Visions from a Foxhole: A Rifleman in Patton's Ghost Corps
Retired commercial artist Foley was an 18-year-old squad leader in the 94th Infantry Division in Europe in the winter of 1945. He led, survived, and drew extensively, creating a portfolio of drawings, many of which are to appear in the finished edition of this memoir. If he draws as well as he writes, the resulting volume should be even more impressive than the text, which already showcases an artist's powers of observation and a keen visual memory. Foley and his comrades came through an underpublicized but thoroughly arduous portion of the northwest European campaign, fighting a still stubborn Wehrmacht while enduring inadequate winter clothing, little air support (it was grounded by the weather), and many officers who, for all the use they were to the GIs, might as well have been on the other side. Foley survived minor wounds, frostbite, green replacements, losing friends, and dealing with fellow soldiers he would rather have lost. Abounding with well-chosen details, his memoir is a harrowing portrait of the infantryman's war.Roland GreenCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved