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Summary: Quiet Heriosm
Review: "Infantry Soldier" is the Diary of all Infantrymen. The Horror and Reality of War on the front lines by one who experienced and witnessed young men die in foxholes, in the winter of 1944-45 on the westernfront during the battle of the Bulge.Mr Neill tells the story of the real "Heroes" as they fought the bitter cold and held the line.As a soldier on the front lines and now a seasoned journalist, he brings you into the foxholes of young infantrymen who fought,died ,and survived a horrible front line experience. As a former Infantryman with the 38th division [Philipines]I found "The Infantry Soldier" as real as you can get. It explodes with the realiasm and bluntness of front line combat.George did a magnificant job of describing the Infantrys roll in WW2.He told the story as it should have been told. I Salute you Mr. George Neill. Fred Silberstein
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Summary: An Honor To Read This Book!
Review: ....It was such an honor to read his book! It's an excellent account of the Battle of the Bulge and a poignant portrait of a young man who, despite being hurled into the horrors of war, developed the many noble qualities that make him the remarkable person he is today.
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Summary: A fine first hand a of the northern line of the Bulge
Review: A college junior, author George W. Neill received his notice to report for active duty in March of 1943. Selected for the little known and short-lived Army Specialized Training Program he was eventually assigned to L Co., 3rd Battalion, 395 Reg. of the 99th Div.Historical views of combat, while giving a better overall perspective, too often lack the authentic voice of the combat soldier himself. Here, in chilling word pictures, Neill paints his vision through the eyes of the 18-year-old he was but filtered by the understanding of the journalist that he has become. Convoyed across the Atlantic and quickly passing through England and France, his outfit was positioned in the Hofen-Monschau area in mid November 1944, just weeks before the Bulge. Along the so-called "quite front" preceding the break through, he tells of death's daily visit. His retelling of the frostbite, trench foot and never ending bone-chilling cold and dampness conveyed the life of a front line rifle company in a way no non-combatant could. His vivid description of the Siegfried Line and its construction was an interesting aside. The heart of his tale is a unique look at the first four days of horrific, face-to-face fighting along the northern shoulder of the Bulge near Hofen. The orders on the German side were to "take Hofen at all costs." His outfit was hit with everything but held. At one time, his men being over run but well dug in, the Battalion CO called down 5 artillery strikes within his own lines. Indeed, the 3rd battalion along with A Co. 612 Tank Destroyer Battalion and the 38th Calvary Squadron were the only American units to hold the Germans to a zero advance from the first to last day of the six-week battle. The Germans did break through the southern end of the 99th's front but the 3rd Battalion held firm. By holding Hofen they held the eastern flank of the Elsenborn Ridge confining the Bulge to the south of that line. With a poignant line in his preface, Neill brings home the fact that these line troops "...remained boys in many ways. What else explains why so many soldiers, on both sides, cried out for their mothers as they lay dying?" By passing his memories of those trying days to us so vividly, one gets the impression that Neill still hears those cries.
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Summary: No fluff
Review: A great day in an day out story about the war. No hype, no frills. Just the story of what the days were actually like for a foot soldier in WW II.
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Summary: View from a fox hole
Review: George Neill presents a front line soldier's view of what it was like to be part of the WWII American infantry. While reading the book, I almost felt the cold and fear that were the soldier's constant companions. while the rear echelon soldiers got the winter boots, and the generals got heated quarters, Neill and his fellow soldiers tried to survive the cold, boredom and attacks. I felt like I was there. This book gets my very highet recommendation.
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Summary: An Incredibly Poignant Story of WW II Combat Action
Review: George W. Neill was lucky to survive the combat along the front lines in the winter of 1944-45. This book takes you there in the first person for an up front and personal view from the fox holes along and over into the German lines. Quite unlike any other book written about WW II, this one concentrates on a very narrow six week window with the 99th Infantry Division. It's full of grime, grit, and true life heroics from many of the participants. From the cold weather, mud, and bloody fighting arise men who before this book didn't have names and families. We learn something about them, too often how they died, and many times how they were injured. It's very worthwhile reading for any student of war, because the message is the understanding of just how stupid war really is. Neill speaks not only admirably of those who were there doing the fighting, but spares no amount of scorn for the support troops who hogged all the warm weather clothing which front line soldiers suffered incredibly without. A valuable contribution to World War II literature. Thank You, George.
