Vividly written personal memoir of WWII

books:

	• Visions From a Foxhole: A Rifleman in Patton's Ghost Corps William Foley Presidio Press, 2004 - 336 pages average customer review:based on 22 reviews view larger image
	for more information click here

highly recommended

Visions From A Foxhole - War Art

This is one of the best books I've read about the life of an infantryman during WWII in the ETO. The story is intense, spare, well written, and the accompanying artwork is priceless. If you want to have a "feel" for what it was like to live in a foxhole, this is the book you should read.

extraordinary account

This is by far the most authentic and extraordinary account of the life of an infantryman in the ETO I have ever read, (and I have read many). Foley's narrative is casual in style and unfolds easily - as if you were listening to him tell the story in person. Focusing on the trials of combat, through the eyes of a replacement soldier, (Foley himself), the reader is offered a unique view into the circumstances that transformed a stateside trained Joe into a hardened combat veteran. Foley's storytelling allows the reader to join in his thoughts in the order they occurred and see the sometimes disturbing path that any human mind might take when subjected to such a stressful and horrific event as going from boy to man under the strain of continual combat. The unique perspective of a soldier who discovers his artistic talent during combat offers the amazing eye of an "objective observer" not often found in such accounts. Foley, as an artist, was indelibly moved but much of what happened to him - allowing him to capture in very simple prose a true sense of how dramatically he was altered. His artwork, (with a number of pieces included in the book), is outstanding and truly delivers "a view from a foxhole" - it is first person and personal. An outstanding combat record that should not be missed by any student of history.

for more information click here

Connection to History

This was my father's unit in World War Two, so I felt a very personal connection with this book. It gave me a much better feel for what my father and so many others had to suffer through. My father would never speak to me about the war or his Bronze Star when I was a child. I now understand why.

There seems to be some question about how much is actual fact and how much the author "filled in the blanks" in his memory. That I can't say. But I have read many, many, World War Two autobiographies and biographies, and this is one of the best for conveying the misery of the experience. If nothing else, this is a testament to the courage of the many men who walked into battle, day after day, in spite of knowing what they were about to face.

for more information click here

Vividly written personal memoir of WWII

This is one of the best personal memoirs of World War II that I have read. The author describes combat as seen through the eyes of an American GI artist.

As you read, you will see the glint off the edge of a helmet, feel the ground shake from a nearby shell, and hear the engine of a tank drown out the sound of explosions.

The book offers a stark view of combat during the last days of war in Germany. You will meet the wounded 16-year-old German prisoner who couldn't stop crying. Some of his American captors felt sorry for the boy and plied him with K rations.

You will read about the German medic that the author wounded with a hand grenade. The GIs treated the medic as one of their own when they found grateful letters in his pocket written by captured GIs that he had aided.

Pencil drawings of soldiers accompany the text. The author drew many of these while he was at the front. He protected them in a cardboard mortar tube that he carried wherever he went. Drawing his fellow GIs was his way of paying tribute to them.

for more information click here

Realistic Portrayal

My father was in the 94th infantry. This book provided much insight into what must have been a horrifying experience for him.

reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

An absolutely harrowing first-person account of the 94th Infantry Division?s bold campaign to break through Hitler?s ?impregnable? Siegfried line at the end of World War II

Eighteen-year-old William Foley was afraid the war would be over before he got there, but the rifleman was sent straight to the front lines, arriving January 25, 1945?just in time to join the 94th Infantry Division poised at Hitler?s legendary West Wall. By the time Foley finally managed to grab a few hours sleep three nights later, he?d already fought in a bloody attack that left sixty percent of his battalion dead or wounded. That was just the beginning of one of the toughest, bloodiest challenges the 94th would ever face: breaking through the Siegfried Line. Now, in Visions from a Foxhole, Foley recaptures that desperate, nerve-shattering struggle in all its horror and heroism.

Features the author?s artwork of his fellow soldiers and battle scenes, literally sketched from the foxhole

Look for these remarkable stories of American courage at war

BEHIND HITLER?S LINES
The True Story of the Only Soldier to Fight for Both
America and the Soviet Union in World War II
Thomas H. Taylor

THE HILL FIGHTS
The First Battle of Khe Sanh
by Edward F. Murphy

NO BENDED KNEE
The Battle for Guadalcanal
by Gen. Merrill B. Twining, USMC (Ret.)

THE ROAD TO BAGHDAD
Behind Enemy Lines: The Adventures of an American Soldier in the Gulf War
by Martin Stanton

for more information click here

hot