Citizen Soldiers

From Stephen E. Ambrose, bestselling author of Band of Brothers and D-Day, the inspiring story of the ordinary men of the U.S. army in northwest Europe from the day after D-Day until the end of the bitterest days of World War II.In this riveting account, historian Stephen E. Ambrose continues where he left off in his #1 bestseller D-Day. Citizen Soldiers opens at 0001 hours, June 7, 1944, on the Normandy beaches, and ends at 0245 hours, May 7, 1945, with the allied victory. It is biography of the US Army in the European Theater of Operations, and Ambrose again follows the individual characters of this noble, brutal, and tragic war. From the high command down to the ordinary soldier, Ambrose draws on hundreds of interviews to re-create the war experience with startling clarity and immediacy. From the hedgerows of Normandy to the overrunning of Germany, Ambrose tells the real story of World War II from the perspective of the men and women who fought it.

ContentsMapsIntroduction and AcknowledgmentsProloguePART ONEThe Battle for France1 Expanding the Beachhead,June 7-30, 19442 Hedgerow Fighting,July 1-24, 19443 Breakout and Encirclement,July 25-August 25, 19444 To the Siegfried Line,August 26-September 30, 19445 The Siegfried Line,October 1944PART TWOAt the German Border6 Metz and the Hurtgen Forest,November 1-December 15, 19447 The Ardennes,December 16-19, 19448 The Ardennes,December 20-23, 19449 The Holiday Season,December 24-31, 1944PART THREELife in ETO10 Night on the Line11 Replacements and Reinforcements,Fall 194412 The Air War13 Medics, Nurses, and Doctors14 Jerks, Sad Sacks, Profiteers, and Jim Crow15 Prisoners of WarPART FOUROverrunning Germany16 Winter War,January 194517 Closing to the Rhine,February 1-March 6, 194518 Crossing the Rhine,March 7-31, 194519 Victory,April 1-May 7, 1945Epilogue: The GIs and Modern AmericaAfterwordNotesBibliographyIndex