You Can't Get Much Closer Than This: Combat with the 80th ''Blue Ridge'' Division in World War II Europe

249 Pages·2005·2.53 MB·English

by  Adkins

Y C G
OU AN’T ET
M C T T
UCH LOSER HAN HIS
Combat with Company H, 317th Infantry Regiment, 80th Division

This edition of You Can’t Get Much Closer Than This is published in the United States of America and
Great Britain in 2014 by
CASEMATE
908 Darby Road, Havertown, PA 19083
and
10 Hythe Bridge Street, Oxford, OX1 2EW
Copyright 2005 © Andrew Z. Adkins III
Hardback ISBN 9781932033281
Paperback ISBN 9781612003108
Digital Edition: ISBN 9781612003115
Cataloging-in-publication data is available from the Library of Congress and the British Library.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,
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This book is gratefully dedicated to all the veterans of World War II, their wives
and husbands, and their children.
We are who we are because of what these brave men and women fought and
died for.
A. Z. Adkins, Jr. Collection
C A. Z. A , J .
APTAIN DKINS R
CONTENTS
PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
CHAPTER 1: THE MAKING OF A SOLDIER
CHAPTER 2: FIRST TASTE OF BATTLE
CHAPTER 3: CROSSING THE MOSELLE
CHAPTER 4: HILL 382 (ST. GENEVIEVE)
CHAPTER 5: VILLERS-LES-MOIVRON
CHAPTER 6: SIVRY, FRANCE
CHAPTER 7: MEDICAL EVACUATION AND RECOVERY
CHAPTER 8: BACK TO THE FRONT
CHAPTER 9: THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE
CHAPTER 10: THE RELENTLESS, BITTER COLD WINTER
CHAPTER 11: THE SIEGFRIED LINE
CHAPTER 12: R&R IN PARIS
CHAPTER 13: MARCHING ONWARD
CHAPTER 14: CROSSING THE RHINE
CHAPTER 15: MOVING FAST
CHAPTER 16: BUCHENWALD
CHAPTER 17: NUREMBERG
CHAPTER 18: THE END OF THE WAR
APPENDIX 1: THE 80TH INFANTRY DIVISION
APPENDIX 2: INFANTRY ORGANIZATIONS
GLOSSARY
NOTES
BIBLIOGRAPHY
MAPS
THE CAMPAIGNS 317 INFANTRY REGIMENT, 80TH DIVISION
OPERATIONS ALONG THE MOSELLE RIVER AND CANAL
HILL 382:ST. GENEVIÈVE
ILLUSTRATIONS
A PHOTO GALLERY FOLLOWS PAGE
PREFACE
F
or Christmas 1984, my dad gave me a 200-page three-ring binder titled “A
World War II Diary.” I didn’t know he had kept a diary of his service, so it came
as something of a surprise. Of course, I knew he had served in the infantry
during WWII, but little else. And then in 1984 I was holding a day-by-day
account of the most tumultuous time of his life.
Like many sons of World War II veterans, I grew up hearing occasional “war”
stories and learned enough to know what a good job our soldiers had done. But
like so many other veterans, my father did not talk much about the blood, the
death, and what hurt the most—the loss of his men and his buddies.
I think this diary helped him bring a little more closure in his personal struggle
to put the war far behind him. He was proud of his service for his country and
proud of his accomplishments. Although he was awarded the Bronze Star, he
never considered himself a hero. “The heroes were the ones who didn’t come
home,” he once told me. I’ve heard that same phrase time and time again from
many veterans.
When my parents were first married, my mother placed all his medals in a
display case. I remember asking my dad once about them.
“Which is your favorite?”
Without hesitation he pointed to the Combat Infantry Badge. “That one.”
His answer surprised me. “Why that one and not the Bronze Star?”
“Because being in the infantry, on the front lines—you can’t get much closer
than that.”
At the time I thought he meant closer to the war. But as I’ve grown older, with
a family of my own, I know now what he really meant. He was telling me you
can’t get much closer to your buddies; you can’t get much closer to your own
fears; and you can’t get much closer to God.
There are many people who contributed to helping me complete my dad’s
WWII journal. Without their help and encouragement, this would remain a
memoir on my bookshelf forever.
I’d like to thank Eric Hammel, my first editor who found me and provided me
with much needed patience and guidance with the first draft. I also owe a debt of
gratitude to Theodore P. Savas, who continued the editorial process with
suggestions and thoughts to help round out the story, and to my publisher, David