Military Review English Edition July-August 2015 | Page 129

BOOK REVIEWS

running back in football and then compounded the
fresh damage during horse riding. His academic
record was unimpressive, and he had “a mountain
of demerits” before being ranked 95th in overall
conduct. Without the extraordinary intervention
of the head of the Academy’s medical department
to reverse the board and then take its split decision
to Washington, Ike may have pursued his dream to
Argentina. A fellow classmate, with inside information, related that ultimately Washington considered
Eisenhower to be “a good gamble”—but only if he
became an infantry officer.
Bradley’s start was also inauspicious. He was a
long-shot “Augustine” (a cadet who enters in August)
who missed the hell of June at Beast Barracks because of a special late congressional appointment.
He scraped his way up from second-class status by
lettering in football and baseball. Brad thought he was
tarnished, but West Point was “sports oriented to a
feverish degree.” The 1914 football team went 9-0, and
the baseball team was among the best ever. Athletes
got special privileges and their discipline was looser.
Haskew allows military icons to be exposed by their
peers as flawed individuals.
The book has its share of cautionary tales of folly
and tragedy. Ike would choose classmate James Ord to
accompany him to the Philippines; while there, Ord
would die after leaning out of a plane to drop a note.
In World War II, Bradley chose another officer over
his cadet first captain for a corps command because
Bradley thought he lacked experience with large formations in combat. The former class leader was bitter afterwards. Eisenhower would later be the disciplinarian
with Maj. Gen. Henry Miller after Miller was quoted
discussing the Normandy invasion date. Miller, as well
as other old friends, would not share in the glory of this
group of war-hardened leaders.
There are historical nuggets throughout the book
that have been overlooked by others, making it well
worth the read. Some of these nuggets, however, could
be missed in this work because, at times, it jumps
quickly from one character to another. The book
moves at a fast pace and maximizes the mention of
the careers of even the more obscure members of the
star-studded class. Haskew mined a great subject—
and found some real gold.
James Cricks, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas
MILITARY REVIEW  July-August 2015

HITLER’S WARRIOR: The Life and Wars
of SS Colonel Jochen Peiper
Danny S. Parker, Da Capo Press, Boston, 2014,
480 pages

A

highly decorated World War II veteran has difficulty adjusting to peacetime domesticity, can’t
connect with his kids, encounters obstacles
finding employment, and seeks a retirement home in an
idyllic, sylvan locale. Does this sound like a plot line from
William Wyler’s cinematic epic The Best Years of Our
Lives? Not if the veteran is Col. Jochen Peiper, a member of Germany’s notorious Waffen SS and recipient of
a death sentence for his role in the infamous Malmedy
massacre of American POWs in December 1944.
Yet, Jochen Peiper did have difficulty adjusting to
life after the war, as deftly portrayed in a new book
by Danny S. Parker. By not focusing solely on Peiper’s
military career, Parker brings a more complete and
nuanced view to previous characterizations of Peiper as
either a heartless SS automaton and unrepentant war
criminal or an audacious and highly decorated combat
leader, loved and respected by his men but victimized
by politically motivated allegations of atrocities.
Thus, Parker’s strength is his coverage of lesser-known aspects of Peiper’s character and career, as
evidenced by numerous primary sources, interviews,
and Peiper’s personal notes and letters. One gains greater insight on his close relationships with such diverse
figures as Heinrich Himmler, notorious Reichsfuhrer
SS and Peiper’s boss during two tours as adjutant, and
Willis Everett, Peiper’s U.S. Army defense attorney
during the Malmedy trial, with whom he remained in
close contact well after the war’s end.
One of Parker’s significant contributions is his
portrait of the former SS colonel following commutation of his death sentence and his eventual release
after nearly twelve years in prison. If one considers his
debt for Malmedy paid, it is possible to develop empathy
for Peiper as he seeks to shed his SS past, adjust to daily
life with a long-absent family, and chart the course of
his future in a post-war Germany with which he does
not identify. Here, Peiper seems much like any veteran
coming to grips with life after the army; in his case, this
entailed haunting memories of grueling service—either
127