
Seven days in hellIn June 1944, the Allies launched a massive amphibious invasion against Nazi-held France. But under the cover of darkness, a new breed of fighting man leapt from airplanes through a bullet-stitched, tracer-lit sky to go behind German lines. These were the Screaming Eagles of the newly formed 101st Airborne Division. Their job was to strike terror into the Nazi defenders, delay reinforcements, and kill any enemy soldiers they met. In the next seven days, the men of the 101st fought some of the most ferocious close-quarter combat in all of World War II.Now Donald R. Burgett looks back at the nonstop, nightmarish fighting across body-strewn fields, over enemy-held hedgerows, through blown-out towns and devastated forests. This harrowing you-are-there chronicle captures a baptism by fire of a young Private Burgett, his comrades, and a new air-mobile fighting force that would become a legend of war.
How did the raw, visceral experience of a young paratrooper in the 101st Airborne Division define the reality of the D-Day invasion and the subsequent week of combat in Normandy? Donald R. Burgett, a veteran of the 101st Airborne, provides a firsthand account of his experiences as a private during the initial stages of the Allied invasion of France. He utilizes his personal recollections to reconstruct the chaotic, high-intensity environment of airborne operations and the brutal close-quarters fighting that characterized the first seven days of the campaign. The narrative serves as a primary source document detailing the tactical and psychological pressures faced by infantrymen behind enemy lines.
What You Will Find
Scope Limits
Military historians and readers often cite this work for its unvarnished, granular depiction of infantry combat during the Second World War. Experts frequently highlight the text as a significant contribution to the literature of the 101st Airborne Division due to its focus on the immediate, tactical reality of the soldier on the ground.
Page Count:
190
Publication Date:
1968-01-01
Publisher:
Arrow Books
ISBN-10:
0090006801
ISBN-13:
9780090006809
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