s life was changed forever by the war. He saw life at the extremes of human experience, and wrote about what he observed, making it real to millions of men and women. My War is the story of an inexperienced kid learning the craft of journalism. It is by turns moving, suspenseful, and reflective. And Rooney’s unmistakable voice shines through on every page.

Pretty compelling, although could have used a better copy editor. ( )

You have to like his snarky, crotchety style to really enjoy this book. He relates an event where, as a member of a 155mm howitzer load crew during training in England, he disobeys orders from the artillery officer. He deliberately loads incorrect numbers of powder charges into the breech to ensure that the shell misses it's target. Thus, the gun crew's inaccurate performace would reflect poorly on the officer he did't like and somehow damage this officer's reputation with the command staff. Andy seemed to find this incident humorous and crowed about it for a bit. As a veteran, I found this to be unconscionable especially under war time conditions. Nothing remotely amusing about it at all. This really jaundiced the rest of the book for me.

His experiences were real, many dangerous but his opinionated writing style wore me down. I couldn't wait to close the cover. ( )