Download or read book You Can t Get Much Closer Than This written by A.Z. Adkins and published by Casemate. This book was released on 2015-04-09 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A young soldier’s memoirs of fighting in WWII: “Fascinating . . . A personal record like this is a valuable resource to anyone interested in the period”(Military Model Scene). After the Citadel and Officer Candidate School, Andrew Z. Adkins Jr., was sent to the 80th Infantry Division, then training in the California-Arizona desert. There, he was assigned as an 81mm mortar section leader in Company H, 2nd Battalion, 317th Infantry Regiment. When the division completed training in December 1943, it was shipped in stages to the United Kingdom and then Normandy, where it landed on August 3, 1944. Lieutenant Adkins and his fellow soldiers took part in light hedgerow fighting that served to shake the division down and familiarize the troops and their officers with combat. The first real test came within weeks, when the 2nd Battalion, 317th Infantry, attacked high ground near Argentan during the drive to seal German forces in the Falaise Pocket. While scouting for mortar positions in the woods, Adkins met a group of Germans and shot one of them dead with his carbine. This baptism in blood settled the question faced by every novice combatant: He was cool under fire, capable of killing when facing the enemy. He later wrote, “It was a sickening sight, but having been caught up in the heat of battle, I didn’t have a reaction other than feeling I had saved my own life.” Thereafter, the 2nd Battalion, 317th Infantry, took part in bloody battles across France, sometimes coping with inept leadership and grievous losses, even as it took hills and towns away from the Germans. In the fighting graphically portrayed here, Adkins acted with skill and courage, placing himself at the forefront of the action whenever he could. His extremely aggressive delivery of critical supplies to a cut-off unit in an embattled French town earned him a Bronze Star, the first in his battalion. This is a story of a young soldier at war, a junior officer’s coming of age amid pulse-pounding combat. Before his death, Andy Adkins was able to face his memory of war as bravely as he faced war itself. He put it on paper, honest and unflinching. In 1944-45, he did his duty to his men and country—and here, he serves new generations of military and civilian readers.
Download or read book Publications of the Virginia War History Commission Virginia military organizations in the World War with supplement of distinguished service written by Virginia War History Commission and published by . This book was released on 1927 with total page 536 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book History of the 318th Infantry Regiment of the 80th Division 1917 1919 written by United States. Army. 318th Infantry and published by . This book was released on 1919 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Infantry in Battle written by Infantry School (U.S.) and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on 1934 with total page 428 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book A Combat Engineer with Patton s Army written by Lois Lembo and published by Savas Beatie. This book was released on 2020-06-09 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “An engaging and often frightening story” of a member of the 305th Engineering Battalion of the 80th Infantry Division (Andrew Z. Adkins III, coauthor of You Can’t Get Much Closer Than This). A Combat Engineer with Patton’sArmy is the untold story of Frank Lembo, one of George Patton’s men who helped move the American command in the battle of Argentan in the Normandy Campaign, in the high-speed pursuit of the German Wehrmacht eastward across France, and in the brutal battles waged during the Battle of the Bulge and during the final combats along the borders of the collapsing Reich. Throughout his time in Europe, Lembo maintained a running commentary of his experiences with Betty Craig, his fiancée and future wife. This extensive correspondence provides a unique eyewitness view of the life and work of a combat engineer under wartime conditions. As a squad (and later platoon) leader, Frank and his comrades cleared mines, conducted reconnaissance behind enemy lines, built bridges, and performed other tasks necessary to support the movement of the 317th, 318th, and 319th Infantry Regiments of the Blue Ridge Division—Patton’s workhorses, if not his glamour boys. Frank’s letters go beyond his direct combat experiences to include the camaraderie among the GIs, living conditions, weather, and the hijinks that helped keep the constant threat of death at bay. His letters also worked to reassure Betty with hopeful dreams for their future together. Including dozens of previously unpublished photographs, A Combat Engineer with Patton’s Army offers the rare perspective of what day-to-day warfare at the ground-level looked like in the European Theater through the eyes of one of the men spearheading the advance.
Download or read book War As I Knew It written by George S. Patton, Jr. and published by Bantam. This book was released on 1983-05-01 with total page 418 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the invasion of Normandy to the Battle of the Bulge, General George S. Patton, Jr., was the most flamboyant, audacious Allied leader of World War II. Brandishing his famous pearl-handled pistols and driven by a profound belief that wars are won by killing the enemy as fast as possible, Patton slammed the tanks and men of the Third Army across Europe at a breakneck pace. He battled not only the enemy but Supreme Headquarters; he complained SHAEF was doing all it could to deny him early victory. Now in these fascinating and frank memoirs, Patton speaks out with intense personal feelings about the Second World War, the art of war, and the soldier’s life. He gives us an unforgettable self-portrait of an American professional soldier caught in the toils of war.