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Summary: Good Book, Puts you in the Action
Review: I had to read this book for a course on WWII. Neil does an excellent job of "putting you there" as the cliche goes. The complexities of battle, to the horrid conditions to the mindstate of men about to die are all covered well in this novel. Neill really does a good job of keeping the reader attached to the book, and helps bring to life something that many people have only read about in history text books. I recommend this novel to anyone interested in War in general, and of course in WWII.
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Summary: Good Book, Puts you in the Action
Review: I had to read this book for a course on WWII. Neil does an excellent job of "putting you there" as the cliche goes. The complexities of battle, to the horrid conditions to the mindstate of men about to die are all covered well in this novel. Neill really does a good job of keeping the reader attached to the book, and helps bring to life something that many people have only read about in history text books. I recommend this novel to anyone interested in War in general, and of course in WWII.
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Summary: The Real Story
Review: If there is just one book that you read about the Battle of the Bulge, make sure that is George Neill's book, "Infantry Soldier. Holding the Line at the Battle of the Bulge." It was absolutely eerie for me, a buddy of George's in L Company, 395th Regiment, 99th Division, to have such long-dormant memories so poignantly revived. From the early days of induction from college into the Army, basic training and ASTP in Texas, "assignment" to the 99th Division, to landing in England, France and Germany, George vividly recounts the incredible experiences we college kids went through until we arrived in the little German village of Hoefen, during that terrible winter of 1944. His book is a loving and fitting tribute to all those who suffered there and to our many close friends who gave their lives during the massive assault made in December by troops of the German Wehrmacht. On reading his story, I felt myself reliving those absurd day-to-day experiences, the incredible cold and freezing wetness of that miserable winter and the fantastic haphazardness of war that some of us somehow survived. George is at his best when he describes his own remarkable trials, and he pulls no punches in decrying the irregularities in the supply lines that left us on the front lines without proper clothing and equipment (I, myself, arrived at the front with no rockets for my bazooka and with no snow boots--hence my evacuation because of my avoidable affliction with frozen feet. My own outrage and anger match George's, when I recall having later seen so many well-shod and well-clothed support troops behind the lines). For anyone who has witnessed the inanities of warfare this book will serve to revive the joys, frustrations, suffering and anger of infantry life in battle. For those who have been spared these unreal experiences this book is a "must" for insuring that such needless, even criminal, waste of life is never forgotten--and, hopefully, never repeated.
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Summary: Well Written Personal History
Review: Infantry Soldier by George W. Neill: This is an exceedingly well-written by a veteran of the Battle of the Bulge ( December 1944). Mr. Neill, a retired newspaper editor, has put together three separate accounts of that battle. (1) On the first level, it is a personal recounting of the hardships and terror he experienced as a rifleman in a company of the 99th Infantry Division on the northern shoulder of the "Bulge". (2). On the second level, it is a somewhat truncated story of the ASTP: the Army Specialized Training Program, which Mr. Neill claims was "... the largest single college training program the U.S. government ever implemented"... p. 23. (3) The third level is his view of the officers and the commanding generals. He points out the ridiculous remedy that General Dwight D. Eisenhower offered for trench foot, a serious ailment when the troops are continuously exposed to wet mud in the bottom of their trenches. In fact, my opinion of General (later President) Eisenhower was lowered quite a bit by the comments of veteran George W. Neill. Further, there is no love lost between Author Neill and Army's officer corps.` In his little asides near the end of each chapter Author Neill has hit upon a method of keeping the story moving: he summarizes "On Our Side" in a brief paragraph and then presents the German view in "On The Other Side". This is a nice way of avoiding looking up the actual history of each day and names of the major participants. One interesting comment is the description of the sparkling silver strips that "decorated" many of the fir trees near his foxhole. He describes these strips as "window" or "chaff", the strips of aluminum dropped by Allied aircraft to reflect German radar signals back to their receivers, and mask the approaching waves of Allied bombers. I have wondered what happened to these strips when they hit the ground. This book is well worth reading.
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