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Tank Driver: With the 11th Armored from the Battle of the Bulge to VE Day
"We followed the acting company commander as his tank started up the narrow road [into Noville]. There were destroyed buildings and disabled German tanks and vehicles everywhere we looked. I was the driver of the fourth tank in the column. It was getting dark and hard to see, so I was driving with my head partway out of the hatch. There was a church on our right and a small crossroads just beyond it. As we passed the crossroads, I saw the burning phosphorus of an armored piercing shell go over my head. Were we in enemy territory? All of a sudden, someone on the radio said, 'The tank of the third platoon leader's been hit.'... I closed my hatch and turned the periscope to look back toward town. I saw many German soldiers filing out of buildings." --from the book
Tank Driver is the story of a young man's combat initiation in World War II. Based on letters home, the sparse narrative has the immediacy of on-the-spot reporting. Ted Hartman was a teenager when he was sent overseas to drive a Sherman tank into combat to face the desperate German counterattack known as the Battle of the Bulge. Hartman gives a riveting account of the shifting tides of battle and the final Allied breakout. He tells about the concentration camps, the spectacle of the defeated Germans, and the dramatic encounter with Russian soldiers in Austria that marked combat's end. This is a vivid, personal account of some of the most dramatic fighting of World War II.
Tank Driver is the story of a young man's combat initiation in World War II. Based on letters home, the sparse narrative has the immediacy of on-the-spot reporting. Ted Hartman was a teenager when he was sent overseas to drive a Sherman tank into combat to face the desperate German counterattack known as the Battle of the Bulge. Hartman gives a riveting account of the shifting tides of battle and the final Allied breakout. He tells about the concentration camps, the spectacle of the defeated Germans, and the dramatic encounter with Russian soldiers in Austria that marked combat's end. This is a vivid, personal account of some of the most dramatic fighting of World War II.
- GenresWorld War II
192 pages, Hardcover
First published May 14, 2003
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
November 8, 2020
His division advanced to Austria and along found out concentration camp.
Sherman tank has 75mm gun, or 76.2 mm mounted by British. Tiger tank has 88mm Panzerschreck has 88 mm and bazooka has 60 mm in 1944-1945 they has lost 648 (destroyed) and 700 damaged vehicles.
Americas has law that allowed Tanks to go along troops. And there was usually three divisions, one in attack, one withdrawing and one in about to enter the battlefield.
This American soldier of WWII times has 65 dollars paid, he has wrote in his autobiography that he would appreciate 25 cents for an hour of physical work.
That military salary was so good for him that he decided to make bonds, debentures.
Other thing is that in actual military camp they have had to learn all gases that army used to use. By smelling some amount of each, even deadly and poisonous.
Good read, his wife and children helped him writing his own biography. And these biographies of solders who wrote just dis I value a lot, and love at the same time.
Sherman tank has 75mm gun, or 76.2 mm mounted by British. Tiger tank has 88mm Panzerschreck has 88 mm and bazooka has 60 mm in 1944-1945 they has lost 648 (destroyed) and 700 damaged vehicles.
Americas has law that allowed Tanks to go along troops. And there was usually three divisions, one in attack, one withdrawing and one in about to enter the battlefield.
This American soldier of WWII times has 65 dollars paid, he has wrote in his autobiography that he would appreciate 25 cents for an hour of physical work.
That military salary was so good for him that he decided to make bonds, debentures.
Other thing is that in actual military camp they have had to learn all gases that army used to use. By smelling some amount of each, even deadly and poisonous.
Good read, his wife and children helped him writing his own biography. And these biographies of solders who wrote just dis I value a lot, and love at the same time.
March 8, 2015
Yesterday, we buried another dedicated man who served in World War Two and was part of the infantry at the Battle of the Bulge. His motto was GOD BLESS AMERICA!
I wish there were more memoirs written that describe the horrors of war. Any citizen who didn’t have to serve or experience what these courageous patriots went through should read every book they can get on the subject.
The author, J. Ted Hartman takes us with him on his riveting account, so get ready for the dramatic encounter as we shift the tides of battle.
It is an excellent read.
Jeannie Walker (Award-Winning Author)
I wish there were more memoirs written that describe the horrors of war. Any citizen who didn’t have to serve or experience what these courageous patriots went through should read every book they can get on the subject.
The author, J. Ted Hartman takes us with him on his riveting account, so get ready for the dramatic encounter as we shift the tides of battle.
It is an excellent read.
Jeannie Walker (Award-Winning Author)
July 8, 2020
This was a great read. The story of a soldier who became a tank driver. Follows him and his comrades with detailed accounts during ww2.
July 14, 2010
Hartman's retelling of his time as a tank driver in WWII (from home front to the finish) is not professional but still compelling because of what he saw and what he did (expressed simply and directly).
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews