Author Description

Of all the American divisions in World War I, the 4th Brigade of Marines, Second Division (Regular Army), A.E.F., suffered the most casualties, captured the second most territory, captured the most enemy prisoners and equipment, and won the most decorations for valor. Louis Linn, a young Marine in this illustrious division, carried a sketchbook and pencil stub, drawing whenever he could to maintain his sanity in the madness of war. Several years after the Armistice, he used these sketches to write the stories of events that haunted him, that gave him nightmares, that kept him awake at night. Never before published, Linn's memoir recalls his training in Norfolk and Quantico, life in the trenches at Verdun, fighting at the Battle of Belleau Wood, his wounding at Soissons and again at St. Mihiel, and his subsequent hospitalization. Throughout, his sketches and woodcuts portray the action, providing a vivid account of the war from the trenches.