A COLONEL IN THE ARMORED DIVISIONS: A MEMOIR, 1941-1945 - Hardcover

Triplet, William S.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 082621312X ISBN 13: 9780826213129

Publisher: University of Missouri, 2001

Synopsis

In this fascinating memoir William S. Triplet continues the saga begun in his earlier book, A Youth in the Meuse-Argonne: A Memoir, 1917-1918. After serving in World War I, Triplet chose to become a career military man and entered West Point. Upon graduation in 1924, his assignments were routine—to regiments in the Southwest and in Panama or as an officer in charge of Reserve Officers' Training Corps units or of men sent to a tank school. All this changed, however, when a new war opened in Europe.

From 1940 to1942, Triplet was assigned to the Infantry Board at Fort Benning, Georgia, where he engaged in testing new weapons and machines for the expanding army. He became a full colonel in December 1942. After leaving Benning he received posts with four armored forces: the Thirteenth Armored Division forming in the United States, an amphibious tank and troop carrier group training at Fort Ord, California, and the Second and Seventh Armored Divisions in Europe. His extraordinary abilities as a tank commander became evident in the Seventh Armored, where he took over a four-thousand-man unit known as Combat Command A. He was soon moving from triumph to triumph as he led his unit into Germany. Here was much room for professional judgment and decision, and the colonel was in his element. In the war's last days Triplet and his men fought their way to the Baltic, preventing many German troops from joining in the defense of Berlin against the advancing Soviet army.

Although Triplet was recommended for brigadier general, Dwight D. Eisenhower believed the U.S. Army had enough generals to finish the war; thus, the indomitable Triplet served out the few remaining years of his career as a colonel. After retiring in 1954, Triplet moved to Leesburg, Virginia, where he soon began to mull over his military experiences. Fascinated by the history he had witnessed, engaged by the attraction of writing about it, he recorded his memories with a combination of verve, thoughtfulness, and harsh judgments concerning ranking officers he considered incompetent— generals not excluded.

Through his annotations, Robert H. Ferrell provides the historical context for Triplet's experiences. Well written and completely absorbing, A Colonel in the Armored Divisions provides readers the rare opportunity to see firsthand what a real professional in the U.S. Army thought about America's preparation for and participation in the war against Germany and Japan.

About this title

About the Author

Robert H. Ferrell (1921-2018) is the author or editor of numerous books, including Presidential Leadership: From Woodrow Wilson to Harry S. Truman,Harry S. Truman: A Life, and Five Days in October: The Lost Battalion of World War I, available from the University of Missouri Press.

Reviews

In late 1944, Colonel Triplet reached the European theater, where he headed the Army's Seventh Armored Division Combat Commands, advancing through Belgium and across Germany to the Baltic by V-E day. Triplet subsequently wrote extensive memoirs, which found their way to the archives of the U.S. Military History Institute at Carlisle, Pa. After Triplet's death, these writings were found by Ferrell, Professor Emeritus of history at Indiana University, who has done a skillful job of preparing them for publication here. The book follows last year's Ferrell-edited volume covering Triplet's WWI service as a teenage enlistee, A Youth in the Meuse-Argonne: A Memoir of World War I, 1917-1918 (Forecasts, Aug. 7, 2000). Triplet was assigned stateside for much of his second conflict , contributing to equipment development, to logistics with an ill-fated division and to troop training before heading to Europe. His appraisals of the wartime armored units and personnel are frank and realistic rather than flattering. He comes across as an exceptionally earnest, talented, admittedly headstrong soldier and an honest reporter. His attitudes on some matters risk offense by today's standards (not feeling compassion for POWs, for example), but the legacy of this memoir lies in the detailed, unusually conscientious expression of the individual officer's perspective which is to say., this book is mostly for buffs and scholars. Illustrations not seen by PW.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: University of Missouri
• Publication date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 082621312X
• ISBN 13: 9780826213129
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 320
• Editor: Ferrell Robert H.