Storming Ashore: One Soldier's Adventures in the First Engineer Special Brigade 1942-1945 Including D-Day [Paperback]

Kenneth H. Garn (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1998

"UNIQUE" might best describe the 531st Engineer Shore Regiment. In World War 11, it was perhaps the only U.S.Ground Forces unit to participate in all all major assault landings in the Mediterrean (NorthAfrica, Sicily and Salerno, Italy) and D-Day in Normandy.

The 531st was involved in seven campaigns with more than three years overseas service and was awarded a unit citation, the Crox de Guerre avec Palm, by the French government.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Detailed recollections, sometimes brutally and often amusing" -- Pelican Press

"Garn seems to have total recall of everything he did more than a half-century ago. The book is peppered with stories of the men he served with, women he loved, and, almost incidentally, the battles he fought." -- Middletown Times Herald Record

About the Author

This book describes personal experiences of WWII of this Ohio native, Garn spent his working life in the business world as a partner in ownership of an insurance agency. Along with other civic duties he served as president of theDetailed recollections, sometimes Monticello, New York Rotary Club.

After retiring in 1985 Garn spends his time in leisure fashion playing tennis and deep sea fishing in the Gulf of Mexico. He, and his wife Marianne, divide their time between Sarasota, Florida and their summer home in Cochection Center, New York

Product Details

• Paperback: 260 pages
• Publisher: Univ Editions; Limited edition (December 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1560028211
• ISBN-13: 978-1560028215
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,566,892 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Comments on "Storming Ashore", January 14, 2000

By 

Joshua (Sarasota, Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Storming Ashore: One Soldier's Adventures in the First Engineer Special Brigade 1942-1945 Including D-Day (Paperback)

A gripping story of and by a living example of the "Greatest Generation". As an Air Force officer who flew bombing missions over Europe in World War II, I take my hat off to Ken Garn who stormed ashore in the greatest and possibly the most dangerous invasion of all time.

Joshua T. Winstead, Jr Colonel USAF (Ret.)

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Told by One Who was Really There, January 22, 2002

By 

Larry Kilham "Inventor" (Santa Fe, NM USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Storming Ashore: One Soldier's Adventures in the First Engineer Special Brigade 1942-1945 Including D-Day (Paperback)

The appeal of Ken Garn's account for me is that this is the definitive account of the enlisted man's WW II told by an enlisted man. There are many stories and histories by historians and retired generals, but they gloss over what the man under fire on the beach was thinking about. The story telling is straightforward, personable and engaging.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Special Unit, January 25, 2000

By 

W A Knowlton, General, USA (Ret) (Arlington VA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Storming Ashore: One Soldier's Adventures in the First Engineer Special Brigade 1942-1945 Including D-Day (Paperback)

A good read, given the rising interest in WWII. An amazingly detailed memoir of a man who survived four assault landings and seven campaigns in a special engineer unit which prepared invasion beaches for troop landing, including D-Day. It resonated with this vet of that war, but others will find it compelling as well.