Download or read book Congressional Record written by United States. Congress and published by . This book was released on 1969 with total page 1468 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Congressional Record is the official record of the proceedings and debates of the United States Congress. It is published daily when Congress is in session. The Congressional Record began publication in 1873. Debates for sessions prior to 1873 are recorded in The Debates and Proceedings in the Congress of the United States (1789-1824), the Register of Debates in Congress (1824-1837), and the Congressional Globe (1833-1873)
Download or read book Pennsylvania Heritage written by and published by . This book was released on 2018 with total page 426 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Marne 15 July 6 August 1918 written by Stephen C. McGeorge and Mason W. Watson and published by . This book was released on with total page 80 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book History of the Eightieth Division A E F in World War I written by Russell L. Stultz and published by . This book was released on 2004 with total page 754 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The United States in the First World War written by Anne Cipriano Venzon and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-12-02 with total page 851 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: First Published in 1999. Includes six maps.
Download or read book Air Force Combat Units of World War II written by Maurer Maurer and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on 1961 with total page 520 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Ardennes written by Hugh Marshall Cole and published by . This book was released on 1994 with total page 772 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Best Little Stories from World War I written by C. Brian Kelly and published by Sourcebooks, Inc.. This book was released on 2014-10-07 with total page 301 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Behind the tangled alliances, feuding royals, and deadly battles are the nearly 100 riveting true stories of the men and women who lived, fought, and survived the first Great War. Based on the writings of soldiers, politicians, kings, nurses, and military leaders, Best Little Stories from World War I humanizes their foibles, triumphs, and tragedies—and chronicles how the emergence of fervent national pride led not only to ruthless combat, but a critical turning point in the twentieth century. Fascinating characters come to life, including: Lady Almina, the 5th Countess of Carnavon, who turned her husband's Highclere Castle into a luxurious military hospital for British officers (and inspired the hit television show Downton Abbey). Otto Roosen, the high-flying German reconnaissance pilot, who was shot down not only one but twice—first by the Canadian ace Billy Bishop and then by a fellow German—and survived. Arthur Guy Empey, the American who volunteered for the British Army after the sinking of the Lusitania, then wrote a bestselling memoir about life in the muddy trenches of the western front.
Download or read book Doughboys on the Great War written by Edward A. Gutiérrez and published by University Press of Kansas. This book was released on 2017-01-20 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “It is impossible to reproduce the state of mind of the men who waged war in 1917 and 1918,” Edward Coffman wrote in The War to End All Wars. In Doughboys on the Great War the voices of thousands of servicemen say otherwise. The majority of soldiers from the American Expeditionary Forces returned from Europe in 1919. Where many were simply asked for basic data, veterans from four states—Utah, Minnesota, Connecticut, and Virginia—were given questionnaires soliciting additional information and “remarks.” Drawing on these questionnaires, completed while memories were still fresh, this book presents a chorus of soldiers’ voices speaking directly of the expectations, motivations, and experiences as infantrymen on the Western Front in World War I. What was it like to kill or maim German soldiers? To see friends killed or maimed by the enemy? To return home after experiencing such violence? Again and again, soldiers wrestle with questions like these, putting into words what only they can tell. They also reflect on why they volunteered, why they fought, what their training was, and how ill-prepared they were for what they found overseas. They describe how they interacted with the civilian populations in England and France, how they saw the rewards and frustrations of occupation duty when they desperately wanted to go home, and—perhaps most significantly—what it all added up to in the end. Together their responses create a vivid and nuanced group portrait of the soldiers who fought with the American Expeditionary Forces on the battlefields of Aisne-Marne, Argonne Forest, Belleau Wood, Chateau-Thierry, the Marne, Metz, Meuse-Argonne, St. Mihiel, Sedan, and Verdun during the First World War. The picture that emerges is often at odds with the popular notion of the disillusioned doughboy. Though hardened and harrowed by combat, the veteran heard here is for the most part proud of his service, service undertaken for duty, honor, and country. In short, a hundred years later, the doughboy once more speaks in his own true voice.
Download or read book 80th Blue Ridge Infantry Division written by Berry Craig and published by . This book was released on 1991 with total page 184 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An outstanding & comprehensive history takes you from Argentan to the Rhine River. The photographs & maps alone tell the story of the BLUE RIDGE DIVISION. Includes more than 600 biographies plus overseas cemeteries list & the men interred in them. Indexed.
Download or read book Combat Squadrons of the Air Force World War II written by United States. USAF Historical Division and published by . This book was released on 1969 with total page 856 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This collection of squadron histories has been prepared by the USAF Historical Division to complement the Division's book, Air Force Combat Units of World War II. The 1,226 units covered by this volume are the combat (tactical) squadrons that were active between 7 December 1941 and 2 September 1945. Each squadron is traced from its beginning through 5 March 1963, the fiftieth anniversary of the organization of the 1st Aero (later Bombardment) Squadron, the first Army unit to be equipped with aircraft for tactical operations. For each squadron there is a statement of the official lineage and data on the unit's assignments, stations, aircraft and missiles, operations, service streamers, campaign participation, decorations, and emblem.