The First Men In: US Paratroopers and the Fight to Save D-Day (Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Ruggero retraces the course of the storied 82nd Airborne Division as it jumped into occupied France on the night before June 6, 1944, in this vivid and often intimate account. Focusing on "those crucial first three days in France," he portrays the chaotic, often frantic fight, led by Maj. Gen. Matt Ridgway and Brig. Gen. Jim Gavin, to secure the critical roads and bridges leading to Utah Beach in order to prevent a German counterattack. Supreme Allied Commander Dwight Eisenhower knew the dangers inherent in putting lightly armed paratroopers behind enemy lines—casualties were projected at 70%—but approved the operation since he believed the paratroopers were crucial to the assault. Despite missed drop zones, scattered units, lost equipment and fierce German resistance, the 82nd pulled together ad hoc units and proceeded to accomplish its mission with skill and uncommon valor. Relying on memoirs, histories and especially interviews with campaign veterans, Ruggero, a former infantry officer, draws on his skills as a novelist (The Academy) and historian (Combat Jump) to deliver a moving portrait of the service and sacrifices of the U.S. Army's first airborne division. (June 1)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

Novelist and infantry veteran Ruggero adds laurels to his nonfiction record with this account of American paratroopers on D-Day. The crack 505th Regiment took its objective, the crucial road junction of St. Mere Eglise behind Utah beach, but weather, faulty navigation, poor maps, and just plain bad luck still scattered most of the other paratroopers all over Normandy. Some drowned in swamps, others were promptly rounded up by the Germans, and some rejoined friendly forces only weeks later by way of the French resistance. Meanwhile, they caused the Germans a great deal of confusion, holding road junctions, shooting generals, cutting telephone lines, destroying supplies, and generally keeping the Germans wondering what was going on until the amphibious troops were well ashore and advancing inland to relieve their airborne comrades. Seldom in military history has so successful a diversion been executed by accident. Seldom if ever will so fine an account of it be written again. Roland Green
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Harper Paperbacks (May 29, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 006073129X
• ISBN-13: 978-0060731298
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #493,482 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Airborne! All the Way!, August 11, 2006

By	A. B. Powers - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The First Men In: U.S. Paratroopers and the Fight to Save D-Day (Hardcover)

This is a good follow-up to Ruggero's book "Combat Jump: The Young Men who led the assault into Fortress Europe July 1943". As the title implies, it focuses on the airborne assaults into Normandy in June 1944. Ruggero is a former infantry officer who is also an experienced author. This makes for a great combination, as he writes about small unit actions in a way that makes sense tactically, but he avoids jargon or writing paragraphs like he is revising a tactics manual.

The strength of the book is that it is based on first person interviews with American participants in the invasion. He focuses at squad, platoon and company levels and provides battalion and above details only as context. In this vein, the book is similar to Ambrose's "Band of Brothers", but Ruggero's subjects are the troopers of the 82nd Airborne "ALL AMERICAN" Division, with an emphasis on the 505th PIR. Ruggero's work may somewhat compensate for the interest spawned in the Screaming Eagles by Ambrose, Spielberg, Hanks, et al.

The reliance on interviews is also, sadly, a weakness, as Ruggero states that many of his subjects passed away between the publication of "Combat Jump" and the start of his research for "The First Men In". To augment the stories of the paratroopers who were interviewed, he relied on well known secondary sources such as Clay Bair's "Ridgway's Paratroopers" and Marshall's "Night Drop". He takes the time to discuss discrepancies between interviewee recollections and Blair's or Marshall's accounts of the invasion, but it would have been interesting to see what he could have done with some primary sources to supplement his research.

A minor complaint is that Ruggerro identifies SGT Alvin York as the 82nd's only WWI Medal of Honor recipient, when discusing the division's early history. This overlooks the achievements of LTC Emory J. Pike, the 82nd Division machine gun officer at Vandieres France on 15 September 1918. LTC Pike received a posthumous MoH for his heroism. Any trooper who has marched in the Division review knows Pike Field, named in his honor.

Overall, I recommend this one.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another Ruggero airborne drop on target!, June 24, 2006

By	Mannie Liscum (Columbia, MO United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The First Men In: U.S. Paratroopers and the Fight to Save D-Day (Hardcover)

Ed Ruggero scored a hit with his previous book, "Combat Jump: The Young Men Who Led the Assault Into Fortress Europe, July 1943", and is likely to do so again with his latest effort - "The First Men In: U.S. Paratroopers Fight to Save D-Day". While "Combat Jump" Ruggero's story was focused on the first mass U.S. Army employment of airborne forces, namely the 82nd Airborne jump into Sicily, "The First Men In" is centered on the efforts of the 82nd in Normandy during the first couple days the invasion by the Allies in June 1944. In his 300 odd pages of prose Ruggero creates a vivid and human story of the first few days of paratrooper combat in Normandy. Almost the entire story is focused on the 82nd objectives of D-Day and their exploits to achieve them. Central to the story told here is the (now) famous little Norman hamlet of Ste. Mere Eglise and its immediate geographical and tactically important environs. Ruggero utilizes primary, secondary and personal interviews to weave his story from individual trooper to division commanders (Matt Ridgeway and Jim Gavin, in particular).

If the reader wants compelling combat prose this is it. Yet, if the reader is looking for more beyond combat Ruggero delivers on that count too! "The First Men In" starts with descriptions of the genesis of the 82nd (and American airborne forces in general), its leaders (mostly Gavin in this case), and first employment in Sicily. Ruggero also spends considerable valuable words giving the reader a lucid and concise glimpse into the planning, staging and training of, and for, Operations Neptune (the airborne portion of Overlord) and Overlord (the June 1944 invasion of Fortress Europa). Having done this the reader gets a greater appreciation for how `risky' and `controversial' the airborne portion of Overlord was to Allied leaders, and what was ultimately to be gained if Neptune was successful. Ruggero provides one of the clearest descriptions of Neptune that this reviewer has yet to read. The reader must remember that "The First Men In" is focused on the All Americans (82nd Airborne Div) and as such his descriptions of Operation Neptune and the subsequent combat in Normandy are not all inclusive of the airborne operations - the important exploits of the Screaming Eagles (101st U.S. Airborne Div) and British 6th Airborne Division are not covered in detail. Ruggero does not entirely ignore these components of Neptune, but rather gives large brush strokes to these players and events.

Beyond Ruggero's text to describe the planning and execution of Operation Neptune in the 82nd Airborne airhead, Ruggero devotes the final chapter of the book to giving the reader a few examples of what happened to some of the individual troopers discussed during the combat sections after the invasion. These snapshots of life (and death) after D-Day provide additional humanity to the story told in "The First Men In".

All in all "The First Men In" is a fabulous read, very well written and solidly researched. Worth a look by anyone interested in airborne operations in WWII. 5 stars.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great book of history that reads like a novel, September 9, 2006

By	R. Enzenauer (Aurora, CO, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The First Men In: U.S. Paratroopers and the Fight to Save D-Day (Hardcover)

Ed Ruggero has written an absolutely fantastic history of some of the most significant airborne operations surrounding the Normandy invasion. To nit-pick the selection of the book title or a minute detail of 82nd Medal of Honor history from World War I doesn't do justice to the otherwise meticulous research and master story-telling of this inspiring author. This well-written prose is fast-paced and as readable as any historical fiction. Ruggero is superb in his description of small unit airborne operations in World War II. In my opinion, much better than the previous standard set by MacDonald's World War II memoir COMPANY COMMANDER. And just as good as Vietnam small unit memoirs - McDonough's PLATOON LEADER and Moore and Galloway's WE WERE SOLDIERS.