A Very Interesting Book
 

Greetings,
I feel certain in saying that most Luger collectors have at one time or another wondered what it would be like to go back in time to be in a battle area during World War II. I, for one, have often wondered just how readily available Lugers were back then? At the same time, how easy was it to capture other souvenirs? And just what was day to day life like? Please allow me to strongly suggest reading "THE FOOT SOLDIER" by Roscoe C. Blunt Jr. The book is HIS accounting of his day-by-day life in Europe as a private in the U.S. Army, fighting, souvenir hunting, traveling and anything else you can imagine - a wonderful read. Please enjoy.

Mike

You're right, that's a great book. What got me, is that Roscoe Blunt must have been the greatest souvenier hunter in the European theater. The pictures in his book show some of the most valuable collectibles any modern day collector could imagine. Some of the things he shipped home are worth a fortune today.
Lyn

From Publishers Weekly
"I am not a backslapping, let's belly up to the bar and relive the war type," writes Blunt, who became an award-winning New England crime journalist after earning the Bronze Star and other commendations for his infantry serviceAand it shows. There are many WWII officers' memoirs, some from infantrymen, crowding the shelves, but this disturbing and immediately gripping book may be unique among them. In September of 1944, Blunt, nearly 30, was sent with the 84th ("Railsplitter") infantry division down through Scotland, England and France to the Battle of the Bulge in Belgium. While the typical blow-by-blow descriptions of combat and ruminations on the horrors of war are all here, Blunt's unsparing, matter-of-fact recordings of German and U.S. atrocities (including executions of prisoners on both sides) and his equally unsparing reportage of his reactions to it (obsessive plundering of corpses for "souvenirs," torturing enemy prisoners under his guard, a one-man game of soccer with the head of a dead SS officer), all with only selectively engaged self-reflection, make this a truly chilling account. We don't, however, doubt Blunt's credibility or sense of justice for a minute, particularly given his repeated heroism and vivid accounts of the sub-zero cold (and the persistent trench foot that results) and his participation in a concentration camp liberation. The book, written just after the war, ends abruptly with Blunt's tour, and our relief nearly matches his. (Dec.) Forecast: The book testifies to eye-for-an-eye atrocities in war. For some, Blunt's acts of brutality and plunder will seem justified given what he witnesses and endures. For others, it will show U.S. claims of moral superiority during the war have been greatly exaggerated. Blunt is in his mid-80s; don't be surprised if he is sought out by cable talk shows, especially given the attention the book will garner as a Military Book Club main selection.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Jerry Burney

Another interesting book
 

For those interested in the Civil War, I just finished reading "Jack Hinson's One Man War, A Civil War Sniper". It is an excellent book and I highly recommend it.

This is a book about a little known episode of the Civil War in Tennessee and a biography of Jack Hinson, farmer, father, and one man army against Union soldiers with a specially made rifle, to atone for the deaths of his civilian teenage sons by Union occupation troops on his land.

I went to Borders and browsed through the book. The experience was colorful for a foot soldier, that's a little bit surprising. Mr. Blunt mentioned one detail: a German Major surrendered a chrome plated Luger to him ("12 in exchange of 100" story).... so some German also chrome plated their Lugers? Originally, I assume all those jobs were done by GIs.

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Regarding kicking head, it's disgusting, but not as bad as in my imagination: He mentioned that the head was there, he did not cut it off. He just kicked it a few times. With picture showing Germans rushing to West side to surrender, Eastern side must be an inferno. The way that he got his 1st Luger from a decomposed dead body was .... zzzzeee