Synopses & Reviews
“The long march of Sergeant Bob Slaughter as told in Omaha Beach and Beyond gives the reader the memories that Bob has lived with every day for the past sixty-three years. After reading this, his memories will live with you too, forever!
Major Richard D. Winters, Easy Company, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne (“Band of Brothers”), and author of Beyond Band of Brothers
Stephen Ambrose, the distinguished historian/writer of D-Day and my father, once looked me in the eye and said, “I want to introduce you to my hero: Bob Slaughter.”
Hugh Ambrose, The National World War II Museum
A true epic, this book should be required reading in every American school . . . I cannot recommend it highly enough.
Alex Kershaw, author of The Bedford Boys
Slaughter vividly conveys the reality of combat during World War II in his book with sweeping passages that literally place his reader on the battlefield beside him.
Roanoke Times
A riveting story of unsurpassed gallantry and sacrifice that all Americans need to hear.
David “Mudcat” Saunders, co-author of Foxes in the Henhouse
Desperate for a decent paying job, John Robert Slaughter joined the National Guard in early 1941. The possibility of combat duty seemed remote, not even a part of the decision. Then came Pearl Harbor. On June 6, 1944, Slaughter landed on Omaha Beach with the 116th Infantry, which lost nearly a thousand men. But “Bloody Omaha” was only the beginning of a march that would take him to Holland, the Bulge, and Germany itself. Slaughter would survive a mortar wound and continue the fight toward final victory in Europe. His gripping memoir captures the feelings of a young man facing the challenges of war and being one of the lucky ones who made it home. After the war Slaughter became a career newspaper journalist. He was a leader in the creation of the National D-Day Memorial. Slaughter lives in Roanoke, Virginia.
Review
Belvoir Eagle, July 25, 2007
“Slaughter vividly conveys the reality of combat during World War II in his book with sweeping passages that literally place his reader on the battlefield beside him.”
Synopsis
"Slaughter vividly conveys the reality of combat during World War II in his book with sweeping passages that literally place his reader on the battlefield beside him." Belvoir Eagle
Before D-Day, regular army soldiers called the National Guardsmen of Virginia's 116th Infantry Regiment "Home Nannies" and "Weekend Warriors" and worse. On June 6, 1944, on Omaha Beach, however, these proud Virginians who carried the legacy of the famed Stonewall Brigade showed the regular army and the world what true valor really was. In this moving World War II memoir, the author captures the life of GI Joe from pre-Pearl Harbor days through training, deployment overseas, and more training. All leads up to D-Day and Normandy on June 6, 1944, when Sergeant Bob Slaughter came across Omaha Beach with Company D of the 116th Infantry and the Bedford Boys.
Synopsis
Before D-Day, regular army soldiers called the National Guardsmen of Virginia’s 116th Infantry Regiment “Home Nannies,” “Weekend Warriors,” and worse. At Omaha Beach on June 6, 1944, however, these proud Virginians who carried the legacy of the famed Stonewall Brigade showed the regular army and the world what true valor really was.
This moving World War II memoir captures the day-to-day comings and goings of G.I. Joe from pre–World War II National Guard days through induction, training, deployment overseas, and more training. It all leads to Normandy, when Sergeant Bob Slaughter came across Omaha Beach with Company D of the 116th Infantry. But even that was only the beginning of a march that would take him and his fellow soldiers of Company D, at least those who survived, to Holland, the Bulge, and on into Germany itself—the long march to final victory in Europe.
Synopsis
About the Author
John Robert Slaughter enlisted in the Virginia National Guard well before Pearl Harbor in early 1941 at the age of sixteen. Just twenty at the end of the war, in 1947 he married and settled in Roanoke, Virginia. Upon his retirement from the Roanoke Times in 1987, Slaughter, who had become active in veterans affairs over the years, started to work on the creation of a memorial to commemorate the sacrifice of the American soldiers at Normandy. On June 6, 2001, the National D-Day Memorial was dedicated. Bob Slaughter lives in Roanoke, Virginia.Alex Kershaw is author of the widely acclaimed World War II histories The Bedford Boys: One American Town's Ultimate D-Day Sacrifice, The Longest Winter: The Battle of the Bulge and the Epic Story of World War II's Most Decorated Platoon, and The Few: the American "Knights of the Air" Who Risked Everything to Fight in the Battle of Britain. He lives in Bennington, Vermont.John Robert Slaughter enlisted in the Virginia National Guard well before Pearl Harbor in early 1941 at the age of sixteen. A veteran jopurnalist, he retired from the Roanoke Times in 1987. Active in veteran affairs for many years, Slaughter then began to work for the creation of a memorial to commemorate the sacrifice of the American soldiers at Normandy. On June 6, 2001, the National D-Day Memorial was dedicated. Bob Slaughter lives in Roanoke, Virginia.
Table of Contents
Contents
Foreword by Alex Kershaw
Introduction
Chapter One: How It All Began
Chapter Two: Stateside Training
Chapter Three: Going Abroad
Chapter Four: The 29th Rangers
Chapter Five: Assault Training
Chapter Six: The D-Day Plan
Chapter Seven: Rough Ride to Hell: Omaha Beach, Dog Green
Chapter Eight: Omaha to Saint-Lô
Chapter Nine: Saint-Lô and Beyond
Chapter Ten: Shrapnel Wound at Hill 203
Chapter Eleven: Recovery and Return
Chapter Twelve: A Long Winter into Spring
Chapter Thirteen: My War Ends
Epilogue
Appendix I: Eyewitness Accounts: Omaha Beach, 29th Infantry
Appendix II: Tricky Tides at Omaha Beach
Appendix III: Fatalities, 1944–1945: D Company, 116th Infantry Regiment
Glossary
Acknowledgments