From June 7, 1944, on the beaches of Normandy to the final battles of Germany and its surrender on May 7, 1945, acclaimed historian Stephen E. Ambrose draws on hundreds of interviews and oral histories from men on both sides to write a compelling and comprehensive portrait of the Citizen Soldiers who made up the U.S. Army.
Ambrose re-creates the experiences of the individuals who fought the battle, from high command—Eisenhower, Bradley, and Patton—on down to the enlisted men. Within the chronological story, there are chapters on medics, nurses, and doctors; on the quartermasters; on the replacements; on what it was like to spend a night on the front lines; on sad sacks, cowards, and criminals; on Christmas 1944; and on weapons of all kinds. In this engrossing history, Ambrose reveals the learning process of a great army—how to cross rivers, how to fight in snow or hedgerows, how to fight in cities, how to coordinate air and ground campaigns, and how citizens became soldiers. Throughout, the perspective is that of the enlisted men and junior officers—and how decisions of the brass affected them.
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