Book Description

This memoir of World War II, written by Edward C. Arn, an infantry captain who served in Company F, 2nd Battalion, 119th Infantry Regiment, 30th Infantry Division, takes readers on a wartime journey in the European Theater of Operations through a clear and honest account of combat from the viewpoint of a sensitive and acute “civilian in uniform.” Arn entered combat and proved his worth in the hedgerows of Normandy, the Battle of Mortain, the push through northern France and the Netherlands, the Battle of the Bulge, the Ardennes Campaign, and the invasion of the German heartland to the Elbe River. During his eleven months on the front lines, Arn underwent a transformation from an apprehensive novice into a battle-tested veteran. Arn writes in a straightforward and engaging manner that avoids false sentimentality or romanticism. Instead, he gives readers keen insights into the daily life of soldiers locked in gruesome events far beyond their experience and describes how it feels to be under fire, to suffer a wound, to agonize over the deaths of friends, to endure true suffering, to sacrifice, and to survive. Edited and annotated by Jerome Mushkat, this memoir is an exceptional account of a man who came of age during the World War II generation.