1,271 Days a Soldier: The Diaries and Letters of Colonel H. E. Gardiner as an Armor Officer in World War II

1,271 Days a Soldier: The Diaries and Letters of Colonel H. E. Gardiner as an Armor Officer in World War II is one soldier's record of the Second World War. Henry E. Gardiner's collection recalls the first-hand experiences of an operational level ranking officer from the prelude of war to fighting in the African and European theaters, from the shock of the initial volley of violence during the December 7, 1941, Day of Infamy radio broadcast to the final days of the war while operating on the soft underbelly of Hitler's Europe. 1,271 Days a Soldier is written with all the emotion of someone who endured nearly four years of high-intensity conflict coupled with long periods of boredom and interjected with periods of frivolity.

Detailed footnotes, photographs, and maps throughout the diary provide context for each journal entry so readers and historians gain a better appreciation of the full spectrum of war that was unfolding at any given time in the work.

1,271 Days a Soldier is an official AUSA Book Program title.

Henry Edward (H. E.) Gardiner enlisted in Troop C (popularly known as The Chicago Black Horse Troop) on November 25, 1935, and was serving his second enlistment as a sergeant when he was commissioned as a second lieutenant on June 11, 1940 and was later promoted to a First Lieutenant on August 23, 1940. He was called to active duty on November 25, 1940, when Troop "C" of the 106th Cavalry was inducted into Federal Service. Gardiner was promoted to major on October 21, 1942, and then lieutenant colonel on January 27, 1943. He served as a battalion commander and regimental executive officer until his discharge at the rank of colonel in October 1945. In February 1943, then-Lieutenant Colonel Gardiner was awarded the nation's second highest combat award, the Distinguished Service Cross (DSC), for actions as a Lieutenant Colonel in command of a squadron in North Africa.

Colonel (Retired) Dominic J. Caraccilo served nearly six years in combat in command roles culminating a 27-year career as the Deputy Commander of the 101st Airborne Division. His 65 months of combat during multiple deployments including Desert Shield, Desert Storm, Kosovo, and a series of deployments to Afghanistan and Iraq spanning from 2001 to 2010. During that time, Caraccilo produced many other books including Achieving Victory in Iraq: Countering an Insurgency (Stackpole Books, 2008), Beyond Guns and Steel: A War Termination Strategy (PSI, 2011), and Forging a Special Operations Force: The US Army Rangers (Helion & Company, 2015). Like 1,271 Days a Soldier, the latter two were sponsored by the Association of the U.S. Army as part of the AUSA Book Program. In retirement, Caraccilo has had extensive C-Level, Director, and Management experience for companies including various consulting firms, Amazon, Facebook, and Parsons Corporation.