QUIET HERO 2 Quiet Hero Rita Cosby is an award winning journalist who has covered wars, and interviewed world leaders, soldiers and countless others over her long career. In Quiet Hero, she uncovers the story of her father, a man who had been a mystery to her for most of her life. The catalyst for this journey is the death of her mother. Cosby’s describes the father of her childhood to be complicated, strong, rugged, determined, protective and often fatalistic. She recalled many stories, but two in particular stand out. In …show more content…
As an outgrowth of his scouting experiences, Rys joins the Polish Resistance in his teens, to stand up to the German occupation. He continued with them, fighting against the Germans, until he is badly injured later in the war. The story then embarks on a chronicle of terror and trauma, which extends through the length of the war. Particular focus was paid to the experiences that most impacted Rys’s life. He recalls a Polish intellectual, who early in the war is captured and taken to Auschwitz, and is returned some time later, unable to speak or communicate at all, sent back as a lesson to others. He relays, with great regret, a boy who he could not rescue from drowning, because a Nazi guard would have shot him. Much attention is paid to the 63 days of the Warsaw Uprising, a tumultuous and terrifying time in 1944, where Rys is actively fighting. He describes the loss of his mentor Lieutenant Stan, the day-to-day struggle for food, water, clothing, shelter and ammunition, the camaraderie and an episode which shaped him as a person forever. Henryka, a girl he had feelings for, participated in stealing a booby-trapped Nazi tank, and died when the tank exploded, instantly incinerating her and many others. When he and his compatriots realized the uprising was unwinnable, they snuck out of Warsaw through the sewers. This was a dark, claustrophobic, foul and disgusting endeavor, and over 5,000 resistance members made the journey. Rys’ fighting time was cut short by shrapnel wounds incurred during a mortar attack. His life was nearly ended as well. He spent some time in a makeshift hospital, then a POW hospital, and ultimately in a POW camp in Germany. He and Alex, the man who would be described as his best friend during the war, escaped the camp along with many others, and walked the long distance to the American encampment, where they were