Infantry Soldier: Holding the Line at the Battle of the Bulge - Hardcover

Neill, George W.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0806132221 ISBN 13: 9780806132228

Publisher: Univ of Oklahoma Pr, 2000

Synopsis

Infantry Soldier describes in harrowing detail the life of the men assigned to infantry rifle platoons during World War II. Few people realize the enormously disproportionate burden the men in these platoons carried: although only 6 percent of the U.S. Army in Europe. They suffered most of the casualties.

George W. Neill served with a rifle platoon in the 99th Infantry Division. Now a seasoned journalist, he takes the reader into the foxholes to reveal how combat infantrymen lived and survived, what they thought, and how they fought.

Beginning with basic training in Texas and Oklahoma, Neill moves to the front lines in Belgium and Germany. There he focuses on the role of his division in the Battle of the Bulge. The 99th, recruits bolstered by veterans of the 2nd Division, held the northern line of the bulge, preventing a German breakthrough and undermining their strategy. Using his wartime letters, his research in the United States and Europe, and hundreds of interviews, Neill chronicles his and his friendsâ experiences—acts of horror and heroism on the front line.

About this title

Reviews

The author, a journalist in later life, was a 23-year-old rifleman in the U.S. Army's 99th Division during the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944. The 99th had reached the European front the month before and distinguished itself in anchoring the vital northern flank during that last German counteroffensive. Casualty rates in the front-line infantry companies were extraordinarily high; the battlefield cemetery is a recurrent image. Neill's aim in this work is to preserve a sense of how it was for the front-line soldierAplacing reminiscences of his own and of colleagues on record in context with previous histories. His detailed, eyewitness perspective includes earthy explanations of hardships and remarks on leaders who were variously inspired, inept or uninformed, and usually invisible. Vignettes of heroic virtues, youthful innocence, formative experiences, fateful chance happenings and indiscriminate slaughter are credible and compelling. Neill cites statistics from the Department of Veterans Affairs showing that 36% of the 16.5 million American veterans of World War II are still alive, but that the youngest is 72 years old, and that as a group they are dying at an accelerating rate, above 1,000 per day. "Don't forget," Neill pleads, "vow you'll never forget." Illus. not seen by PW.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Seasoned journalist and veteran Neill has written a personal account of his experiences during World War II. Ranging from basic training in 1943 to V-E Day in 1945, he presents a detailed but readable account of his service in a rifle platoon with the 3rd Battalion, 395th Regiment, 99th Infantry Division, emphasizing the division's actions during the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944. Neill aptly describes his book: "I draw the reader into the everyday lives of young soldiers and reveal how they lived...felt...what happened. I report only indirectly about the war itself." This is a story of brutality, cold, and human suffering. Neill has done extensive research but also relies on his own recollections and numerous interviews, letters, and other sources to convey in raw detail the soldiers' plight. He is not afraid to criticize those in command for everything from tactics to the lack of proper winter clothing and equipment. He speaks the truth directly from the heart. For all that has been written about this segment of the war, Neill has given us a welcome addition. Recommended for all general and special collections.DDavid Alperstein, Queens Borough P.L., NY
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Univ of Oklahoma Pr
• Publication date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0806132221
• ISBN 13: 9780806132228
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 356