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LEST WE FORGET Dan McCullen hasn't always been one of Jackson, Mississippi's, highly-regarded attorneys. In fact, for several months in the winter and spring of 19441945, it looked as though he might never get to have a career at all. That's because while serving with the Army "Railsplitters" (Company L, 333d Regiment, 84th Infantry Division) McCullen and several other members of his company were taken prisoner by German forces during the assault on the Siegfried Line near Geilenkirchen, Germany.
McCullen's tale is rich in details, from the long boxcar rides without water to unknown destinations and the daily privations of POW life, to petty things like squabbles over morsels of food that would normally not be considered edible, to the camaraderie of a shared Easter worship service. Lest We Forget is also a testament to the faith and determination that saw McCullen through those harrowing months. As he frequently observes, it wouldn't have been possible for him to survive such experiences as these without help from a higher power than the U.S. Army. As a follow-up to his wartime experiences, McCullen returned to Germany in 1986 and revisited many of the scenes of battle, capture, and imprisonment. He found much changed, including the German people, who were most helpful to him in finding these locations and in interpreting for him all that had gone on in the intervening years as Germany rejoined the community of nations. Lest We Forget is an essential book to veterans of the Railsplitters and of World War II in general, as well as to historians and scholars seeking firsthand accounts. But it is, perhaps, even more important to persons who never witnessed the tragedies of the war or who have had no no direct experience with the war and its veterans-lest they forget.
About the Author: For his service in World War II, Dan McCullen was awarded a Bronze Star and a POW Medal. He is a life member of the American Legion, the VFW, American Ex-Prisoners of War, 84th Infantry Railsplitter Society, Veterans of Foreign Wars, and the Disabled American Veterans. A graduate of Millsaps College and the University of Mississippi Law School, he now practices law in Jackson, Mississippi, and is a member of the Mississippi Bar Association, the American Bar Association, the Jackson and Hinds County Bar Association, the Mississippi Defense Lawyers Association, and the International Association of Defense Counsel. |
Now, half a century later, McCullen tells
the story of his service in his memoir Lest We Forget,
from training at Camp Clairborne, Louisiana, through the battle
for the Siegfried Line, to the details of his imprisonment by
German troops and eventual liberation by Russian troops in May
1945.
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Lest We Forget 208 pages, cloth, photos, $22.95 For ordering information, click here or phone (800) 662-8351 |