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'Citizen Soldiers: The U.S. Army from the Normandy Beaches to the Bulge to the Surrender of Germany, June 7, 1944-May 7, 1945' by Stephen E. Ambrose

Ambrose Makes A Gallant Return To WWII Battlefields

Sunday, December 07, 1997

By Cornelius Murphy

	Citizen Soldiers: The U.S. Army from the Normandy Beaches to the Bulge to the Surrender of Germany, June 7, 1944-May 7, 1945 By Stephen E. Ambrose Simon & Schuster $27.50

The author of "Undaunted Courage," the best-seller on the Lewis and Clark expedition, has published a sequel to his earlier study of the invasion of Normandy, "D-Day."

"Citizen Soldiers" picks up the battle in the early hours of June 7, 1944, and follows the campaign from the beaches to the liberation of Paris in August. From September until the middle of December, inconclusive battles are fought until the stalemate is broken by the unexpected great counter-offensive by the Germans, the Battle of the Bulge.

With the new year, the war in Northwestern Europe begins with an Allied offensive that leads to the German surrender in May.

To construct his narrative, Ambrose draws upon previously published works and draws amply upon oral histories and written memoirs. The war is viewed from the point of view of GIs and their immediate superiors.

The American sources are supplemented by the perspectives of their adversaries.

"Citizen Soldiers" is primarily about the inspired amateurs who made up the bulk of the U.S. Army in the European Theater. Ambrose is convinced that these soldiers fought with as much assurance of the value of their cause as did their Civil War counterparts.

He concedes that few who participated in Europe wanted to be there, but he shows how most did their duty no matter what the cost. As the book makes clear, the cost of this "conventional" war was beyond all imagining.

The casualty figures are appalling. The Battle of Normandy was fought between forces of substantially equal strength. It lasted 75 days. Allied casualties were more than 200,000. Of the 40,000 who died, two-thirds were American.

The Germans suffered twice as many casualties and nearly six times as many deaths. In the fall, 90 days of fighting brought 24,000 Allied losses. To cross the Moselle and take Metz, the Third Army took nearly 50,000 battle casualties.

In spite of the losses, there was little progress. To Ernie Pyle, the famous correspondent, the war had become a "a revulsion of the mind and an exhaustion of the spirit."

What had gone wrong? Ambrose says the troubles began in August, when it was decided not to chase the retreating enemy into Germany.

There was also a false optimism. The Allied leaders were certain that the Wehrmacht was finished. Thinking that the war would end by the beginning of November, they did not issue winter clothing. The winter of 1944-45 was to be the coldest in more than 40 years.

These were errors of judgment. But the manner in which the continuing battle was conducted was becoming a novel form of manslaughter.

Eisenhower had decided upon a war of attrition. Constant pressure was exerted upon junior officers to carry out preconceived battle plans, regardless of the chances of success. Ambrose is certain that this led to the unnecessary loss of tens of thousands of young men.

The Americans relied upon an endless supply of young replacements. These expendables were sent ill-prepared, scared and bewildered from basic training to the foxholes at the front. More than half were casualties within the first three days of combat.

By the end of 1944, after four months of hell, little had been gained.

January 1945 would be the most costly month of the whole campaign. During the first month of that year when the final offensive began, 6,000 Americans were killed.

By the time the terrifying adventure ended, those who survived would be forever proud of what their courage, initiative and perseverance had accomplished. Their only regret was for their comrades who would never return.