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Visions From a Foxhole: A Rifleman in Patton's Ghost Corps
An absolutely harrowing first-person account of the 94th Infantry Division's bold campaign to break through Hitler's "impregnable" Siegfried line at the end of World War II
Eighteen-year-old William Foley was afraid the war would be over before he got there, but the rifleman was sent straight to the front lines, arriving January 25, 1945-just in time to join the 94th Infantry Division poised at Hitler's legendary West Wall. By the time Foley finally managed to grab a few hours sleep three nights later, he'd already fought in a bloody attack that left sixty percent of his battalion dead or wounded. That was just the beginning of one of the toughest, bloodiest challenges the 94th would ever face: breaking through the Siegfried Line. Now, in Visions from a Foxhole, Foley recaptures that desperate, nerve-shattering struggle in all its horror and heroism.
Features the author's artwork of his fellow soldiers and battle scenes, literally sketched from the foxhole
Look for these remarkable stories of American courage at war
BEHIND HITLER'S LINES
The True Story of the Only Soldier to Fight for Both
America and the Soviet Union in World War II
Thomas H. Taylor
THE HILL FIGHTS
The First Battle of Khe Sanh
by Edward F. Murphy
NO BENDED KNEE
The Battle for Guadalcanal
by Gen. Merrill B. Twining, USMC (Ret.)
THE ROAD TO BAGHDAD
Behind Enemy Lines: The Adventures of an American Soldier in the Gulf War
by Martin Stanton
Eighteen-year-old William Foley was afraid the war would be over before he got there, but the rifleman was sent straight to the front lines, arriving January 25, 1945-just in time to join the 94th Infantry Division poised at Hitler's legendary West Wall. By the time Foley finally managed to grab a few hours sleep three nights later, he'd already fought in a bloody attack that left sixty percent of his battalion dead or wounded. That was just the beginning of one of the toughest, bloodiest challenges the 94th would ever face: breaking through the Siegfried Line. Now, in Visions from a Foxhole, Foley recaptures that desperate, nerve-shattering struggle in all its horror and heroism.
Features the author's artwork of his fellow soldiers and battle scenes, literally sketched from the foxhole
Look for these remarkable stories of American courage at war
BEHIND HITLER'S LINES
The True Story of the Only Soldier to Fight for Both
America and the Soviet Union in World War II
Thomas H. Taylor
THE HILL FIGHTS
The First Battle of Khe Sanh
by Edward F. Murphy
NO BENDED KNEE
The Battle for Guadalcanal
by Gen. Merrill B. Twining, USMC (Ret.)
THE ROAD TO BAGHDAD
Behind Enemy Lines: The Adventures of an American Soldier in the Gulf War
by Martin Stanton
303 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 2003
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
August 2, 2011
I thoroughly enjoyed this book ..., December 4, 2008
I am so glad I stumbled upon this gem ... I view this book as one of the better first-person perspectives of an American soldier on the Western Front I've ever read ... reads much like the Guy Sajer classic ("The Forgotten Soldier").
Foley paints a quite vivid picture of the everyday misery experienced by the American "Dogface" sludging through the dreadful winter of 1945, following the Battle of the Bulge. From the moment he arrived at the front lines, you knew he felt he was nothing but fodder ... another expendable American body with a short expiration date. Finally, there is a book that addresses the period of time between the Battle of the Bulge and the fall of Germany ... an oft-forgotten period where most men knew victory was at hand, but also face the reality that thousands more of them would die before it was over. You slog with Foley through the snows of winter to the thawing Spring of 1945 ... and you share the entire journey with him ... the skirmishes, the boredom, the hunger and the men he shared those time with, regardless of how long they survived the journey.
Foley does a superb job of presenting his frontline experience with razor-sharp clarity ... his careful, but thorough attention to detail gives the reader both the exhilaration and the agony of being "in the thick of things". Quite simply, the book reads like a movie. The attention to detail is what separates "Visions from a Foxhole" from most other books (like "Band of Brothers") ... you sense the earnest attempt of the author to let the reader walk in his shoes (boots) in those dark days ... you feel the misery of being bitter cold and wet all the time, the paranoia of being alone in an outpost at night, knowing the enemy is watching you and waiting, the emotion of seeing your buddies die ... you feel the heat of burning buildings, the concussion of artillery shells and the sound of bullets whizzing by, pinging of rocks and lodging in trees. Most of all though, you sense the crispness of a dark, bitter-cold winter night, the uncomfortable confines of a muddy foxhole, the smell of snow-capped pines, the crunch of snow under the soles of boots and finally the relief of spring's onset.
