Omaha Beach and Beyond: The Long March of Sergeant Bob Slaughter - Softcover

Slaughter, John

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0760337349 ISBN 13: 9780760337349

Publisher: Zenith Press, 2009

Synopsis

"Slaughter vividly conveys the reality of combat during World War II in his book with sweeping passages that literally place his reader on the battlefield beside him." Belvoir Eagle

Before D-Day, regular army soldiers called the National Guardsmen of Virginia's 116th Infantry Regiment "Home Nannies" and "Weekend Warriors" and worse. On June 6, 1944, on Omaha Beach, however, these proud Virginians who carried the legacy of the famed Stonewall Brigade showed the regular army and the world what true valor really was. In this moving World War II memoir, the author captures the life of GI Joe from pre-Pearl Harbor days through training, deployment overseas, and more training. All leads up to D-Day and Normandy on June 6, 1944, when Sergeant Bob Slaughter came across Omaha Beach with Company D of the 116th Infantry and the Bedford Boys.

About this title

About the Author

John Robert Slaughter enlisted in the Virginia National Guard well before Pearl Harbor in early 1941 at the age of sixteen. A veteran jopurnalist, he retired from the Roanoke Times in 1987. Active in veteran affairs for many years, Slaughter then began to work for the creation of a memorial to commemorate the sacrifice of the American soldiers at Normandy. On June 6, 2001, the National D-Day Memorial was dedicated. Bob Slaughter lives in Roanoke, Virginia.

From the Back Cover

“The long march of Sergeant Bob Slaughter as told in Omaha Beach and Beyond gives the reader the memories that Bob has lived with every day for the past sixty-three years. After reading this, his memories will live with you too, forever!

Major Richard D. Winters, Easy Company, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne (“Band of Brothers”), and author of Beyond Band of Brothers

Stephen Ambrose, the distinguished historian/writer of D-Day and my father, once looked me in the eye and said, “I want to introduce you to my hero: Bob Slaughter.”

Hugh Ambrose, The National World War II Museum

A true epic, this book should be required reading in every American school . . . I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Alex Kershaw, author of The Bedford Boys

Slaughter vividly conveys the reality of combat during World War II in his book with sweeping passages that literally place his reader on the battlefield beside him.

Roanoke Times

A riveting story of unsurpassed gallantry and sacrifice that all Americans need to hear.

David “Mudcat” Saunders, co-author of Foxes in the Henhouse

Desperate for a decent paying job, John Robert Slaughter joined the National Guard in early 1941. The possibility of combat duty seemed remote, not even a part of the decision. Then came Pearl Harbor. On June 6, 1944, Slaughter landed on Omaha Beach with the 116th Infantry, which lost nearly a thousand men. But “Bloody Omaha” was only the beginning of a march that would take him to Holland, the Bulge, and Germany itself. Slaughter would survive a mortar wound and continue the fight toward final victory in Europe. His gripping memoir captures the feelings of a young man facing the challenges of war and being one of the lucky ones who made it home. After the war Slaughter became a career newspaper journalist. He was a leader in the creation of the National D-Day Memorial. Slaughter lives in Roanoke, Virginia.

Edition details

• Publisher: Zenith Press
• Publication date: 2009
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0760337349
• ISBN 13: 9780760337349
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 288