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Everything goes into an army, even 4-F's like many of us rootin' tootin' ordnancemen, and in a war it all comes out.
All our failings, the humor of the clowns among us, our startling successes, our mistakes. The ETO and its accompanying experiences produced all these qualities among the personnel of "A" Company, and the authors have attempted to re-capture most of the more outstanding examples. If it is found that some men appear more frequently in the story than might be expected, judging from their rank or degree of importance in the company, there's a reason. While the army way of evaluating a soldier has entirely to do with concrete results obtained from his work, men themselves have another method. How much does he contribute to the amusement of his fellow sufferers in that offense against human nature called war? Does he help them retain what sanity they have left by serving as a constant reminder, even at his own expense, that stripes or bars, "acquired" in the army, very fortunately have meaning only in the army? Does he make them remember that their army life is only a temporary and very distorted form of existance [existence]? Men playing any of the abovementioned roles were frequently involved in incidents remembered by their fellow soldiers, and consequently you'll find them shifting in and out of many a scene in the following pages. While in most instances in this story, incidents will not be found in complete detail, nevertheless, yous lugs concerned will find enough facts for your guidance in remembering complete details of just what did happen to you. No two of you remember any incident in the same way anyhow! But at least references herein to dates and places should "orient" you correctly in your recollections, for both have been carefully checked for accuracy and are guaranteed. If you have any dispute with any of them, you can get back your seven bucks (it says here) by sending to the authors the cover of this book and the colonel's left ear. |