WORLD WAR II - NONFICTION
"Currahee! A Screaming Eagle at
Normandy" by Donald R. Burgett 
This is a well written account of the intense combat that took place behind the beaches of the Normandy invasion. Burgett relates the speed, confusion, and madness of combat as experienced by the young, highly trained, brave, and sometimes foolhardy paratroopers of the 506th parachute regiment of the 101st airborne division (the Screaming Eagles). His unit spent several days behind the lines taking it to any German unit that got in their way. They did some things that should probably not have been done, but it was war and they were there to kill Germans, which they did in abundance.
This book is more than just combat. Burgett takes
the reader through paratrooper training, deployment to England, continued
training, and finally the drop, 12 miles from their designated drop zone. One
American tragedy revealed in this book is the poor performance of some of the
Air Force C47 pilots. Many paratroopers were lost because the planes flew too
low and fast to avoid anti-aircraft fire. They were dumped before their chutes
could fully open. Some were even dropped into the ocean without any chance for
survival. What a horrible waste. It is not as if the pilots of the transports
were drafted or forced at gun-point to fly
.
Reviewed by Kenneth S. Smith
8/01/2001
Available from:
Presidio Press
505 B San Martin Drive
Novato, CA 94945-1340
