Surviving Three Shermans: With the 3rd Armored Division into the Battle of the Bulge

Surviving Three Shermans: With the 3rd Armored Division into the Battle of the Bulge PDF Author: Walter Boston Stitt
Publisher: Casemate
ISBN: 1636244297
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 216

Get Book Here

Book Description
"A WWII soldier’s rosy letters home are juxtaposed with his recollections of combat’s harrowing on-the-ground reality in this immersive debut memoir...With its unique vantage point, this is a noteworthy addition to the literature of WWII." — Publishers Weekly In 1943, eighteen-year-old Walter Stitt enlisted in the U.S. Army, ready to serve his country. From his time in basic training at Fort Polk in Louisiana, throughout his time as a tank gunner in the 33rd Armored Regiment, to his post-injury service in England, he wrote home to the family he had left at home. Unbeknown to him, his mother carefully numbered and saved the letters, treasuring them until her death. This book brings together the very different two versions of Walter’s war: the version that a teenage soldier could reveal to his parents and younger siblings without scaring them or invoking the censor’s pen, and the full and often terrifying details of serving as a tank loader and gunner in France, Belgium and Germany, remembered so clearly eighty years later. Walter explains the forced omissions and partial truths his teenage self offered to comfort his family while he survived the destruction of three Sherman tanks, the death of three crew members, and two wounds. Coming from West Virginia, Walter’s Appalachian roots and values are apparent through the memories he held dear as a soldier and the values he clung to while fighting in one of the darkest periods of human history. His memoir recounts his experiences of serving during World War II while honoring those who served and made the ultimate sacrifice.

Surviving Three Shermans: With the 3rd Armored Division into the Battle of the Bulge

Surviving Three Shermans: With the 3rd Armored Division into the Battle of the Bulge PDF Author: Walter Boston Stitt
Publisher: Casemate
ISBN: 1636244297
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 216

Get Book Here

Book Description
"A WWII soldier’s rosy letters home are juxtaposed with his recollections of combat’s harrowing on-the-ground reality in this immersive debut memoir...With its unique vantage point, this is a noteworthy addition to the literature of WWII." — Publishers Weekly In 1943, eighteen-year-old Walter Stitt enlisted in the U.S. Army, ready to serve his country. From his time in basic training at Fort Polk in Louisiana, throughout his time as a tank gunner in the 33rd Armored Regiment, to his post-injury service in England, he wrote home to the family he had left at home. Unbeknown to him, his mother carefully numbered and saved the letters, treasuring them until her death. This book brings together the very different two versions of Walter’s war: the version that a teenage soldier could reveal to his parents and younger siblings without scaring them or invoking the censor’s pen, and the full and often terrifying details of serving as a tank loader and gunner in France, Belgium and Germany, remembered so clearly eighty years later. Walter explains the forced omissions and partial truths his teenage self offered to comfort his family while he survived the destruction of three Sherman tanks, the death of three crew members, and two wounds. Coming from West Virginia, Walter’s Appalachian roots and values are apparent through the memories he held dear as a soldier and the values he clung to while fighting in one of the darkest periods of human history. His memoir recounts his experiences of serving during World War II while honoring those who served and made the ultimate sacrifice.

Death Traps

Death Traps PDF Author: Belton Y. Cooper
Publisher: Presidio Press
ISBN: 0307415007
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 394

Get Book Here

Book Description
“An important contribution to the history of World War II . . . I have never before been able to learn so much about maintenance methods of an armored division, with precise details that underline the importance of the work, along with descriptions of how the job was done.”—Russell F. Weigley, author of Eisenhower’s Lieutenants “Cooper saw more of the war than most junior officers, and he writes about it better than almost anyone. . . . His stories are vivid, enlightening, full of life—and of pain, sorrow, horror, and triumph.”—Stephen E. Ambrose, from his Foreword “In a down-to-earth style, Death Traps tells the compelling story of one man’s assignment to the famous 3rd Armored Division that spearheaded the American advance from Normandy into Germany. Cooper served as an ordnance officer with the forward elements and was responsible for coordinating the recovery and repair of damaged American tanks. This was a dangerous job that often required him to travel alone through enemy territory, and the author recalls his service with pride, downplaying his role in the vast effort that kept the American forces well equipped and supplied. . . . [Readers] will be left with an indelible impression of the importance of the support troops and how dependent combat forces were on them.”—Library Journal “As an alumnus of the 3rd, I eagerly awaited this book’s coming out since I heard of its release . . . and the wait and the book have both been worth it. . . . Cooper is a very polished writer, and the book is very readable. But there is a certain quality of ‘you are there’ many other memoirs do not seem to have. . . . Nothing in recent times—ridgerunning in Korea, firebases in Vietnam, or even the one hundred hours of Desert Storm—pressed the ingenuity and resolve of American troops . . . like WWII. This book lays it out better than any other recent effort, and should be part of the library of any contemporary warrior.”—Stephen Sewell, Armor Magazine “Cooper’s writing and recall of harrowing events is superb and engrossing. Highly recommended.”—Robert A. Lynn, The Stars and Stripes “This detailed story will become a classic of WWII history and required reading for anyone interested in armored warfare.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review) “[Death Traps] fills a critical gap in WWII literature. . . . It’s a truly unique and valuable work.”—G.I. Journal

Surviving Three Shermans: With the 3rd Armored Division Into the Battle of the Bulge

Surviving Three Shermans: With the 3rd Armored Division Into the Battle of the Bulge PDF Author: Walter Boston Stitt
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781636244280
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Get Book Here

Book Description
In 1943, eighteen-year-old Walter Stitt enlisted in the U.S. Army, ready to serve his country. From his time in basic training at Fort Polk in Louisiana, throughout his time as a tank gunner in the 33rd Armored Regiment, to his post-injury service in England, he wrote home to the family he had left at home. Unbeknown to him, his mother carefully numbered and saved the letters, treasuring them until her death. This book brings together the very different two versions of Walter's war: the version that a teenage soldier could reveal to his parents and younger siblings without scaring them or invoking the censor's pen, and the full and often terrifying details of serving as a tank loader and gunner in France and Belgium, remembered so clearly eighty years later. Walter explains the forced omissions and partial truths his teenage self offered to comfort his family while he survived the destruction of three Sherman tanks, the death of three crew members, and two wounds. Born in West Virginia, Walter's Appalachian roots and values are apparent through the memories he held dear as a soldier and the values he clung to while fighting in one of the darkest periods of human history. His memoir recounts his experiences of serving during World War II while honoring those who served and made the ultimate sacrifice.

Spearhead

Spearhead PDF Author: Adam Makos
Publisher: Ballantine Books
ISBN: 0804176736
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 432

Get Book Here

Book Description
THE NEW YORK TIMES, WALL STREET JOURNAL, LOS ANGELES TIMES, AND USA TODAY BESTSELLER “A band of brothers in an American tank . . . Makos drops the reader back into the Pershing’s turret and dials up a battle scene to rival the peak moments of Fury.” —The Wall Street Journal From the author of the international bestseller A Higher Call comes the riveting World War II story of an American tank gunner’s journey into the heart of the Third Reich, where he will meet destiny in an iconic armor duel—and forge an enduring bond with his enemy. When Clarence Smoyer is assigned to the gunner’s seat of his Sherman tank, his crewmates discover that the gentle giant from Pennsylvania has a hidden talent: He’s a natural-born shooter. At first, Clarence and his fellow crews in the legendary 3rd Armored Division—“Spearhead”—thought their tanks were invincible. Then they met the German Panther, with a gun so murderous it could shoot through one Sherman and into the next. Soon a pattern emerged: The lead tank always gets hit. After Clarence sees his friends cut down breaching the West Wall and holding the line in the Battle of the Bulge, he and his crew are given a weapon with the power to avenge their fallen brothers: the Pershing, a state-of-the-art “super tank,” one of twenty in the European theater. But with it comes a harrowing new responsibility: Now they will spearhead every attack. That’s how Clarence, the corporal from coal country, finds himself leading the U.S. Army into its largest urban battle of the European war, the fight for Cologne, the “Fortress City” of Germany. Battling through the ruins, Clarence will engage the fearsome Panther in a duel immortalized by an army cameraman. And he will square off with Gustav Schaefer, a teenager behind the trigger in a Panzer IV tank, whose crew has been sent on a suicide mission to stop the Americans. As Clarence and Gustav trade fire down a long boulevard, they are taken by surprise by a tragic mistake of war. What happens next will haunt Clarence to the modern day, drawing him back to Cologne to do the unthinkable: to face his enemy, one last time. Praise for Spearhead “A detailed, gripping account . . . the remarkable story of two tank crewmen, from opposite sides of the conflict, who endure the grisly nature of tank warfare.” —USA Today (four out of four stars) “Strong and dramatic . . . Makos established himself as a meticulous researcher who’s equally adept at spinning a good old-fashioned yarn. . . . For a World War II aficionado, it will read like a dream.” —Associated Press

Assembly

Assembly PDF Author: West Point Association of Graduates (Organization).
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 616

Get Book Here

Book Description


Toward Combined Arms Warfare

Toward Combined Arms Warfare PDF Author: Jonathan Mallory House
Publisher: DIANE Publishing
ISBN: 1428915834
Category : Armies
Languages : en
Pages : 235

Get Book Here

Book Description


Surviving the Reich

Surviving the Reich PDF Author: Ivan Goldstein
Publisher: Zenith Press
ISBN: 9780760338162
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 248

Get Book Here

Book Description
In this moving memoir, Goldstein recounts his life before, during, and after World War II. He tries to put his time in captivity behind him, but a surprising twist of fate draws him back to Belgium, to the site of his capture, and full circle back to his miraculous survival.

Seek, Strike, and Destroy

Seek, Strike, and Destroy PDF Author: Christopher Richard Gabel
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 100

Get Book Here

Book Description
In the seventy years that have passed since the tank first appeared, antitank combat has presented one of the greatest challenges in land warfare. Dramatic improvements in tank technology and doctrine over the years have precipitated equally innovative developments in the antitank field. One cycle in this ongoing arms race occurred during the early years of World War II when the U.S. Army sought desperately to find an antidote to the vaunted German blitzkrieg. This Leavenworth Paper analyzes the origins of the tank destroyer concept, evaluates the doctrine and equipment with which tank destroyer units fought, and assesses the effectiveness of the tank destroyer in battle.

Battle of the Bulge

Battle of the Bulge PDF Author:
Publisher: Turner Publishing Company
ISBN: 156311013X
Category : Ardennes, Battle of the, 1944-1945
Languages : en
Pages : 369

Get Book Here

Book Description
Consists primarily of biographies of soldiers.

Dark December: The Full Account of the Battle of the Bulge

Dark December: The Full Account of the Battle of the Bulge PDF Author: Robert E. Merriam
Publisher: Lulu.com
ISBN: 1387175327
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 170

Get Book Here

Book Description
Dark December is Robert E. Merriam's famous blow by blow chronicle of the Battle of the Bulge (16 December 1944 - 25 January 1945), the German Army's last major offensive of World War II. Merriam was chief of the Ardennes section of the U.S. Army and his dazzling narrative is one of the most detailed first-hand accounts of the conflict. Presented from both Allied and German viewpoints, Dark December examines events leading up to the offensive, the massive engagement of German forces against unprepared American units, and finally the turning back of the defeated German Wehrmacht.