Unknown Soldiers: Reliving World War II in Europe

Through the author's field journals and interviews, describes the daily life of the 45th Infantry Division during their combat tour in Germany in World War II, and presents the soldiers' reflections on their experiences during that time.

Starred Review. In 1943, Garland was on track to become a doctor like his parents when he conveniently flunked organic chemistry at Harvard and enlisted in the army, finding himself heading off to fight in Europe with the 45th Infantry Division (in which famed editorial cartoonist Bill Mauldin also served). Garland, who has authored many books relating to the history of the Cape Ann coast of Massachusetts (e.g., Down to the Sea), chronicles the division's journey from the landing at Sicily through the liberation of Dachau and then, some 60 years later, also seeks to come to terms with his experiences and those of his comrades. Part personal and collective memoir and part history, Garland's book is loaded with recollections compiled from interviews, diaries, drawings, and photographs that he neatly fits into the historical framework. His writing is highly engaging and shares the story of the 45th and its 511 days in combat and four amphibious landings, providing an excellent narrative history of the division during World War II, as well as a personal reckoning. A must have for any World War II collection, especially those focusing on war memoirs.—Patti C. McCall, AMRI, Albany, NY
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Capturing the gung-ho tenor of the time as well as the naïve spirit of twenty-year-olds sent across the globe to battle ("We tiptoed, bug-eyed, into a war hyperbolized for us in Life magazine and the newsreels"), this intense memoir lands readers in the middle of WWII, beginning with preppy Harvard student Garland's transformation into a war-bound Army soldier in early 1943. The "eyes and ears" of the 45th Infantry Division, the campaign of Garland's platoon is detailed through excerpts from his voluminous field journals, painstaking research and more than 90 hours of interviews with his platoonmates. Author and journalist Garland (Lone Voyager: The Extraordinary Adventures of Howard Blackburn, Hero Fisherman of Gloucester) delivers a clear, unflinching panorama of the mundane and the horrific ("dawn revealed to an A Company officer that what he had thought to be one of his own men sleeping beside him was a dead German." Fortuitously for him (although he would not see it that way), and maintains his narrative authority even after a fractured leg (caught in a ladder accident) got him shipped to Naples in 1944, following his fellows' progress through the liberation of Dachau in '45. Garland's painstaking research and encompassing vision underscore his skill as a writer; though his overlong text could use a good edit, it's a largely captivating personal history. 207 b&w illus.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Garland was a front-line scout in the Forty-fifth Infantry Division in Europe during World War II, seeing action from Italy in 1943 to Germany in 1945. A skilled narrator, he presents the overlapping views of his fellow soldiers and himself without ever confusing the reader. He reports what was going on from the point of view of the poor, bloody infantryman; the camaraderie, or lack thereof, within the unit; how the men kept in touch with home; and the feelings of being at war more than 60 years ago. The title Garland chose is intriguing. What U.S. forces accomplished in Italy is no news to historians or to readers of Bill Mauldin’s Up Front (1995). In fact, Garland reads a lot like Mauldin, except that Garland is looking back, while Mauldin is looking on. Garland puts real names and faces on Mauldin’s cartoon GIs Willie and Joe. Reading these memoirs of one who was really there and includes the memories of so many others who were with him is both a pleasure and a profound learning experience. --Frieda Murray