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James Maurice Gavin left
for war in April 1943 as a colonel commanding the 505th Parachute Infantry
Regiment of the 82nd Airborne Division--America's first airborne division
and the first to fight in WWII. In 1944, "Slim Jim" Gavin, as he was known
to the troops, at the age of thirty-seven became the 82nd's commanding
general--the youngest Army officer to become a major general since the
Civil War. At war's end, this soldier's soldier had become one of our
greatest generals--and the 82nd's most decorated General officer.
Now James Gavin's letters
home to his nine-year-old daughter Barbara provide a revealing portrait of
the American experience in WW II through the eyes of one of its dynamic
officers. Written from ship decks, foxholes and field tents--often just
before or after a dangerous jump--they capture the day-to-day realities of
combat and Gavin's personal reactions to the war he helped to win. They
provide an invaluable self-portrait of a great general, and a great
American in war and peace.
"General Jim Gavin was one
of the foremost combat commanders of World War II. He was also the father
of a young girl who was only nine years old when he left home, and he
stayed connected to her through these letters. They are touching and
highly personal, even as they give us a remarkable view of some of the
century's most momentous events. Writing from foxholes and airplanes,
muddy tents and castles, he was a teacher, historian, strategist, and
loving father. In this volume--a gift for historians and general
readers--Barbara Gavin Fauntleroy is an articulate and sensitive guide to
the personal life of a great warrior who also happened to be her Dad."
---Ed Ruggero, author of Combat Jump: The Young Men Who Led The Assault
Into Fortress Europe, July 1943 and The First Men In: U.S. Paratroopers
and the Fight to Save D-Day
Order from the website
http://www.gavin505.com/ |
