description: Come, walk with me on a journey back to the dark and threatening days of World War II as I lived it. Those will be back in the days of Churchill, Eisenhower, Roosevelt and Stalin. They're back in the days of conscription, of induction into the military, of basic training and yes, back when soldiers, civilians, children and our entire civilization began to die. This will take you back also to the miracle of Officer's Training School where a young bewildered Corporal could be turned into a 2nd Lieutenant in ninety days from a clerk typist in the Payroll Section, Regimental Headquarters, Camp Robinson, Arkansas, and would then, in a very short time, command a company of 200 combat infantry soldiers. He would eventually be decorated with three Bronze Star medal citations, a Presidential Unit citation and the Croix de Guerre with Palm from the Republic of France in appreciation of his activities while there during the war. Come with me as we explore the shores of Utah Beach where so many G. I. bodies washed up amid the carnage and litter of war. Those were the bodies of our young soldiers who last wrote home with, "Mom, don't worry". Jim Thome tells it as he experienced it. He tell of the dead bodies on the beaches, the hedgerows, C rations, calvaldos, combat fatigue, trench foot and self inflicted wounds. He tells of the Battle of the Bulge, the crossing of the Rhine River and the untold stories of desertion and cowardice and the disappearance of a private who later reappeared as an officer in the rear, far removed from the front lines. He includes stories of flame throwing German tanks, the plundering and looting by our troops and yet, it also includes the unbelievable heroics of our Government Issued and in many instances, our young teen aged soldiers. So come along with me. The journey of your life which you'll never forget. "And so, dear friends and comrades from Company C, 253rd Regiment and from Company L, 315 Regiment, to you I devote my story. To you who are resting where you fell or perhaps resting in the fields where poppies still grow. My prayers are forever for you and for what you sacrificed for our little band of soldiers and especially for the honor and freedom of our great country." - James Thome
language: English
title: One Soldier's Journey
titlecomplete: One Soldier's Journey
ratings_count: 2
publisher: Trafford Publishing