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Fighting First the

出版	Westview Press, 2001
主題	History / Wars & Conflicts / World War II / GeneralHistory / Military / United States
ISBN	55590227219785559022727
URL	http://books.google.com.hk/books?id=cBJkPwAACAAJ&hl=&source=gbs_api

註釋LOUIS NEWMAN HAD THE BEST SEAT IN THE house at the biggest, loudest amphibious assault landing in history. It was a seat he would just as soon not have had. The 27-year-old Private first class from Brooklyn, New York, a member of Cannon Company, 18th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, was perched atop the cab of a three-quarter-ton truck that was stalled in chest-deep water about a hundred yards from a beach in France dubbed "Omaha." Whenever he swiveled his head, the entire chaotic, horrific panorama of the Normandy invasion encircled him like the battle cyclorama paintings at Gettysburg and Waterloo. To his front was a prickly landscape of beach obstacles, frightened men wading ashore from landing craft, boats and vehicles wrecked and burning, geysers of water being blasted into the air, and a shoreline erupting with an unending series of violent bursts. Behind and beside him, warships of all description were firing shells of every caliber over and around him. As dangerous as his exposed position was, Private first class Newman had another problem: he couldn't swim. He had no inflatable life belt. No rifle or helmet, either, for that matter. And the tide was rapidly rising. "The Fighting First tells the untold story of the 1st Infantry Division's part in the D-Day invasion of France at Normandy. Using a variety of primary sources, official records, interviews, and unpublished memoirs by the veterans themselves, author Flint Whitlock has crafted a riveting, gut-wrenching, personal story of courage under fire. Operation Overlord--the Allied invasion of Normandy on 6 June 1944--was arguably the most important battle of World War II, and Omaha Beach was the hottest spot in theentire operation. Leading the amphibious assault on the "Easy Red" and "Fox Green" sectors of Omaha Beach was the U.S. Army's 1st Infantry Division--"The Big Red One"--a tough, swaggering outfit with a fine battle record. The saga of the Big Red One, however, did not end with the storming of the beachhead. The author concludes with an account of the 1st in their fight across France, Belgium, and into Germany itself, playing pivotal roles in the bloody battles for Aachen, the Huertgen Forest, and the Battle of the Bulge. "The Fighting First is an inspiring, graphic, and often heartbreaking story of young American soldiers performing their D-Day missions with spirit, humor, and determination.