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On April 4, 1945, United States Army units from the 89th Infantry
Division and the 4th Armored Division seized Ohrdruf, the first of
many Nazi concentration camps to be liberated in Germany. In the
weeks that followed, as more camps were discovered, thousands of
soldiers came face to face with the monstrous reality of Hitler's
Germany. These men discovered the very depths of human - imposed
cruelty and depravity: rail road cars stacked with emaciated,
lifeless bodies; ovens full of incinerated human remains;
warehouses filled with stolen shoes, clothes, luggage, and even
eyeglasses; prison yards littered with implements of torture and
dead bodies; and-perhaps most disturbing of all - the half-dead
survivors of the camps. For the American soldiers of all ranks who
witnessed such powerful evidence of Nazi crimes, the experience was
life altering. Almost all were haunted for the rest of their lives
by what they had seen, horrified that humans from ostensibly
civilized societies were capable of such crimes. Military historian
John C. McManus sheds new light on this often overlooked aspect of
the Holocaust. Drawing on a rich blend of archival sources and
thousands of first hand accounts-including unit journals,
interviews, oral histories, memoirs, diaries, letters, and
published recollections - Hell Before Their Very Eyes focuses on
the experiences of the soldiers who liberated Ohrdruf, Buchenwald,
and Dachau and their determination to bear witness to this horrific
history.
In December 1944, the 101st Airborne made their legendary stand at
Bastogne. But their heroics never could have happened if not for
the unsung efforts of others.
This is the powerful yet little-known story of the bloody delaying
action fought by the 28th Infantry Division, elements of the 9th
and 10th Armored Divisions, and other, smaller units. Outnumbered
and outgunned, they made the Germans pay for every icy inch of
ground they gained. It was their gallant efforts that allowed the
101st Airborne to reach and fully occupy Bastogne and prepare for
the ferocious attack to come.
Featuring numerous helpful maps and a complete list of the
soldiers, local civilians, and German commanders whose actions it
recounts, "Alamo in the Ardennes" provides a compelling, day-by-day
account of this pivotal moment in America's greatest war.
On April 4, 1945, United States Army units from the 89th Infantry
Division and the 4th Armored Division seized Ohrdruf, the first of
many Nazi concentration camps to be liberated in Germany. In the
weeks that followed, as more camps were discovered, thousands of
soldiers came face to face with the monstrous reality of Hitler's
Germany. These men discovered the very depths of human - imposed
cruelty and depravity: rail road cars stacked with emaciated,
lifeless bodies; ovens full of incinerated human remains;
warehouses filled with stolen shoes, clothes, luggage, and even
eyeglasses; prison yards littered with implements of torture and
dead bodies; and-perhaps most disturbing of all - the half-dead
survivors of the camps. For the American soldiers of all ranks who
witnessed such powerful evidence of Nazi crimes, the experience was
life altering. Almost all were haunted for the rest of their lives
by what they had seen, horrified that humans from ostensibly
civilized societies were capable of such crimes. Military historian
John C. McManus sheds new light on this often overlooked aspect of
the Holocaust. Drawing on a rich blend of archival sources and
thousands of first hand accounts-including unit journals,
interviews, oral histories, memoirs, diaries, letters, and
published recollections - Hell Before Their Very Eyes focuses on
the experiences of the soldiers who liberated Ohrdruf, Buchenwald,
and Dachau and their determination to bear witness to this horrific
history.
At last, here is a book that tells the full story of the turning
point in World War II's Battle of the Bulge--the story of five
crucial days in which small groups of American soldiers, some
outnumbered ten to one, slowed the German advance and allowed the
Belgian town of Bastogne to be reinforced. "Alamo in the Ardennes"
provides a compelling, day-by-day account of this pivotal moment in
America's greatest war.
In this succeeding volume to "The Americans at D-Day, " McManus
does the same for the Battle of Normandy as a whole. Never before
has the American involvement in Normandy been examined so
thoroughly or exclusively as in "The Americans at Normandy." For
D-Day was only one part of the battle, and victory came from weeks
of sustained effort and sacrifices made by Allied soldiers.
Presented here is the American experience during that summer of
1944, from the aftermath of D-Day to the slaughter of the Falaise
Gap, from the courageous, famed figures of Bradley, Patton, and
"Lightning" Joe Collins to the lesser-known privates who toiled in
torturous conditions for their country.
