A Soldier's Journal - by David Rothbart (Paperback)

About the Book

This is the extraordinary memoir of the 22nd Infantry Regiment a unit that Ernest Hemingway stayed with for five months. It describes the unit's historic WWII drive across France and the bloody Battle of the Hurtgen Forest, and relates a moving account of men who enlisted to fight in a just cause. Touching on the chaos of war and how accidental atrocities such as the use of poison gas by American artillery on November 15, 1944 were narrowly averted, Soldier's Journal is a memoir rich in character, detail, and atmosphere.

Book Synopsis

"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.