Honor Untarnished; A West Point Graduate's Memoir of World War II
New York: Forge, a Tom Doherty Associates Book, 2003. Presumed First Edition, First printing. Hardcover. 304 pages. Illustrations. Includes Acknowledgments, as well as Childhood and Early Years; West Point; Fort Sill/Fort Sam Houston/ Fort Knox; 1942 Stateside; Casablanca; Tunisia; Sicily; England; Getting Ready; June 6, 1944; Normandy; Breakout and the Race Across France; Stalled; To the Ardennes; To the Elbe; The Ending; Also includes Childhood and Early Years; West Point; Fort Sill/Fort Sam Houston/ and Fort Know/ 1942 Stateside/ Casablanca/ Tunisia/ Sicily/ England/ Getting Ready/ June 6, 1944/ Normandy/ Breakout and the Race Across France/ Stalled; To the Ardennes; To the Elbe; and The Ending. Donald Vivian Bennett (May 9, 1915 – November 28, 2005) retired as a four-star general from the United States Army in 1974. He graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1940. Bennett then served overseas in World War II in North Africa, Sicily, and in the invasion of the European continent. On 6 June 1944, Lieutenant Colonel Bennett, along with the 62nd Armored Field Artillery Battalion which he commanded, landed with the second wave on D-Day. His party was subjected to a tremendous fire which inflicted 50 percent casualties. Observing that following units were pinned down on the beach, he assembled and reorganized the infantry assault companies, four tanks, and an antiaircraft unit. By redistributing the remaining officers and equipment he organized a sizable force and successfully assaulted the ridge. Lieutenant Colonel Bennett, in disregarding his own safety under such heavy enemy fire throughout the day, contributed to the establishment of the beachhead. What the bestsellers Flags of Our Fathers was to Iwo Jima and Duty to the mission of the Enola Gay, Honor Untarnished is to the World War II tour of duty of young graduate of a West Point. Whether it was fighting Rommel's fierce Afrika Korps hitting the beaches of Normandy on D Day, surviving the Battle of the Bulge, or just being in the next room during the infamous "slapping incident" of Blood-n-Guts General George Patton, Donald Bennett experienced the fiery crucible of World War II and survived to tell about it. As a recent graduate of West Point, First Lieutenant Bennett was given the charge of training inexperienced and scared recruits, and leading them into battle against the Axis forces. From orientation at Fort Sill, Oklahoma through the fiercest battles of the war right up to the liberation of the death camps and our complicit confrontation with the Soviet Union over Eastern Europe, Don Bennett, not yet thirty, preserved the honor of the corps, and the liberty of the free world. Lindbergh, Patton, Bradley, and Eisenhower are just names in a history book to most-but to Don Bennett they were personal acquaintances. This is the story of D Day, the Bulge, and the rest of the war. It differs from many recent books on similar events ... because Don Bennett was actually there! This is the story of D day, the Bulge, and the rest of the war. It differs from many recent books on similar events because Don Bennett was actually there! Condition: Very good / Very good.
Keywords: D-Day, Normandy, Beachhead, West Point, Ardennes, Elbe, Battle of the Bulge, Fort Sill, Afrika Korps, Leadership, Combat Operations, George Patton
ISBN: 0765306573
[Book #83548]
Price: $75.00