Engrossing, lightning-quick, and filled with real human sorrow and
elation, "The Americans at Normandy" honors those Americans who
lost their lives in foreign fields and those who survived. Here is
their story, finally told with the depth, pathos, and historical
perspective it deserves.
In the first of two volumes on the American contribution to the
Allied victory at Normandy, John C. McManus examines, with great
intensity and thoroughness, the American experience in the weeks
leading up to D-Day and on the great day itself. From the build up
in England to the night drops of airborne forces behind German
lines and the landings on the beaches at dawn, from the famed
figures of Eisenhower, Bradley, and Lightin' Joe Collins to the
courageous, but little-known privates who fought so bravely, and
under terrifying conditions, this is the story of the American
experience at D-Day. What were the battles really like for the
Americans at Utah and Omaha? What drove them to fight despite all
adversity? How and why did they triumph? Thanks to extensive
archival research, and the use of hundreds of first hand accounts,
McManus answers these questions and many more.
Impressively researched, engrossing, lightning quick, and filled
with human sorrow and elation, The Americans at D-Day honors those
Americans who lost their lives on D-Day, as well as those who were
fortunate enough to survive.
Nicknamed the Big Red One, 1st Division had fought from North Africa to Sicily, earning a reputation as stalwart warriors on the front lines and rabble-rousers in the rear. Yet on D-Day, these veterans melded with fresh-faced replacements to accomplish one of the most challenging and deadly missions ever. As the men hit the beach, their equipment was destroyed or washed away, soldiers were cut down by the dozens, and heroes emerged: Sergeant Raymond Strojny, who grabbed a bazooka and engaged in a death duel with a fortified German antitank gun; T/5 Joe Pinder, who braved enemy fire to save a vital radio; Lieutenant John Spalding and Sergeant Phil Streczyk, who together demolished a German strong point overlooking Easy Red, where hundreds of Americans had landed. Along the way, McManus explores the Gap Assault Team engineers who dealt with the extensive mines and obstacles, suffering nearly a fifty percent casualty rate; highlights officers such as Brigadier General Willard Wyman and Colonel George Taylor, who led the way to victory; and punctures scores of myths surrounding this long-misunderstood battle. Drawing on a rich array of new or recently unearthed sources, including interviews with veterans, this is the unforgettable story of the Big Red One’s nineteen hours of hell—and their ultimate triumph—on June 6, 1944.
Threatened by each side in the Spanish Civil War with death as a
suspected spy, decorated for saving an airman's life in a
bullet-ridden B-24 Liberator over Greece, war correspondent Henry
"Hank" Gorrell often found himself in the thick of the fighting he
had been sent to cover. And in reporting on some of the world's
most dangerous stories, he held newspaper readers spellbound with
his eyewitness accounts from battlefields across Europe, Africa,
and the Middle East.
An "exclusive" United Press correspondent, Gorrell saw more than
his share of war, even more than most reporters, as his beat took
him from the siege of Madrid to the sands of North Africa. His
memoir, left in an attic trunk for sixty years, is presented here
in its entirety for the first time. As he risks life and limb on
the front lines, Gorrell gives us new perspectives on the overall
conflict--including some of World War II's lesser-known battles--as
well as insights into behind-the-lines intrigue.
Gorrell's account first captures early Axis intervention in
Spain and their tests of new weaponry and blitzkrieg tactics at the
cost of millions of Spanish lives. While covering the Spanish Civil
War, he was captured by forces from each side and saw many brave
men die disillusioned, and his writings offer a contrast to other
views of that conflict from writers like Hemingway. But Spain was
just Hank's training ground: before America even entered World War
II, he was embedded with Allied forces from seven nations.
When war broke out, Gorrell was sent to Hungary, where in
Budapest he witnessed pro-Axis enthusiasts toast the victory of
Fascist armies. Later in Romania he watched Stalin kick over the
Axis apple cart with his invasion of Bessarabia--forcing the
Germans to deal with the Russian menace before they had planned.
Then he saw twenty Italian divisions mauled in the mountains of
Albania, marking the beginning of the end for Mussolini.
Combining the historian's accuracy with the journalist's
on-the-spot reportage, Gorrell provides eyewitness impressions of
what war looked, sounded, and felt like to soldiers on the ground.
"Soldier of the Press" weaves personal adventures into the larger
fabric of world events, plunging modern readers into the heat of
battle while revealing the dangers faced by war correspondents in
that bygone era.
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