VE Day: Magnificent Infantry of WW II

Yet for many it would be 1946 before enough replacement troops were in place as a occupying force to allow them to go home.

And the bomber squadrons took terrible losses, too.

I didn’t really miss it. I have the book, but I didn’t see a quote to fit into the letter. I remember his last illustration though of this GI throwing his M-1 on the ground as a way of saying, “You are never going to be part of me again”.

I remember seeing a statistic that the 8th Air Force had more casualties than the Marine Corps. During the war, the 8th Air Force based in England suffered more than 26,000 dead compared to the Marine Corps which incurred nearly 20,000 killed for all its campaigns in WW II.

Entire divisions were nearly wiped out again and again. His story of 8 months of combat from D-Day to the Battle of the Bulge.

Of all the men and officers who started out in Company F of the 4th Infantry Division with him, Wilson was the only one who finished. (out of 160 men)

“If you survive your first day, I’ll promote you.”

If You Survive: From Normandy to the Battle of the Bulge to the End of World War II, One American Officer’s Riveting True Story
https://tinyurl.com/23kp5bvv

Lt. Wilson takes you on the D-Day walking tour of Europe. The battles are all there, along with the names of places we all know from WWII history. His service was exemplary - three Purple Hearts, two Bronze Stars, and a Silver Star.

Rick Spell
The Ultimate WWII GI Book comment: A green officer who eloquently describes his fear on his first combat where he falls between two tanks doing battle and amazingly is spared. Of course when you are quickly in a battle where 6 of 80 are surviving, you grow up quickly.

I have read Company Commander by Captain Charles B. MacDonald, who was quite an accomplished historical author about WW II. He joined the 2nd infantry as a newly minted infantry officer from AROTC just before the Battle of the Bulge and immediately became commander of a company.

One reoccurring theme from his book is replacements kept pouring in whenever they arrived at a point of stability, but they lasted only a few days, never distinguished themselves, so he never noted their names.

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