Merriam Press World War II Memoir The author manned a .50-cal. machine gun in a "Peep" (jeep) as a member of D Troop, 94th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron, Mechanized, 14th Armored Division. Later, he became the gunner of an M8 armored car. The story starts with their shipment overseas on the troopship Gen. James A. Parker, landing in Marseilles, France. Their first foray into combat is in early December 1944. The rest of the story unfolds as the author and his unit move inexorably towards Germany and the end of the war. The story will be familiar to all veterans, with episodes of camaraderie, laughter, combat, fear, losses, tears, peace and joy. This is not a war story, nor is it a story about war; rather it is a story about men whose lives happened to become entangled in a war. 71 photos/illustrations. "I have just finished reading your Troop D memoir and I find that I react to it more strongly than I ever have to any war novel, movie, etc. Perhaps because it is the real thing. I honestly don't see how you kept your sanity and would have liked to sit at your feet and have you tell me how you did it. I think that it is all the more telling because it is so understated — leaving so much to the reader to "fill in" with his own imagination and experience. I loved reading about you and how you felt, but it really leaves me with a deep understanding of what war is and why we must be so careful about getting ourselves involved in everything that is going on today." —John Wood