Honor Through Sacrifice: The Story of One of America’s Greatest Military Leaders by Robert E. Lofthouse (Koehler Books) is more than historical nonfiction. It’s a character study and a character celebration, and a societal study to boot. He wanted, for close personal reasons, to write about Lieutenant Colonel Gordon Lippman, a man with a 22-year military career that spanned three wars and directly impacted countless individuals.
Purple Hearts, Bronze Stars, Silver Stars … “Where does America get such gallant men?” The earning of these accolades through battles and sacrifice plays a significant role in the book, of course, but also the exploration of that bigger question. Where does the nation fit in? Where does America’s role fit in? What is the underlying system, and does it encourage or discourage gallant men like Gordon Lippman?
You’ll be contemplating these ideas as you put this book back on your shelf. We didn’t want to shelve the discussion, so we asked the author to elaborate on it, as well as share his own personal reasons for writing and the research that went into creating a sound documentation. Read the review here.
Q: Why did you write this book?
A: Our patriot ancestors date back before the Revolutionary War, so after taking over the family genealogy business from my mother before she passed on, and continuing the family heritage research, I developed a keen desire to write about one of our many family patriots. But why not write it about one I personally knew? Leaving a rich legacy that many family members remember to this day, 56 years after his death, Gordon Joseph Lippman was the one I had to write about. I had heard many stories about him when I was younger and as I researched his life, found them to be true to the core!
Q: Tell us about Gordon Lippman. What made him special?
A: He was a servant/leader with his family, in school, sports and in his career. Gordon would give you the shirt off his back and he took leadership seriously. He led from the front, a risky thing to do in combat. As Lyle Rishell wrote in his 1993 book With a Black Platoon, in combat, Gordon was “a fine officer, a strong leader, fair minded, and an inspiration to all.” It was there in Korea that he earned his Distinguished Service Cross, two Silver Stars, a Bronze Star and two Purple Hearts for personal courage, tutelage of his troops, care for their safety and leadership under fire from a fanatical enemy.
Q: The book has been described as “a sweeping story on the broad landscape of twentieth-century compromise, accommodation, and conflict.” Tell us what is meant by that description.
A: This story covers the background events of America’s rising patriotism in the 1940’s to ambivalence over the North Korean invasion of South Korea and President Johnson’s conflicting stances on Vietnam. Critical decisions made by President Harry Truman after the conclusion of WWII led directly to both the Korean and Vietnam war debacles. President Lyndon Johnson didn’t believe Vietnam was winnable just as he committed thousands of American troops to fight and die in a losing effort. In this chronicle of one soldier’s life and death, we see the stark reality of closed-door political decisions and deception on a grand scale resulting in dire consequences for the families who are committed to the fight.
Q: The book gives a detailed account of World War II, the Korean War and Vietnam. Tell us about the research process you undertook to provide those accounts.
A: Chased down lots of rabbit trails and found nuggets of information that I could build on! I collaborated with the adult Lippman children who kept his legacy alive and also provided unique insights into Gordon as their father and husband to Lucille. Military citations, personal photos and a timeline of Gordon’s life in the army, promotions, schools, training, awards, assignments and personal writings were included. I was able to lay out that list of milestones from beginning to end and then incorporate macro research on world events of the time. His high school provided insight into accomplishments in theatre, athletics, journalism, cheerleading and participation in Boys State, essential building blocks that he capitalized on over the years to develop qualities as a fine leader.
Q: What was the most challenging part of the book to write?
A: As a first-time author, I was confronted with keeping focused on the storyline and disciplining myself, spending only an essential amount of time on rabbit trails that could derail me from my mission. Because I wanted to write a feel-good story, and because Gordon is such a great subject to write about, none of the writing was particularly challenging. This was the book I was deeply committed to writing! I frequently took pains to cross-check the facts and gain validation from people who knew Gordon personally so I could ensure that the final printed story would be based on fact, conform to accuracy and be above reproach. My editor helped tremendously in advising me what, how and where to clean up the manuscript.
Q: What would you hope readers take away from it?
A: If you take away just one lesson learned from this story, let it be to do the very best you can at whatever you choose to do with your life, with the gifts God has given to you. Don’t complain. Don’t shy away from the hard work. In your own way, fight for what is right.
Q: What is your next project?
A: I jokingly say I’ve got 15 stories in my head that I’d like to write. Five more military biographies are in various stages of discussion, and collaboration on a theological story about ‘the death talk’ is in the works. But the one furthest along is a story about a high school football team that made their once-in-a-lifetime historic run to their state championship. My wife and I were volunteers and supporters of this team and went along for their thrilling ride! I hope that I can capture the excitement of those moments, share it with the people who made it happen and anyone else interested in reading a feel-good football story.
Honor Through Sacrifice is available for purchase here.
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About Robert E. Lofthouse:
Robert E. Lofthouse has for four decades managed projects as an IT professional nationally and internationally while serving the business planning and delivery needs of enterprise IT projects for the nonprofit, commercial business, and government sectors. His initial professional writing experience covers more than 50 years and includes sports articles published in local and regional media from Pennsylvania to Kansas and Missouri. Honor through Sacrifice is his first publication in book form, prompted by his love of history and keen desire to extend the legacy of his subject. Rob knew Gordon Lippman, the subject of the book, because their mothers were sisters, so this story is personal.
