Foot Soldier: A Combat Infantryman's War in Europe - Hardcover

Blunt, Roscoe C.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1885119720 ISBN 13: 9781885119728

Publisher: Sarpedon Publishers, 2001

Synopsis

Roscoe C. Blunt's narrative of service with the 84th Infantry Division in World War II is one of the most remarkable that has come down to us. Blunt had nearly every type of combat experience and recorded his experiences in unforgettable, often chilling, prose.

About this title

Review:

What was daily life like for a lowly infantryman during the last year of World War II in the European theater? Foot Soldier, Roscoe C. Blunt's memoir, tells us with unadorned candor. "Rockie" Blunt, a front line soldier with the 84th Infantry Division, fought in the Roer and the Battle of the Bulge. He suffered frostbite, severe trauma, killed many enemy soldiers, and was, briefly, taken prisoner. Blunt concentrates on the quotidian: digging foxholes in frozen earth, sleeplessness, meager meals, shelterless winter bivouacs, and exhausting marches. By the war's end, Blunt is less disturbed by the sight of battlefield dead than he is elated by the discovery of fresh-baked baguettes. Foot Soldier, self-effacing and infused with a healthy skepticism about "the brass," is a rough-edged marriage of Studs Terkel's Working and Stephen Crane's The Red Badge of Courage. --H. O'Billovitch

About the Author:

Rockie Blunt was the youngest soldier to be awarded the Expert Infantry Badge and subsequently earned three Battle Stars. An expert jazz and big band drummer, his postwar career was as a news reporter. He currently lives in Shrewsbury, MA.

About this edition

• Publisher: Sarpedon Publishers
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 1885119720
• ISBN 13: 9781885119728
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 296