The Remains of Company D
A Story of the Great War
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4.2 • 10 Ratings
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
The Remains of Company D follows the members of Company D, 28th Infantry Regiment, United States First Division in World War I, from enlistment to combat and the effort to recover their remains, focusing on the three major battles at Cantigny, Soissons, and in the Meuse-Argonne and the effect these horrific battles had on the men.
James Carl Nelson's important and powerful tale of the different destinies, personalities, and motivations of the men in Company D and a timeless portrayal of men at war.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Nelson's grandfather fought in WWI. Wounded in 1917, he survived until 1993 but said little about his experience. Inheriting only his grandfather's dog tag, a Purple Heart and a few postcards, Nelson, a former staff writer for the Miami Herald, resolved to tell his story and that of his 250-man company. Using these scraps, old newspaper accounts, government archives, secondary sources and a good deal of imagination, Nelson delivers biographies of dozens of young men, poor and middle-class, swept into the American Expeditionary Force and shipped to France, where General Pershing, anxious to prove the superiority of American fighting men (and convinced that trench warfare was for sissies), flung them at German lines, where they performed magnificently but suffered terrible casualties. Despite a dearth of primary material (no diaries turned up), Nelson delivers a creditable performance, bringing to life an America of 90 years ago in which many eagerly answered their president's call, but others (Nelson's grandfather among them) went about their business until drafted and then dutifully joined the carnage. 16 pages of b&w photos.
Customer Reviews
The Remains of Company D
Well written historical narrative that places you “there” with the ordinary men who did extraordinary things and then could never really explain the full sweep of their emotions about it.