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June 28, 1999
Bayonet recommends:
Before Their Time by Robert Kotlowitz
Harrowing story of how a teenaged US infantryman becomes the sole
survivor of the massacre of his platoon in northeastern France. Read more... |
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Marty Black recommends:
With the Old Breed: At
Peleliu and Okinawa by Eugene B. Sledge
"If you are only going to read one book on the Pacific campaign, my recommendation is
With the Old Breed at Peleliu and Okinawa. Author Eugene B. Sledge conveys the
brutality of the Pacific fighting in a way that will indeed shock you. "
And Vicki "Scout" Keonin says about this book:
"Thanks, Marty, for recommending "With the Old Breed." I haven't read that
many books about the war in the Pacific, but I'm sure this must be *the* one to read. It
really made me realize all of the horrors of that part of the war. I can't imagine how
anyone came out of Peleliu or Okinawa with their mind and emotions intact. It was one of
those books that you can't stop thinking about after you've read it. " |
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Feb 11, 1999 Dave Pierce and Ann Raymont recommend:
Roll Me Over: An Infantryman's World War II
by Raymond Gantter
From Normandy to Czechoslovakia, an American infantryman's march through the death throes
of the Third Reich. "My favorite of all the first-person WWII accounts" Read more... |
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The
Brass Ring by Bill Mauldin recommended by Dodger of Feb 9, 2003.
"Mauldin writes and reflects the character of the WWII GI, who is fiercely
independent and not in love with military life. Yet he describes the bond and trust that
these men formed to enable them to perform their duty and prevail against the enemy."
Read Dodger's entire review of Bill
Mauldin's The Brass Ring |
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May 29, 2002 -
Healers in World War II: Oral Histories of Medical Corps Personnel
- Fellow fan Pat Sewell writes: "Just thought you might be interested in my book Healers
in WWII. I emailed Rick Jason before his death to let him know about the book. He was
very gracious when I told him how much Combat! and Conlan Carter's protrayal of a
medic had impressed me. Read more...
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Combat Surgeon: Up Front With the 27th
Marines
Recommended by "Scout" February 21-25, 2002: one of the best
books (on WWII medics) that I've read. It's an interesting book. Read more... |
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Those Devils in Baggy Pants Recommended by
"Scout" February 21-25, 2002: Tale of the 82nd Airborne Divisions' fight
across North Africa, culminating in the Battle of the Bulge. The author was one of three
men who survived the suicide stands of his platoon of paratroopers. First published in
1951, over one millon sold. Read more... |
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Seven Roads to Hell : A Screaming Eagle at Bastogne by
Donald R. Burgett. First-hand of the Screaming Eagles and their epic defense of
Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge. Read
more... |
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Breakout at Normandy
- several recommended books about this little-covered part of WWII history. Recommended
by Dodger January 4, 2003 |
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Combat Surgeon: Up Front With the 27th
Marines
Recommended by "Scout" February 21-25, 2002: one of the best
books (on WWII medics) that I've read. It's an interesting book. Read more... |
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Jan 21, 1999 Dorothy Spangler recommends:
The Good War: An Oral History of
World War Two by Studs Terkel
Pulitzer Prize-winning book "The Good War" does an excellent job of giving you a
very broad view of the war from a human-interest standpoint. Terkel interviews more
than 100 people, many of them non-Americans, who experienced the war in very different
capacities -- there's the Marine infantryman, Eugene Sledge; Maxene Andrews of the Andrews
Sisters; a conscientious objector; a scientist who worked on the bomb; an advisor to FDR;
a Japanese man who was a teenager during the war; a Red Army war correspondent, etc.
... Terkel basically lets these people tell their own stories, only occasionally inserting
a question here and there. If you are a writer plumbing for story ideas &
prospective characters, this book is a great source; it contains a huge array of people,
each part succinctly told. |
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Jan 27, 1999 Scout
recommends:
If You Survive
by George Wilson
"I'm reading the best book right now. It's If You Survive by
George Wilson. He ... landed in Normandy in 1944 and fought through northern France and
Belgium. Of all the men and officers who started out in Company F of the 4th Infantry
Division with him, he was the only one who finished. He describes day by day his platoon's
experiences in and out of combat. I was amazed at all the details and the individual
tragic and traumatic incidents he relates. It's a great book!" |
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Death Traps: The Survival of an American Armored
Division in World War II
The war from the perspective of a junior maintenance officer who had to keep the tanks on
the front lines rolling. Excellent book, but not for the squeamish.
Includes graphic descriptions of the aftermath of battle. Read more... |
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Recommended July 6, 2002 by Jo:
The Clay Pigeons of St. Lo
by Glover S. Johns
First-hand account of the infantry battle for St. Lo. This is the battle depicted in the Combat!
episode "A Gift of Hope," starring
Rip Torn. Read more...
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Tanks for the
Memories: An Oral History of the 712th Tank Battalion from World War 2 by
Aaron C. Elson The 712th Tank Battalion spent 11 months in combat, from Normandy to
Czechoslovakia. This is their story, as told in the words of its veterans. A son's loving
tribute to his father and the men who served with him. (Recommended March 3, 2000) |
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March 5, 1999 Jo Davidsmeyer recommends:
Dearest Ones :A True World War II Love Story by Rosemary Norwalk
First-person account of a young American woman who volunteered for service overseas in
WWII. This true-life love story avoids the cliches and shows what it was like for
thousands of American men and women so far from home. Read more ... |
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Rosa's Miracle Mouse: The True Story of a WWII Undercover
Teenager
August 22, 1999: Jo Davidsmeyer writes: fascinating first-person
account of a teenage resistance fighter during World War II. Read more... |
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Recommended by "Sarge"
Tue Mar 20, 2001 10:19pm "... probably the best book on
fighting in WWII in Europe is Foot Soldier
by Roscoe C. Blunt. This is the story of an infantryman's combat with all of
its horror, comedy, heroics, feeling. Blunt [says that he] was not a hero, but he was one.
This is the second book by Blunt. He fought in the 84th Division.
"Another good book is Unsung Valor by A Cleveland Harrison
94th Division, and Normandy to the Bulge
by PFC Richard Courtney 26th Division. All of these books deal with the war against
Germany. I recommend these for anyone looking for a close approximation to the combat
experience shown on Combat! Out, Sarge" |
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Visitors to this site have also purchased these first-person
narratives of World War II:
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