Young Hickory: A WWII Novel

by Steven F Underwood

JIM FARRELL, a lanky young soldier from Virginia, is injured in a practice run just before his division is set to land at Omaha Beach. He’s holed up in a hospital with both arms broken while many of his fellow soldiers are decimated in the bloody battle that takes place on D-Day at Omaha Beach.After recuperating, Jim is sent to the 30th Division—called Old Hickory—which has suffered its own losses in a devastating friendly fire incident. The athletic and fast-as-lightning nineteen-year-old tries to prove his worth on the battlefield and become accepted by his new regiment. Because of his skills and youth, the Old Hickory veterans decide he has earned the nickname of “Young Hickory.” And in the midst of all the insanity, Jim finds love in the person of Lille—a delicate, beautiful Belgian girl working at a bakery in the town of Liege. But can love survive in the deepening conflict? Or will it be challenged by the harsh realities of war? This is Jim Farrell’s story—his accomplishments and his failures. His transgressions and his redemption. It is also the story of Dave, Stak, Al, Z, Wally—and the rest of Jim’s Old Hickory brothers-in-arms—as they fight to survive the Battle of the Bulge in the brutal, final days of WWII. .JIM FARRELL, a lanky young soldier from Virginia, is injured in a practice run just before his division is set to land at Omaha Beach. He’s holed up in a hospital with both arms broken while many of his fellow soldiers are decimated in the bloody battle that takes place on D-Day at Omaha Beach. After recuperating, Jim is sent to the 30th Division—called Old Hickory—which has suffered its own losses in a devastating friendly fire incident. The athletic and fast-as-lightning nineteen-year-old tries to prove his worth on the battlefield and become accepted by his new regiment. Because of his skills and youth, the Old Hickory veterans decide he has earned the nickname of “Young Hickory.” And in the midst of all the insanity, Jim finds love in the person of Lille—a delicate, beautiful Belgian girl working at a bakery in the town of Liege. But can love survive in the deepening conflict? Or will it be challenged by the harsh realities of war? This is Jim Farrell’s story—his accomplishments and his failures. His transgressions and his redemption. It is also the story of Dave, Stak, Al, Z, Wally—and the rest of Jim’s Old Hickory brothers-in-arms—as they fight to survive the Battle of the Bulge in the brutal, final days of WWII. .

302 pages, Paperback

Published May 11, 2020

Reviews

[Patrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. It perfectly suited me as I like WW2 fiction and am pretty fascinated by the 30th Division (and the 291st which have a small part in the story), having read several of the reference books and visited some of the sites in the Bulge area.

The book is about a replacement soldier, Jim Farrell, who joins the 30th Division early on in the ETO after its initial battles but just in time for Mortain. The author does a great job of having Jim in the “right place at the right time” to see and meet many of the who’s who in 30th Division, like Kerley, Weiss, Harrison, and Currey, among others.

I would recommend this book to anyone who likes WW2 fiction, or just might be interested in a realistic fiction book about a young man’s journey and maturation in war.

[Matthew Justin Underwood]

An enjoyable historical fiction

Doc Underwood's tale of Jim Farrell and the 30th Division highlights the accomplishments of group of men that found themselves in the thick of many of the more famous battles in the European Theater. The story moves quickly and is a great read that many could complete in a day. The 30th may not be as famous as the 1st, 101st or 82nd. However, their accomplishments are just as impressive. This story will lead you to further research into the history of the 30th. Doc Underwood provides an excellent set of reference material for any that are inclined to read more.

[Military Writers Society of America (MWSA)]

MWSA Review

Young Hickory: A WWII Novel by Steven F. Underwood follows the deployment of James Farrell from 1944 to 1945 through attachments to different platoons in the 120th Regiment of the 30th Division in Europe. The book is populated by many and varied characters, some of them fictional and some of them based in reality. The author has undertaken an enormous amount of research to frame a fictitious individual’s experience of World War II from the D-Day Normandy invasion through the Battle of the Bulge and beyond. Many footnotes are included in this work of fiction to differentiate which characters are real people.

Tall and lanky, Jim is tapped to become a runner, miraculously finding his way through enemy lines to deliver information from the front lines—where his company is surrounded on Mortain’s Hill 314—to headquarters and back again. From there we follow him through France, Belgium, and Germany to Magdeburg, short of Berlin. He is wounded several times and finds love in Liege, Belgium, before meeting—while recuperating from significant wounds in a hospital in Cologne—the woman he will eventually marry.

Readers will want to print out the list of characters in the beginning of the book, so as to keep them all straight. A map is also a helpful aid in understanding what was happening and where it was happening.

Review by Betsy Beard (May 2021)

[Steve Underwood]

I think you will enjoy this book. It follows the history of the 30th Division, a remarkable unit that was rated the top U.S. infantry division in the European theater. The hero, Jim Farrell, joins the unit just before the battle of Mortain. This battle will help protect the Normandy breakout and break the power of the Germans in France. Jim joins the Intelligence and Reconnaissance Platoon for the 120th Regiment. He will stay with the unit through Belgium and into Germany. In Belgium, he meets a beautiful young lady named Lille and she falls in love with him. But tragedy will follow the couple and Jim turns into a vengeful warrior determined to make the Germans pay.