To enhance the reading experience, "Visions from a Foxhole" includes several beautiful pencil drawings Foley created while sitting in those muddy foxholes ... the drawings, like his prose, enhance the senses even more by providing additional detail. I found myself constantly thumbing through those drawings in effort to satisfy my craving to visualize what I was reading ... the drawings provide the detail and emotion of Foley's experience that I am sure no photograph could replicate.
I found this book creating an experience that i wanted to savor, so I paced my reading to make it last ... it was both emotional and thought-provoking, like hearing my grandfather telling me stories when i was young. Foley is obviously a talented artist ... he has also written one hell of a book.
I am so glad I stumbled upon this gem ... I view this book as one of the better first-person perspectives of an American soldier on the Western Front I've ever read ... reads much like the Guy Sajer classic ("The Forgotten Soldier").
Foley paints a quite vivid picture of the everyday misery experienced by the American "Dogface" sludging through the dreadful winter of 1945, following the Battle of the Bulge. From the moment he arrived at the front lines, you knew he felt he was nothing but fodder ... another expendable American body with a short expiration date. Finally, there is a book that addresses the period of time between the Battle of the Bulge and the fall of Germany ... an oft-forgotten period where most men knew victory was at hand, but also face the reality that thousands more of them would die before it was over. You slog with Foley through the snows of winter to the thawing Spring of 1945 ... and you share the entire journey with him ... the skirmishes, the boredom, the hunger and the men he shared those time with, regardless of how long they survived the journey.
Foley does a superb job of presenting his frontline experience with razor-sharp clarity ... his careful, but thorough attention to detail gives the reader both the exhilaration and the agony of being "in the thick of things". Quite simply, the book reads like a movie. The attention to detail is what separates "Visions from a Foxhole" from most other books (like "Band of Brothers") ... you sense the earnest attempt of the author to let the reader walk in his shoes (boots) in those dark days ... you feel the misery of being bitter cold and wet all the time, the paranoia of being alone in an outpost at night, knowing the enemy is watching you and waiting, the emotion of seeing your buddies die ... you feel the heat of burning buildings, the concussion of artillery shells and the sound of bullets whizzing by, pinging of rocks and lodging in trees. Most of all though, you sense the crispness of a dark, bitter-cold winter night, the uncomfortable confines of a muddy foxhole, the smell of snow-capped pines, the crunch of snow under the soles of boots and finally the relief of spring's onset.
To enhance the reading experience, "Visions from a Foxhole" includes several beautiful pencil drawings Foley created while sitting in those muddy foxholes ... the drawings, like his prose, enhance the senses even more by providing additional detail. I found myself constantly thumbing through those drawings in effort to satisfy my craving to visualize what I was reading ... the drawings provide the detail and emotion of Foley's experience that I am sure no photograph could replicate.
I found this book creating an experience that i wanted to savor, so I paced my reading to make it last ... it was both emotional and thought-provoking, like hearing my grandfather telling me stories when i was young. Foley is obviously a talented artist ... he has also written one hell of a book.
August 22, 2017
Visions From a Foxhole is the story of the author William Foley and his account of his WWII combat campaigns. He recreates the terror and trama of being involved in frontline combat as a member of the 94th division. I found the writers description of battles to be quite descriptive and his thoughts on paper led him to sketch these scenes of war etched on paper. These sketches are also within the book and add to substance of this book. There is good flow to the book but its appeal is probably to a student who is interested in combat campaigns of WWII. I would also suggest the reader might want to have a map of the area described in the book before reading it helps clarify the author's descriptions. If you like oral histories of this war by the frontline people who fought in it, make it this one.
December 20, 2025
Great telling of the naked fire The 94eth had to face in crossing the Roer with unarned flatboats. Many demostrationsof courage on didplay,
September 18, 2016
Contains amazing pencil sketches with fascinating backstories to match.
February 17, 2025
Must read to understand how terrible and difficult this fighting was and to appreciate these guys.
April 4, 2023
William A. Foley was a successful artist for most of his life, but before that, he was another scared GI with an M1 Garand rifle and aching feet. In Visions from a Foxhole, his war memoir, he remembers not only his service with the US Army 94th Infantry Division in the last months of the war, but the maelstrom in which he discovered his talent for art and did his first work. The book is both an intimate look at the life of an American Infantryman in Patton's army- and a voyage of self discovery as a regular guy finds he has a gift for artistic expression while all hell is breaking out around him. The first works of the artist within are reproduced in a center section of b/w sketches, and they are a haunting record of the American Army at war in northern Europe. The whole package makes for a really compelling read- one that I think will appeal to both art fans and military history buffs.
Foley arrived in theatre as a replacement, and finished it as a squad leader, so you see both the possibility for advancement in the army in Europe and the heavy toll taken by the war on the Division. The narrative is very raw and the grit and grime of battle smear every page. The Artist's style seems somewhat like a serious dark version of Bill Mauldin's Willie and Joe- who were I am sure an influence. Reading the words and tying them to the pictures really brings this soldier's story home- in a way that photographs may not have. I really appreciated a different twist on the WWII Memoir- an artist finding their talent in the middle of the insanity of war.
There are many adult themes, and a fair bit of graphic violence and injury description, so this is best for the Junior Reader over 14/15 Years. For the Gamer/Modeler/Military Enthusiast, a mixed bag. Without small scale maps, it's hard to use this as a guide for scenarios or campaigns, but the stories of small scale actions might help some directly -and for those who want to get the feel for a GI's life in wartime. The modeler does get some great diorama ideas, especially from the art works- but I feel will also use this more for background than directly. The Military Enthusiast will find this a really rich story- both of the authors self discovery and the passage of the American Army into Germany , fighting across the Reich. I really enjoyed the read, even when the narrative got dark, as it does several times, feeling a real connection to a veteran's experiences.
Foley arrived in theatre as a replacement, and finished it as a squad leader, so you see both the possibility for advancement in the army in Europe and the heavy toll taken by the war on the Division. The narrative is very raw and the grit and grime of battle smear every page. The Artist's style seems somewhat like a serious dark version of Bill Mauldin's Willie and Joe- who were I am sure an influence. Reading the words and tying them to the pictures really brings this soldier's story home- in a way that photographs may not have. I really appreciated a different twist on the WWII Memoir- an artist finding their talent in the middle of the insanity of war.
There are many adult themes, and a fair bit of graphic violence and injury description, so this is best for the Junior Reader over 14/15 Years. For the Gamer/Modeler/Military Enthusiast, a mixed bag. Without small scale maps, it's hard to use this as a guide for scenarios or campaigns, but the stories of small scale actions might help some directly -and for those who want to get the feel for a GI's life in wartime. The modeler does get some great diorama ideas, especially from the art works- but I feel will also use this more for background than directly. The Military Enthusiast will find this a really rich story- both of the authors self discovery and the passage of the American Army into Germany , fighting across the Reich. I really enjoyed the read, even when the narrative got dark, as it does several times, feeling a real connection to a veteran's experiences.
October 10, 2020
War is Hell
Can you imagine being an infantry soldier in Patton's Army fighting to end WWII through the cold German winter of 1945? This amazing true story takes you there from a young soldier's perspective in vivid detail. We all know that war is horrible, but this well written book truly details how horrible it is for the foot soldier who must experience it. By the grace of God the author, a teenager barely out of high school at the time, survived despite several close calls with death. A gifted artist, he detailed his experience with drawings. This intriguing and brutally truthful book was hard for me to put down. I highly recommend it.
Can you imagine being an infantry soldier in Patton's Army fighting to end WWII through the cold German winter of 1945? This amazing true story takes you there from a young soldier's perspective in vivid detail. We all know that war is horrible, but this well written book truly details how horrible it is for the foot soldier who must experience it. By the grace of God the author, a teenager barely out of high school at the time, survived despite several close calls with death. A gifted artist, he detailed his experience with drawings. This intriguing and brutally truthful book was hard for me to put down. I highly recommend it.
October 20, 2025
As an adolescent, this might have been the first book to start deflating my romantic ideal of war. Today, not possessing such ideas in the first place, Foley's account of the drive to the Rhine is plainly visceral. He does not glory in the gore, but does not couch it in euphemisms either. Freezing nights in hastily-dug foxholes receives a similar framing, and it is for posterity's benefit that Foley speaks so clearly of how every mile gained forwards into Germany came at the tithe of every serviceman's remaining sanity.
I'm equal parts awed that any man could reconcile themselves in a postwar world and dismayed that it took 51 years (!) for the author to do so.
I'm equal parts awed that any man could reconcile themselves in a postwar world and dismayed that it took 51 years (!) for the author to do so.
August 17, 2023
If you're interested in the ground level perspective of an individual combat infantryman on WW II's western front, this is one of the first books to which you should turn.
The picture painted is concise, informative and moving. It's also refreshing after being submersed in the deluge of tomes describing in vast detail the squabbling in the rarified air of field marshals and four and five star generals.
Excellent illustrations (by the author).
The picture painted is concise, informative and moving. It's also refreshing after being submersed in the deluge of tomes describing in vast detail the squabbling in the rarified air of field marshals and four and five star generals.
Excellent illustrations (by the author).
February 21, 2018
A good first hand account of the life of an everyday infantryman during the final days of WWII. The writing could have used some more work by an editor but for an actual account of what it was like it doesn't get much better.
January 23, 2019
Great story at its core. Author openly stated this is his first attempt at writing. It shows in the flow. A better editor would have helped. (or a ghost writer) However, the tale of his time at war was inspired.
August 14, 2019
A true story about a young mans time in the war. Far from the best "historybook" I´ve read and it took me some time to get through it. But war isn´t supposed to be fun... it´s about remembering what hapened. And try to learn from it.
September 22, 2018
A short audio book, a quick story of a rifleman that went straight to the frontline & into battle.
May 28, 2019
Great read for a first hand account of the soldiering life!
August 5, 2020
Very interesting first hand account. I was drawn into his life and the lives of the people he met overseas (especially Dan).
December 5, 2020
An excellent, gritty memoir of Foley's time in the 94th as it broke through the Sigfried Line and pushed into Germany at war's end.
September 4, 2012
Foley's book successfully narrates about artistic perspective of an infantry man, thoughts of a young boy, luck of a soldier, affects of impulsive decisions, conversion of a guy into war machine, devastation of artillery, optimum aggressiveness of writer, merciless killing and lot about every soldiers situation in war.
Patton has no relevance in the book except that he had forced a risky attack operation in full day light, ignoring the lethal facts. Such instances, helps to understand the aggravated pain of soldiers, serving under Patton.
It's really convincing to understand the meaning of 'Dirty Red', by reading the situation of Foley in war. Writer's compunction after collecting SS skull rings, tells about the ups and downs of infantry soldiers. It is the situation, which converts them to murderous.
Foley has done a nice job in this work. His war time drawing in the book, is a very enriching medium to imagine the real situation. These drawings are an additional item to satisfy the appetite of readers.
Patton has no relevance in the book except that he had forced a risky attack operation in full day light, ignoring the lethal facts. Such instances, helps to understand the aggravated pain of soldiers, serving under Patton.
It's really convincing to understand the meaning of 'Dirty Red', by reading the situation of Foley in war. Writer's compunction after collecting SS skull rings, tells about the ups and downs of infantry soldiers. It is the situation, which converts them to murderous.
Foley has done a nice job in this work. His war time drawing in the book, is a very enriching medium to imagine the real situation. These drawings are an additional item to satisfy the appetite of readers.
February 2, 2012
Hard to say I really liked this book because of the content but it IS a good book, one that a lot of people ought to read that don't have a clue what WAR is and yet think they know it all. This really tells what it was like to be a soldier during WWII. And this soldier didn't even get over to Germany until the end of Jan. 1945. I don't know how these men and boys did what they did but Foley "recaptures that desperate, nerve-shattering struggle in all its horror and heroism". Also included are scenes he drew while at the front lines, sketched from the foxhole. His art work has been shown in museums, art buildings and government buildings. He went to Germany when he was 18 but didn't write this book until in his 70's. After 50 years he finally joined his 94th group and went back to visit some of the places where he fought during the war. I'd highly recommend reading this one.
July 25, 2012
A really good book about war & the American soldier. And of what he had to do to survive. It gives a good indepth look at life on the front line. And of course the illustrations by the author just add to the overall flair of the book.
May 14, 2009
In addition to being a soldier, Foley was quite an artist. He kept a visual record of his time in the 94th Infantry Division.
February 9, 2015
I don't generally like books on war. This one was interesting as it chronicles development of a talent for drawing along with a personal war history.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews