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SOLDIERS JOURNAL:WITH THE 22ND
"The 22nd is very much a part of my life and had it not been for your journal I would have had no idea of its destiny and its ending. I am very grateful to you for this experience." -John Cheever Scores of combat incidents and fascinating insights are to be found in "A Soldier's Journal." Rothbart provides unusual details of the 4th Division's, and especially the 22nd Regiment's, achievements and obstacles in the Allied advance from Normandy to Germany; D-Day Normandy, the breakthrough at St. Lo, the liberation of Paris, the German counterattack in the Ardennes and the Battle of the Bulge, and the bloody Hurtgen Forest battle.-The Trenton Times (NJ) "Rothbart's meticulously- kept journal is an 'I was there' record of World War II. It is a valuable piece of American history."-The Huntsville Times (AL) "From the day he was drafted in 1942...Rothbart did what many people plan but rarely follow up. He kept a journal, tightly pencilled entries in little notebooks that somehow caught history roaring by, and in remarkably readable style."-Pittsburgh Tribune Review (PA) "Compelling reading . . . made more so by the many 'slice of life' portraits. . . of his time in the U.S. Army." -John Gresham, bestselling co-author (with Tom Clancy) of Submarine and Special Forces. David Rothbart was born in Pittsburgh, PA in 1916. Inducted into the Army on February 14, 1942. He served in the European Theatre of Operations, landing in Normandy shortly after D-Day, June 6, 1944. He was awarded the Bronze Star with five battle stars and was honorably discharged on September 28, 1945, with the rank of sargeant.
- GenresNonfiction
322 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1977
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
April 7, 2020
3 Stars for Part II. This book is a collection of regimental accounts from D-Day, Cherbourg campaign, breakout of the hedgerows, across the Siegfreid Line, battles in the Huertgen Forest and at the Bulge and the final drive across Germany. (Part I of the book is his account of 2 years in the Army in the States and I only skimmed it-not interesting) Some excerpts from the fight in Europe:
The front is a perpetual nightmare in which the men converse in a language all their own, understood only by those who continuously wallow with them on this border of hell. The rest of the army including those who experienced “close shaves” do not speak that language. They speak of their buddies who have come and gone, of officers good and bad who led them, of cold, wet, pitch-black nights, of gory sights and funny things that happened, Only they know precisely what they mean.
In the Battle of the Huertgen Forest, a sharp eye prevented a major catastrophe:
One of our artillerymen made a discovery that barely averted a major calamity. He was assisting in loading a heavy shell into the breech of his piece when he noticed the word GAS imprinted on the casing. They removed the shell, inspected the others and found they had been shipped several gas shells, ostensibly to have on hand to retaliate in case the Germans started using gas. The matter was quickly reported to other artillery units and America narrowly averted starting poison gas warfare in this war.
Rare opportunity for some men to get leave in the States:
The men were asked to specify their destinations. One answered tersely, “My home; when I get there I am going to knock at the front door, then run around to the back and catch, as he runs out, the sonofabitch who has been sleeping with my wife.”
The front is a perpetual nightmare in which the men converse in a language all their own, understood only by those who continuously wallow with them on this border of hell. The rest of the army including those who experienced “close shaves” do not speak that language. They speak of their buddies who have come and gone, of officers good and bad who led them, of cold, wet, pitch-black nights, of gory sights and funny things that happened, Only they know precisely what they mean.
In the Battle of the Huertgen Forest, a sharp eye prevented a major catastrophe:
One of our artillerymen made a discovery that barely averted a major calamity. He was assisting in loading a heavy shell into the breech of his piece when he noticed the word GAS imprinted on the casing. They removed the shell, inspected the others and found they had been shipped several gas shells, ostensibly to have on hand to retaliate in case the Germans started using gas. The matter was quickly reported to other artillery units and America narrowly averted starting poison gas warfare in this war.
