tstone
03-20-2006, 10:30 AM
Company Commander (A Stone Book Review)
War is hell. If anything is true, this is. When you are a combat soldier in the field (I've had my taste), even when there's no action going on, you have to deal with boredom, weariness, dirt, discomfort, and the waiting. Oh, the bone grinding waiting. Especially if you have some idea where the enemy is and you expect him to come screaming over at any time. The whistling shriek of incoming shells, the chatter of machine guns chewing up your earth, covering a mass enemy charge. Or worse off, it's dark. Silent. The night reveals nothing. But at any moment, the dark, empty blanket could be interrupted by the crack of small arms fire, or a bayonet in your belly.
Not fun.
But it's the wait, the exposure to the elements and the total lack of feeling of control that is the most wearing. That and the uncertainty, wondering when the time comes, can you hold it together and do your job?
This is the question first held by Charles B. McDonald when he took command of I Company, 2/23rd Inf Reg, 2 ID. His first assignment was to set up on a defensive position on the Siegfried Line in the Ardennes, France in October, 1944. Cover was iffy, shelter was sparse, the weather was cold and rainy and the enemy was vigilant, with occasional patrols, probes and shellings. The enemy had much more real time intelligence than the Americans did and could apparently pick and choose, but were mostly content with recon and harrassment. But to be there at that position was nerve wracking, and it didn't do a relatively green officer any favors.
In December 1944, his company was moved to attempt to blunt the German Ardennes offensive, but the infantry was equipped for the massive combined arms/tank heavy assault that came. CPT McDonald believed he had failed, but his commanding officer congratulated him for keeping most of his men alive and intact. He was then given G company in the same regiment and then was part of the mad thrust across Germany in 1945 to end the war.
McDonald gives alot of tactical observations as the battles move on, putting in his observations about the disposition of his men, the enemy and nearby troops. He also makes observations about the citizens around. He sees valor and heart. He also sees activities that would strike us as callous, a few even bordering on war crimes. But he's a man with a mission, mainly concerned with holding his unit together. And if it didn't happen directly in front of him, he usually put it out of his mind.
This is an inciteful book about grunt eye level combat in WWII. If this interests you, I HIGHLY recommend it, following it up with General Patton's War As I Knew It. They make a great shift in perspective of the American Fighting Soldier in WWII.
War is hell. If anything is true, this is. When you are a combat soldier in the field (I've had my taste), even when there's no action going on, you have to deal with boredom, weariness, dirt, discomfort, and the waiting. Oh, the bone grinding waiting. Especially if you have some idea where the enemy is and you expect him to come screaming over at any time. The whistling shriek of incoming shells, the chatter of machine guns chewing up your earth, covering a mass enemy charge. Or worse off, it's dark. Silent. The night reveals nothing. But at any moment, the dark, empty blanket could be interrupted by the crack of small arms fire, or a bayonet in your belly.
Not fun.
But it's the wait, the exposure to the elements and the total lack of feeling of control that is the most wearing. That and the uncertainty, wondering when the time comes, can you hold it together and do your job?
This is the question first held by Charles B. McDonald when he took command of I Company, 2/23rd Inf Reg, 2 ID. His first assignment was to set up on a defensive position on the Siegfried Line in the Ardennes, France in October, 1944. Cover was iffy, shelter was sparse, the weather was cold and rainy and the enemy was vigilant, with occasional patrols, probes and shellings. The enemy had much more real time intelligence than the Americans did and could apparently pick and choose, but were mostly content with recon and harrassment. But to be there at that position was nerve wracking, and it didn't do a relatively green officer any favors.
In December 1944, his company was moved to attempt to blunt the German Ardennes offensive, but the infantry was equipped for the massive combined arms/tank heavy assault that came. CPT McDonald believed he had failed, but his commanding officer congratulated him for keeping most of his men alive and intact. He was then given G company in the same regiment and then was part of the mad thrust across Germany in 1945 to end the war.
McDonald gives alot of tactical observations as the battles move on, putting in his observations about the disposition of his men, the enemy and nearby troops. He also makes observations about the citizens around. He sees valor and heart. He also sees activities that would strike us as callous, a few even bordering on war crimes. But he's a man with a mission, mainly concerned with holding his unit together. And if it didn't happen directly in front of him, he usually put it out of his mind.
This is an inciteful book about grunt eye level combat in WWII. If this interests you, I HIGHLY recommend it, following it up with General Patton's War As I Knew It. They make a great shift in perspective of the American Fighting Soldier in WWII.