After being drafted he soon went to Camp Upton in November of 1943. On that morning he took a train to the Camp, where strangers surrounded him with no friends in sight. As soon as they got off the train they were taught how to march and then sent to get something to eat. The first night there was hard on many of them. Some cried while some snored. He didn't stay there very long and soon went to basic training at Fort Benning. Here he made friends and felt like he fit in more than at Upton. He was surrounded by a group of men that shared his intelligence. Here he and his platoon here were trained very well in many different areas. Here he received his infantry badge by passing a series of difficult tests, which only a hand full did.

He waited for the news that he would

For the rest of his time in Europe his unit would push the Germans out of a village and go in to secure it. His unit was small and often many miles ahead of the larger infantry units. After awhile he got more used to the fighting, but never felt comfortable in his foxhole with the enemy so close. He never liked any of his commanders and the fact that he was just a body sent in to do many dangerous tasks.

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Many facts in this book were suppressing, including the death of his younger brother. That was an unexpected shock at the end. I was also surprised that he hid his true feelings in the letters that he wrote home. He was very close to his parents and family. I would have thought he would have given them more detail about his feelings and what was going on. I also understand that he did this so they would not worry. The biggest surprise was how the new soldiers where treated when they came to an outfit. In the movies they all seem to be pals and good friends. In reality they don't want to get to know you. I also thought that the officers would have been nicer to the troops in order to raise and keep morale high.

This was a very interesting book and I'm glad that some of these people will write and talk about it. There are only facts in textbooks, no first hand accounts or feelings. It also makes the tragedy of war seem much worse. In there eyes they hope that this will prevent more by sharing their stories.

From there he was sent farther and farther awa

Some common words found in the essay are:
Native American, Fort Benning, Naked Heart, Upton November, Training Program, basic training, single replacement, front lines, true feelings,
Approximate Word count = 1050
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)