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by Ph. D. John F. Birch (Author)
There were those who doubted whether National
Guard Units could hold up like regular U.S. Army units
in wartime. Routinely assigned missions where the
odds were stacked heavily against them, the 175th
Regiment-29th Infantry Division not only silenced the
doubters, they went on to gain a reputation as one of
the fiercest fighting units of World War II.
This is the story of one infantryman of the 175th-Forest S.
Birch-as told to the author, his son, John F. Birch-over a period of
many years, culminating in a recorded interview, made on June 6,
1994 (50th anniversary of the D-Day beach landings). The transcript
of the interview is included.
Forest Birch's story is personal and intimate-and brings to
light experiences shared by many who served during World War II.
Birch had more than his fair share of good fortune but never forgot
the horrors he witnessed, nor the fear he felt, from the first wave
of beach landings until the ultimate surrender
of the Nazi war machine in April,1945 which
saw his unit just 40 miles outside Berlin.