Rare opportunity for some men to get leave in the States:
The men were asked to specify their destinations. One answered tersely, “My home; when I get there I am going to knock at the front door, then run around to the back and catch, as he runs out, the sonofabitch who has been sleeping with my wife.”
September 26, 2019
This was fascinating reading, particularly Part Two, where the author's diary entries recorded his experiences from the Battle of Normandy through the end of the war. Since this was my father's regiment, I had a particular interest in it.
Part One consists of the U. S. training and the training in England prior to D Day. It is an almost daily account.
One of the most interesting things to me was noticing the author's change of attitude from the educated arrogance and superior tone when first entering basic training (referring constantly to many soldiers as "hillbillies", etc. and denouncing almost anything Southern) to his having utmost respect for the just over 500 soldiers of the regiment who survived from D Day unit the end of the war.
In his first-person accounts, Rothbart revealed much info about combat situations and treatment of civilians than I had ever known before. While my own father did not discuss much about the war and died over 30 years ago, I finally had wonderful descriptions of the hedgerow fighting and many other situations that my Dad had mentioned to me in my youth. I am so glad that Rothbart kept this journal, that it was so well written and thorough, and that it was finally published!
Part One consists of the U. S. training and the training in England prior to D Day. It is an almost daily account.
One of the most interesting things to me was noticing the author's change of attitude from the educated arrogance and superior tone when first entering basic training (referring constantly to many soldiers as "hillbillies", etc. and denouncing almost anything Southern) to his having utmost respect for the just over 500 soldiers of the regiment who survived from D Day unit the end of the war.
In his first-person accounts, Rothbart revealed much info about combat situations and treatment of civilians than I had ever known before. While my own father did not discuss much about the war and died over 30 years ago, I finally had wonderful descriptions of the hedgerow fighting and many other situations that my Dad had mentioned to me in my youth. I am so glad that Rothbart kept this journal, that it was so well written and thorough, and that it was finally published!
April 4, 2011
For a number of reasons, I'm glad that I read this book. The first is that I met Mr. Rothbart a few short times, not long before his death, and I found him to be a delightful man. I did not know of this book until he died. One of the other reasons is because it broadened my understanding of war in general and of WWII in particular. I never liked US history classes, so this is a way I can re-learn some of what I should have remembered from High School.
Mr. Rothbart's writing was of better quality than what is found in most personal journals. He seemed to make an effort to keep his account truly journalistic (in the newspaper sense), which tended to make is somewhat dry, and the reading was slow-going for me. There was something about his style, however, that helped me to get more of a feeling of what it was like to be part of the infantry during tha part of the war that resulted in much of the vocabulary from my HS US History Class: D-Day; Battle of the Bulge; etc.
When I read historical fiction or watch movies set during WWII, I feel like there is either too little or too much detail. In the movies, especially, there is often a great emphasis in the gruesome parts, and one doesn't get much of a sense of the experience as a whole. The amount of turn-over in a single unit during a short period of time; the nature of specific tasks given a group; the way that people really were used like the little tokens in a game of Risk; that fact that real cities with real people were "taken" during battles, and that soldiers interacted with them, used their buildings, etc--all those things were new to me, or more fully understood.
Mr. Rothbart's writing was of better quality than what is found in most personal journals. He seemed to make an effort to keep his account truly journalistic (in the newspaper sense), which tended to make is somewhat dry, and the reading was slow-going for me. There was something about his style, however, that helped me to get more of a feeling of what it was like to be part of the infantry during tha part of the war that resulted in much of the vocabulary from my HS US History Class: D-Day; Battle of the Bulge; etc.
When I read historical fiction or watch movies set during WWII, I feel like there is either too little or too much detail. In the movies, especially, there is often a great emphasis in the gruesome parts, and one doesn't get much of a sense of the experience as a whole. The amount of turn-over in a single unit during a short period of time; the nature of specific tasks given a group; the way that people really were used like the little tokens in a game of Risk; that fact that real cities with real people were "taken" during battles, and that soldiers interacted with them, used their buildings, etc--all those things were new to me, or more fully understood.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews