John H. Canfield was drafted into the
U.S. Army in 1943 and found himself
trained as a frontline medic. He then
volunteered to be a paratrooper with
the very real prospect of jumping out
of airplanes in front of—and
behind—enemy lines. Canfield
experienced a wide breadth of
training, including combat, and felt
he was prepared enough—or lucky
enough—to have survived to tell his
war stories. While his time in combat
was short, his experiences were vast.
John Canfield is the author of
Small Victories in a Great Big War:
The Terrifying and Sometimes Hilarious
Adventures of a World War Two
Paratrooper.
According to the book description of
Small Victories in a Great Big War:
The Terrifying and Sometimes Hilarious
Adventures of a World War Two
Paratrooper, "An incredible journey of
traumatic near-death moments, day to
day drudgery, amusing situations, and
brushes with greatness in World War
II.
Life for a World War II paratrooper
was grave and perilous; John H.
Canfield’s experience was no
different. However, this young man
found himself in so many
crazy—sometimes humorous—situations
that he almost forgot about how
dangerous it was.
Filled with pranksters and superiors
full of bravado and an unfortunate
brush with racial bigotry with a
fellow African American soldier,
Canfield shares his many stories from
basic training and jump school. But
his best stories are from the war.
From having to translate a dinner for
an inebriated superior using his scant
French, to getting chewed out by none
other than General George S. Patton,
Canfield shares a wealth of
experiences from his WWII tour of the
European theater.
In Small Victories in a Great Big War,
John H. Canfield shows that half the
battle is surviving, and that he did.
With bravery and flair, Canfield
returned home to Connecticut with more
than a few amusing anecdotes."
|
|
|
|
|