Synopses & Reviews
September 17, 1944. Thousands of Screaming Eagles-101st Airborne Division paratroopers-descend from the sky over Holland, dropping deep behind German lines in a daring daylight mission to seize and secure the road leading north to Arnhem and the Rhine. Their success would allow the Allied army to advance swiftly into Germany. The Screaming Eagles accomplish their initial objectives within hours, but keeping their sections of “Hells Highway” open takes another seventy-two days of fierce round-the-clock fighting against crack German troops and tank divisions.
Drawing on interviews with more than six hundred paratroopers, George E. Koskimaki chronicles, with vivid firsthand accounts, the dramatic, never-before-told story of the Screaming Eagles valiant struggle. Hells Highway also tellsof the Dutch citizens and members of the underground who were liberated after five years of Nazi oppression and never forgot Americas airborne heroes. This renowned force risked their lives for the freedom of a small country . . . and the world.
Synopsis
'Hell's Highway' is a history most of which has never before been written. It is adventure recorded by those who lived it and put into context by an author who was also there. It is human drama on an enormous scale, told through the personal stories of 612 contributors of written and oral accounts of the Screaming Eagles part in the attempt to liberate the Netherlands. George Koskimaki is an expert in weaving together individual recollections to make a compelling and uniquely first hand account of the bravery and deprivations suffered by the troops, their hopes, fears, triumphs and tragedies as well as those of dutch civilians caught up in the action. There have been many books published on Operation Market Garden and there will surely be more. This book, however, gets to the heart of the action. The big picture which most histories paint, here, is just the context for the real history on the ground.
Synopsis
Provides a definitive account of the 1944 mission of the 101st Airborne Division paratroopers, who dropped deep behind enemy German lines in the Netherlands with the assignment to seize control and secure the road leading to Arnheim and the Rhine, drawing on interviews with hundreds of surviving paratroopers to provide a firsthand account of the battle. Reprint.
About the Author
George E. Koskimaki, a noted historian of the 101st Airborne Division, is the author of D-Day with the Screaming Eagles and The Battered Bastards of Bastogne. He lives in Northville, Michigan.