A collection of eyewitness accounts of the Normandy landings that "gives you the [feeling] that you are there during the frenzied first hours of the invasion" ( Kepler's Military History Book Reviews).
Many professional historians have recorded the actions of D-Day but here is an account of the airborne actions as described by the actual men themselves, in eyewitness detail.
Participants range from division command personnel to regimental, battalion, company, and battery commanders, to chaplains, surgeons, enlisted medics, platoon sergeants, squad leaders and the rough, tough troopers who adapted quickly to fighting in mixed, unfamiliar groups after a badly scattered drop. And yet they managed to gain the objectives set for them in the hedgerow country of Normandy.
This book is primary source material. It is a "must read" for anyone interested in the Normandy landings, the 101st Airborne Division, and World War II in general. Hearing the soldiers speak is an entirely different experience from reading about the action in a narrative history.
Autorentext
George E. Koskimaki is a former paratrooper who jumped into Normandy on June 6, 1944, as General Maxwell Taylor's radioman. He went on to become a preeminent historian of the 101st Airborne Division, having interviewed hundreds of fellow veterans for their firsthand accounts. He currently lives in Northville, Michigan.
Zusammenfassung
A collection of eyewitness accounts of the Normandy landings that gives you the [feeling] that you are there during the frenzied first hours of the invasion (Kepler's Military History Book Reviews). Many professional historians have recorded the actions of D-Day but here is an account of the airborne actions as described by the actual men themselves, in eyewitness detail. Participants range from division command personnel to regimental, battalion, company, and battery commanders, to chaplains, surgeons, enlisted medics, platoon sergeants, squad leaders and the rough, tough troopers who adapted quickly to fighting in mixed, unfamiliar groups after a badly scattered drop. And yet they managed to gain the objectives set for them in the hedgerow country of Normandy. This book is primary source material. It is a must read for anyone interested in the Normandy landings, the 101st Airborne Division, and World War II in general. Hearing the soldiers speak is an entirely different experience from reading about the action in a narrative history.
Inhalt
- Cover Page
- List of Maps
- Dedication
- Author
- Foreword
- Introduction
- 1. The Marshaling Area
- 2. The Pathfinders Lead the Way
- 3. The Flight Across
- 4. Bill Lee - Geronimo - Let's Go!
- 5. Out of the Night Sky
- 6. Into the Midst of the Enemy
- 7. Early Encounters
- 8. Assembly
- 9. Johnson's Regiment - the 501st
- 10. So Few Led By So Many
- 11. The Five-O-Deuce
- 12. The Scattered Artillerymen
- 13. The 506th Regiment
- 14. Hold Those Bridges!
- 15. The Glider Lifts
- 16. Angels of Mercy
- 17. At Day's End
- 18. The French Were Waiting
- Notes
- Contributors
- Acknowledgments
- Bibliography
- Copyright Page