After the Mud

After the MudBy: Bill Shrout This book was a great autobiography of a young man in the navy. He shares many experiences or the navy life in this book and gives many details. He includes many facts about the war and the people involved. He shares his feelings and lets the reader know of his previous life before he went into the navy. He relays in the book that he had a very sheltered life and many of the new things that he found while in his navy career. I enjoyed the book very much because or the way he tells you of his experiences throughout his young life. I also recommend this book to any age group and I hope everyone who reads it enjoys it like I have.

I very much enjoyed this memoir. Bill Shrout vividly describes his experience as a young man leaving his home for the first time to fight in World War II. He is one of the youngest of remaining World War II veterans, for he joined the Navy towards the end of the war. After spending several months in training, he was sent to participate in the last great battle of the war - Okinawa.What I enjoyed most was his description of what it was like to leave home for the first time. He had never been out of his small hometown in Indiana until joining the Navy. His reactions to the differences he finds in people and new places do not resonate with my generation. For instance, he had never had a milkshake until he joined the Navy because his hometown cafe didn't have a milkshake machine. He had never heard Southern accents, and he had never really seen black people. That people lived in such isolated surroundings caused me to think heavily about what he must have gone through as he left home.I also enjoyed reading about how he retained his values throughout his Navy experience. While other sailors went off carousing, he remained true to his upbringing. Instead of visiting dingy bars and associating with loose women, he'd go to the USO to play ping-pong and eat doughnuts. Such strength to resist temptation was not always displayed amongst young men at the time. I commend him for it.I was saddened to read about the personal loss he suffered when he was thousands of miles from home. I instantly began to feel grateful for my family and friends when I read this part.All in all, this book will make you laugh, and it might make you cry. It is written in a simple, humble manner. I highly recommend it.