War has long been a difficult part of our human history. But you can find inspiration in these 11 books and DVDs that chronicle real-life and fictional characters and their search for faith, courage, and valor amidst some of the most difficult periods of history.
Compassionate Soldier illuminates fascinating yet largely unknown stories of men and women whose humanity led them to perform courageous acts of mercy and compassion amid the chaos and carnage of war. These and other inspirational stories illustrate that even in the midst of the unspeakable horrors of war, acts of kindness, mercy, compassion, and humanity can prevail and, in doing so, expand our conventional thinking of honor and battlefield glory.
It's a truth that has stood for centuries: pride goeth before the fall. And Germany, emboldened by an increasingly popular dynamo, is becoming proud. Join the Eckhardts and Westlands in this fourth volume of master storyteller Gerald N. Lund's gripping tale of war, family and the fight for what's right.
Get up to speed with best-selling author Gerald Lund's powerful new Fire and Steel series by listening to the first three on audiobook. They chronicle the lives of two families who face some of the most turbulent times in history as they are tried to their very cores.
Gustav Palm kept his secret for more than 40 years. He’d been a young man when Hitler invaded his native Norway. After being forced to guard a Nazi prison camp, however, Gustav took his only option for escape: he volunteered for the Waffen-SS to fight at the front.
Agnes Erdös and her parents were sent to the death camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau. Miraculously, both Agnes and Gustav survived. And after the war, they found each other.
Told in their own words, Surviving Hitler is the story of two indomitable spirits who built on their life-altering experiences to overcome the past, help each other heal, and embrace a common faith in God that led them to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. (Read an excerpt here.)
Riveting and faith-promoting, Supersonic Saints is a collection of more than 15 true stories of Latter-day Saint pilots who felt the hand of the Lord in their lives when they needed it most. Many of these pilots are still active in the United States Armed Forces. All of them are alive and active members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The adventures of Latter-day Saint pilots continue in Supersonic Saints 2. After the first volume came to fruition, many other pilots came forward to share their stories of faith and flying in this exciting sequel. These pilots rely on their years of training, but they also rely on the Lord for help when poor weather, mechanical problems, or aggressive enemies threaten their lives.
Enjoy the gripping trilogy Saints and Soldiers. It is a dramatic, intense, and heroic WWII film about members of the Greatest Generation struggling to be both good men and good soldiers. In addition to winning 14 Best Picture Awards at film festivals nationwide, critics and audiences have showered Saints and Soldiers with praise, making it one of the most acclaimed films of 2004.
8. Defiance
Eight years after immigrating to the United States, German-born Lukas Ley embodies the American dream: successful athlete, gorgeous girlfriend, loving family. But beneath the surface, 18-year-old Lukas is driven by ambition, resolved to avenge the murder of his father at the hands of the Nazi regime. Unfortunately, a failed physical throws his plans for flight school off course. Unlike his war-hero older brother, Lukas's purpose is unclear. He can't fly, and in the eyes of the military, he's good for only one thing—the front lines.
"Rudi Wobbe: Charged with Preparation to High Treason and Aiding and Abetting the Enemy." Thus begins the true story of the trial of Rudi Wobbe and two of his teenage friends as they stood before the justices of the dreaded Voksgerichtshof, the infamous supreme court of Nazi Germany. All the power and indignation of the Third Reich focused on these three young men who dared to distribute the truth about the war to their neighbors. If found guilty, they faced imprisonment—and perhaps even death.
From author Richard Lloyd Dewey comes the biography of Helmuth Hübener, a Latter-day Saint teenager who decided to fight the Third Reich during World War II. He formed the youngest resistance group in Germany at the time. Other books have told the incredible story of his group, but this book is the first to detail the incredible person Hübener was.
This riveting collection of stories from Latter-day Saint men and women serving in Iraq, Afghanistan, Germany, and other locations around the world offers a remarkable record of uncommon courage and dedicated service. In their own words, these men and women describe feeling the Lord's blessings as they have served in some of the harshest and difficult circumstances imaginable.
12. Winter Sky
In a bombed-out Polish village during World War II a young resistance fighter finds that he is suddenly alone and trapped between two opposing armies. He is one of Poland's "Devil's Rebels" fighting desperately to save his homeland, but an injury has erased his memory and his only possession is a torn photograph of a couple he assumes are his parents. The woman appears to be holding the hand of a young child whose image has been ripped off. Could the child be him?
Caught in the crosshairs of the retreating German army and the advancing Russian forces, the village holds nothing but destruction and despair until a mysterious young woman offers a small glimmer of hope that may represent his last chance—news of a refuge train departing from a nearby town headed for American installations at the border. But complications arise when the resistance fighter is betrayed by his own countryman and hunted by German SS Officers who are determined to kill him before they retreat. Desperately searching for a home and family he can't remember he is persuaded to rescue two children who are doomed to die without his help.
As time runs out the former rebel is faced with an impossible choice. Standing at the crossroads of saving himself or risking his life for strangers, what would motivate a young man at the brink of salvation to make one more sacrifice?
The year is 1943, and Andy Gledhill's months of training as a paratrooper have culminated in his being assigned to the 89th Airborne. But he soon learns that government has other plans for him. The newly formed Office of Strategic Services needs soldiers with language talents like Andy's to drop into Europe behind enemy lines and help fight the war from the inside out. Andy's new life of deception and sabotage is worlds away from his upbringing in sleepy little Delta, Utah. But even that town is changing, as the nearby Topaz relocation camp ignites racial tensions. And Whisper Harris, the girl Andy left behind, is caught in a maelstrom of conflicting emotions brought on by the war. Should she release Andy from the promises they've made, as he seems to have released her? Or should she keep on hoping?
