Seven Roads to Hell is the personal story of 101st Private Donald Burgett when his division is suddenly deployed to stem the German offensive during the Battle of the Bulge. Written from the perspective of a front line grunt and told from a platoon or squad perspective, he relates how his unit was recently pulled out of Montgomery's failed Market-Garden for rest and recuperation only to be thrown into another major battle. Many 101 troopers were short of ammunition, equipment and some even lacked rifles. While the 101 was instrumental in holding Bastogne, Burgett acknowledges the deeds of other units which were trapped with them.
Burgett records many of the numerous skirmishes he participated in during the battle, the barrages, panzer attacks where his unit was overrunned, and ultimately, their triumph.
One theme Burgett records remains valid today and I quote: "Bastonge and its surrounding areas were shelled and bombed and attacked by German armor and infantry during the next four days, but the Germans always came out on the short end of these attacks. A lot of them never returned to their lines. Americans in general, unlike soldiers of most other armies of the world, tend to take aim and shoot at individuals, even when they are massed, rather than firing volleys into large groups. This one shot-one man, "meat-on-the-table" type of shooting killed more enemy than did laying down a blanket of fire." [p149]
Published by Presidio Press, it is well worth reading.
------------------
Vigilantibus et non dormientibus jura subveniunt
Burgett records many of the numerous skirmishes he participated in during the battle, the barrages, panzer attacks where his unit was overrunned, and ultimately, their triumph.
One theme Burgett records remains valid today and I quote: "Bastonge and its surrounding areas were shelled and bombed and attacked by German armor and infantry during the next four days, but the Germans always came out on the short end of these attacks. A lot of them never returned to their lines. Americans in general, unlike soldiers of most other armies of the world, tend to take aim and shoot at individuals, even when they are massed, rather than firing volleys into large groups. This one shot-one man, "meat-on-the-table" type of shooting killed more enemy than did laying down a blanket of fire." [p149]
Published by Presidio Press, it is well worth reading.
------------------
Vigilantibus et non dormientibus jura subveniunt