Customer Reviews

The Last Kilometer: Marching to Victory in Europe With the Big Red One, 1944-1945

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Price served with 3rd Battalion, 26th Infantry Regt of the 1st Infantry Division. He was a 2nd Lt observer for the 81mm mortar platoon, operating mainly with L Company. His first action is on Christmas Day on the Elbensborn Ridge during the Battle of the Bulge. He then continues with the division on its march through Germany.

As a mortar observer, Price doesn't come face to face with the German's a great deal in battle. He does call down many a fire mission on them though, inflicting various amounts of carnage. He is off course fired upon and has his share of narrow escapes but his exposure and involvement in battle is generally different to that of a rifleman. There are certainly times when he is very much in the thick of things, notably in the attack on Bullingen, where he sees dead men frozen in their battle positions - sometimes still kneeling. Here and in other places he describes well the carnage of war and the tragedies affecting individuals. He is a dutiful officer who readily involves himself in his job, without letting it dehumanize him too much. (Here the Germans are at worst `Jerries'.) At times he shows considerable intelligence in directing his mortar fire and he is proactive too.

Interestingly the book is written in the present tense, which I felt gave it a sense of immediacy. Price is an observant fellow and he outlines the difference between artillery fire and bombing on ground for instance. I found his thoughts on the new snow boots interesting. Though greatly sought after, they had drawbacks too. He also writes about the professionalism of his unit and the attitude of the soldiers. Price was a fluent German speaker, so there are also some things he learned from the enemies perspective too. It was quite ironic that most of Price's officers had German names (Ritter, Schuler etc). I found this memoir to be a good step by step (or town by town) account of this phase of the war. It is a more genteel version than many, and given the authors role, there is a limit to the combat experienced (see my list for my thoughts on the combat component of many US ETO memoirs). Even so there is much of interest. Recommended

Over the last 25 years, I have avidly read many histories and personal accounts of the fighting during the Battle of the Bulge during WW2. Few books have affected me as much as Col. Price's memoir. Col. Price writes that as a young Lieutanant he was attached to "L" company, 3rd Battlion of the 26th Infantry, First Infantry Division. My father also served in "L" company as a rifle squad leader during the same period. Reading Col. Price's book was like having the opportunity to speak again with my deceased father! Dad left me with several stories about his experiences during WW2 and it was amazing to read Col. Price's account. The memoir follows exactly the stories I'd heard and allowed me to place my father's story in the context of the larger battle. Col. Price's account of the assault on Bullingen was like being able to walk beside these men! The accounts of bedsheets as makeshift winter camoflage and wading through waist deep snow matched my father's story exactly. Col. Price's memoir prompted me to examine some old papers Dad had left behind. Among them was a small pocket sized notebook calendar for January 1945. Written in my father's hand were a list of the names ansd serial numbers of 12 soldiers - 1st Squad 3rd platoon of "L" company. As I turned the pages, Dad had entered a 2nd list for the squad. Comparing the two lists only 3 names from the first list had survived to the 2nd list. This was a graphic testament to just how costly this assault was for the men involved! Of all the WW2 memoirs I've read, none affected me as much as this one. Thanks to Col. Price for sharing his experiences - not many veterans have been able to tell thier story and that of their comrades so well.

"The Last Kilometer" by A. Preston Price.
Subtitled: "Marching To Victory With The Big Red One, 1944-1945."
Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, 2002.

Arthur Preston Price was a 1943 graduate of The Citadel, the famous military academy in Charleston, South Carolina. Price, however, was actually born in Germany, 1921, in a U.S. Army hospital where his father was a doctor. The book does not really state where he learned German, but Lt. Price was proficient in the German language. His proficiency in German makes this book even more interesting as Price was called upon to interpret as his unit marched through Europe.

His story begins with the ship transporting him to Europe, in November 1944. Most military memoirs have a lengthy recounting of childhood and schooling, but Price's book jumps directly into the action. On board ship, the SS China Mail, the new lieutenant enjoys the ocean voyage while most of his compatriots are sea sick. In France, they "...decide we will be here for about a month..." and then, "...suddenly we are told to pack and be ready to leave in fifteen minutes". That quote is on page 7, and from then on, the book moves rapidly, as Lt. Price describes, in the first person, his experience in the last months of the war in Europe. The book covers his travels ("From Roehr To The Rhine"), his "corner" of the Battle of the Bulge, the Remagen Bridgehead, and through the Harz Mountains down into Czechoslovakia.

Lt. Price's assignment was forward observer for the mortar platoon, which means that he saw more than most soldiers as they advanced. He had to know where the American soldiers were going and then had to determine where to place the mortar rounds as the troops advanced. Due to his job, he was more aware of the where and when the action took place, and this shows in his account. The book is well written, which shows the efforts of the author and which makes it easy for the reader. Of course, the editing at the U.S. Naval Institute is always superb.

This book is well written, informative, and interesting. My father was in the Big Red One and served from Africa through the end of the war. The Last Kilometer presents a very fine history of the last days of the war, and for the 1st Infantry Division in particular. I liked it so well I bought a copy for my uncle to read.

I found this book to be a very compeling personal account of day to day combat life in a heavy weapons company. My Dad, Capt. Gilbert H. Fuller was the CO for H Company of this same regiment. H Company was the heavy weapons company for the 2nd Battalion of the 26th Infantry Regiment. This book is yet another reminder of the courage and unselfish valor of those that served our country in World War II.