Jann Robbins, an editor and the wife of author Harold Robbins, helped Shachnow in organizing his materials for the book, in which the general traces his life from his childhood in Lithuania and three years in the notorious Kovno concentration camp to his 32-year career with the U.S. Army and the Special Forces.
At age 10, with nothing but rags on his back, he was able to flee the concentration camp, but when he was reunited with his family after the war, they found life in Lithuania, now occupied by the Soviets, to be unbearable. Heading west, often on foot, across Europe, they found refuge in the U. S. zone in Germany and eventually made their way to America, where Shachnow worked his way through school and enlisted in the U. S. Army, volunteering for U.S. Special Forces. He served with the Special Forces in Vietnam and throughout the world. A highly decorated Vietnam War veteran with two Silver and three Bronze Stars with V for Valor, Shachnow obtained both a master’s and a doctoral degree during his years of service and rose to the rank of major general, responsible for the U. S. Special Forces everywhere.
Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf said of “Hope and Honor,” “A gripping story of a warrior’s survival and ultimate victory against all odds.”
Author Larry Bond also commented on the book, saying, “Absolutely harrowing, as vivid and frightening as any Holocaust account I’ve read. His Special Forces Vietnam experiences astonish. Gen. Shachnow had a vital role in shaping Special Forces into the tool it is today, at the precise time it is needed.”
Shachnow lives in the Sandhills. He and his wife Arlene have four daughters and 14 grandchildren.
