Posted on 04/10/2005 11:24:33 AM PDT by nuconvert
Dole Recounts War Experiences, Recovery and Recent Problems in New Book
By John Hanna/ Associated Press Writer
Apr 10, 2005
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) - He lay in the dirt for hours on Hill 913, drifting in and out of consciousness, unable to move or feel anything below his neck. Bob Dole's spinal cord was damaged, his right arm immobilized by the mortar, shell or machine gun blast - "whatever it was, I'll never know" - in the mountains of northern Italy less than a month before World War II ended in Europe.
In his new book, "One Soldier's Story," the man who went on to serve 35 years in Congress and run for president returns to his war experiences and long recovery.
"The book is about me, but it's really about our generation," the 81-year-old Dole said in an interview. "What happened to me happened to thousands of others - and it's, of course, happened since."
Dole's book, published by HarperCollins, goes on sale Tuesday. Dole plans a 14-city promotion tour in April and May.
Dole said he wanted to avoid writing about politics, a "who said what" tome detailing political battles or past campaigns, partly because he thinks readers tire of such memoirs.
"I don't want any enemies at this stage in my life," he added. "I just need all the friends I can gather up."
In the book, Dole recounts a serious fall in his Washington apartment this past January that sent him to a hospital with internal bleeding, apparently linked to blood thinner he was taking after hip replacement surgery.
He said he spent 40 days at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and lost some of the use of his left arm and hand, describing the experience of being temporarily without both arms as humiliating and saying it reminded him of his days after the war.
Dole decided to recount his war experiences after learning that a sister, Gloria Nelson, living in their hometown of Russell, had kept 400 personal letters, many of which he'd written to his parents as a young man.
Near the end of his book, Dole writes: "Why did this happen to me? Why just a few days before the war ended? It's taken me 60 years to come to grips with the toughest questions of life, and in some small way, this book is my answer."
He hopes readers find some inspiration. "Others might take some comfort in the fact that you can be down one day and up the next," he said.
On April 14, 1945, Dole's platoon was ordered to take out a German machine gun nest in a farmhouse on a rise labeled Hill 913. During the fight, Dole attempted to rescue his wounded radio operator.
"I felt a sting, as something hot, something terribly powerful, crashed into my upper back behind my right shoulder," he writes.
The blow shattered his shoulder and paralyzed him.
The former high school athlete spent more than three years in hospitals, part of the time in a half-body cast, learning to stand and then walk again. Early in 1946, wracked by a high fever that nearly killed him, Dole became a test subject for the then-experimental drug streptomycin.
He underwent seven operations to repair his right arm, to no avail. Friends in Russell collected $1,800 to cover hospital bills; Dole later kept a cigar box used to collect the small donations in the desk of his U.S. Senate office.
He also never regained full use of his left hand, where the first three fingers have been numb since 1945. Dole writes that the damage to his left hand and arm remained "one of the best kept secrets" about him. That secret wasn't intentional, he said.
Despite his injuries, Dole concludes: "Life, on the whole, has been more than fair to me. Certainly, I wouldn't trade my life for any other."
Bob you don't run for GOP president and recount two socialist bills as your greatest successes.
Hmmm.......................................
"Bob you don't run for GOP president and recount two socialist bills as your greatest successes."
That is such an incredibly petty statement you've made. This man fought for his country and was gravely wounded. He overcame that to go on to a career in the law, and then politics, and rose to the position of minority leader during a 40 year reign by Democrats in the U.S. Senate. You had to do a lot of compromising to even have your voice heard back when Pubs were in such a minority.
Dole did what he could while in the Senate, and probably developed a minority mindset which didn't serve the conservative position so well in some instances. However, he remained honorable to the end, had the hutzpah to run for President, came close, and lost graciously. Plus the man has a delightful sense of humor, as shown in various ads that he has appeared in since retiring. Also he has been a tireless advocate for the disabled and for veterans' affairs. What comparable things did you do in your life?
No I just quoted Rush. He said it first in 1996.
Assuming your attribution of this quote was actually said by Rush, you nevertheless, felt the compulsion to post it here on this thread, thus leading one to the obvious conclusion that you agree with it. It is still petty, and if Rush said it (although one doesn't know here in what context he might have said it) you are still guilty as charged by having posted this comment, which was small of you.
I hope that those "recent problems" don't include ED... his commercials gave me really unpleasent images of him and Liddy...
Yes I do. Bob Dole is what is wrong with the GOP and his wife was mixed up in bloodgate while Bill Clinton was in office. Live in blindness it seems to be your talent. I just quoted truth of what Bob said. You can't handle the truth. Oh well.
PS the FR is about the truth. Get with the program.
PS the FR is about the truth. Get with the program.
It's the truth as you see it. That's your perogative. Doesn't change it from having been a mean statement. However, I do like your motorcycle on your profile page. Had an old BMW years and years and years ago (in the late 1960's) while at UIUC, in Urbana, IL. Road it around campus. Had a huge seat shaped sort of like the old wide bicycle seats. Was a great bike.
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