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2 produkter
2 produkter
Death and Life in the Big Red One
A Soldier's World War II Journey from North Africa to Germany
Inbunden, Engelska, 2023
387 kr
Skickas inom 7-10 vardagar
Joe Olexa enlisted in the US Army in December 1940, figuring that if he was going to be in a war, he might as well start training. Assigned to the 1st Infantry Division, nicknamed “The Big Red One,” he served in Company L of its 26th Infantry Regiment for the next four years. Along the way he trained with the division in maneuvers in the United States; shipped to England in 1942; landed at Oran, Algeria, in the Operation Torch landings of November 1942; and fought in Tunisia, Sicily, Normandy, Belgium, and Germany.Olexa was one of the first group of enlistees that brought the division up to full strength in the buildup prior to Pearl Harbor, and was a sergeant by the time he went overseas. He served as a squad leader, platoon sergeant, and acting platoon leader, outlasting nearly all the men in his company. His memoir features accounts of unusual adventures in Tunisia when his battalion was detached from the rest of the division, and presents a detailed and intense account of his platoon’s experiences at El Guettar. Later, Olexa became a “Sea Scout,” going ashore on Sicily the night before the invasion to provide signals to guide landing craft onto the beach at Gela.After landing on Omaha Beach on D-Day, Olexa was selected by his battalion commander to hunt snipers and lead patrols in addition to his usual duties, and he fought in Normandy until wounded in late June. He rejoined his company in mid-September 1944 and was heavily involved in the capture of Aachen in October. His memoir, originally composed in the late 1970s and expertly edited and annotated by James Smither, offers remarkable insights into the experiences of an ordinary soldier who found himself in truly extraordinary situations.
432 kr
Kommande
The campaign around Firebase Ripcord in 1970 was the last major American offensive effort in the Vietnam War. It went badly and is now little known. Elements of the 101st Airborne Division tried to go back to the area where the Hamburger Hill battles had been fought the year before, but they never made it due to a combination of enemy resistance, lack of resources owing to a reduction in force under Vietnamization, and serious command problems.Ripcord was supposed to provide a stepping stone for an incursion into the A Shau Valley, a major North Vietnamese staging and warehouse area in the northern part of South Vietnam. It took three attempts to establish the base—the result of bad planning, bad weather, and enemy resistance. Once the base was established, the North Vietnamese gradually built up their forces in the area, effectively attacked surrounding units and bases, and eventually isolated it. Instead of simply disappearing as they had done in the past, they stepped up resistance and forced the Americans to abandon the campaign.In 1970, the Americans were unable to conduct the sort of campaign that they had previously launched. Instead of piling on to overwhelm the enemy, they chose to withdraw to avoid further casualties in an unpopular war. As the Americans were weakening, the North Vietnamese were getting stronger and had learned much about how to deal with American superiority in firepower and mobility. Beyond that, the American system of rotating officers in and out of command assignments took place without any regard for the situation on the ground, with key commanders changing in the middle of the campaign and new arrivals having to orient themselves on the fly. At the higher levels of command, there was also competition for commands of combat units, as these were necessary for career officers to obtain their promotions. Several of the key leaders in the campaign had little relevant experience, which proved costly to the men in the field. At lower levels, most of the officers and men in the campaign performed well, despite the increasing sense that they were risking their lives for no purpose.Based on over 100 interviews with veterans, this is the first complete critical account and analysis of the last American offensive effort in Vietnam—the failed Firebase Ripcord campaign in 1970.