Fierce Valor: The True Story of Ronald Speirs and His Band of Brothers
About this audiobook
Fans of Stephen E. Ambrose’s Band of Brothers will be drawn to this complex portrait of the controversial Ronald Speirs, an iconic commander of celebrated Easy Company during D-Day and beyond, whose ferocious courage and drive across three wars were matched by a devotion to duty and a hidden heart shadowed by lost love.
Fight Like You Mean to Win
His comrades called him “Killer.” Of the elite paratroopers who served in the venerated “Band of Brothers” during the Second World War, none were more enigmatic than Ronald Speirs. Rumored to have gunned down enemy prisoners and even one of his own disobedient sergeants, Speirs became a foxhole legend among his troops. But who was the real Lieutenant Speirs?
In Fierce Valor, historians Jared Frederick and Erik Dorr unveil the fuller story of Easy Company’s longest-serving commander. Tested by trials of extreme training, military rivalry, and lost love, Speirs’s international odyssey begins as an immigrant child in Prohibition-era Boston and continues through the bloody campaigns of France, Holland, and Germany. But 1945 did not mark an end to Speirs’s military adventures. Uncovered by sharp scholarship, his lesser-known exploits in Korea, the Cold War, and embattled Laos also come to light for the first time.
Packed with groundbreaking research, Fierce Valor unveils a compelling portrait of an officer defined by boldness on the battlefield and the inherent costs of war. His story serves as a telling reminder that few soldiers escape the power of their own pasts.
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About the author
Jared Frederick is the author of a number of books, including Dispatches of D-Day: A People's History of the Normandy Invasion. Prior to his current position as an instructor of history at Penn State Altoona, he served as a seasonal park ranger at Gettysburg National Military Park and Harpers Ferry National Historical Park. Frederick has appeared on C-SPAN, PBS, in numerous independent documentaries, and on Turner Classic Movies as a guest host. He has also received awards for his teaching skills and efforts on behalf of student veterans.
Erik Dorr is the owner of the Gettysburg Museum of History-a structure that witnessed the famous 1863 battle. At an early age, Erik began collecting historical relics from throughout history. This broad range of artifacts has grown into one of the finest privately-owned collections in the United States. Among the treasures in the museum is the largest assortment of Major Dick Winters and Easy Company artifacts in the world. In his wide array of historical adventures, Dorr has led European battlefield tours and has appeared on the History Channel, Syfy, and the Smithsonian Channel.
