Those Devils in Baggy Pants [Hardcover]

Ross S. Carter (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Buccaneer Books (December 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0899666132
• ISBN-13: 978-0899666136
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.7 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #662,602 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is a story of men who make America proud, September 6, 2005

By 

Eugene A Jewett "Eugene A Jewett" (Alexandria, Va. United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Those Devils in Baggy Pants (Hardcover)

Ross Carter, a paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne wrote this story almost 60 years ago. He then abruptly died shortly after WWII because of a "bad" mole which caused his melanoma cancer to metastisize. Too bad, because his story as told in this book is worthy enough to merit a follow-on.

His personal story is presented as a series of vignettes. Considering the arduousness of his task as a soldier, it must have been a tall order to write it down contemporaneously with living it. It starts with his tales of parachute training in North Africa followed by a prolonged bloody stint in Italy, circa the autumn of '43 followed by his units' subsequent experiences in the Battle of the Bulge in the Fall of '44. They were in frontline combat under the most difficult of conditions for over 300 days while suffering a >200% replacement rate. It's a miracle that anyone could live through the descriptions of combat as laid out in the book, meaning Carter was remarkably fortunate to have "made it". The core of the story reflects the self sacrificing nature of these men who carry the mantle of American greatness on their collective shoulders. When you compare their heroics to the carping classes in today's America the contrast is glaring. It makes me reflect on the attutudinal differences between the time of Rome's greatness and the time of its collapse.

I've read many stories of combat such as "Fields of Fire" by Webb, "Face of Battle" by Keegan, "Dispatches" by Herr, "A Rumor of War" by Caputo, "Once an Eagle" by Myrer, "Goodbye Darkness" by Manchester, and "Soul of Battle" by Hansen, to cite a few, but to my mind none are as relentless or as compelling as this story. The poignant little things that pop-up in every vignette plus the feeling for these men as nothing less than a force of nature is beyond comparison. One can only marvel at them.

This book explains both directly and indirectly the components of leadership, the kind needed to not only demand excellence, but to get it. It's a story thousands of years old, retold as though a composite of today. It's still us vs them and it's here or there. That there are differences in the technologies of war or of the geographical landscape makes less difference than that it's mano a mano with the will to fight and win the pre-eminent factor ( Victor Davis Hansen describes this well in his terrific work "Soul of Battle.)"

The way to read this book is to imagine a combat infantry paratrooper, dodging death both day and night on a constant basis, taking the time to write down his reflections of the conflict within which he's a participant. Read it and you'll see what I mean. This is one helluva book.

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Most engrossing combat book I've ever read,, March 19, 1999

By 

Don Struke (Baltimore, MD USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Those Devils in Baggy Pants (Hardcover)

I may be the only reviewer who read the original paperback (in the early 50s - I remember a postscript referred to Ross Carter's death from cancer - I recall it was a melanoma on his back, for war author trivia buffs - and he's buried on a hillside in rural Virginia, I think). To this day I remember how devastated I was to read this vivid, image-rich book and then learn at the end that its author died so young, but so ironically peacefully (I hope it was peaceful...he earned it). His frank, honest,human account of what he and his fellow soldiers experienced has stayed w/me for more than 40 yrs. It's an incredible book and I for one am very thankful the rough edges of Carter's literary artistry were not smoothed, that his story, apparently, was published so soon after it happened that no "smoothing" editor had time to polish it. Folks, I read this book four decades ago and HIGHLY recommend it. Wish my Mom hadn't tossed that paperback.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent insight into the 504th PIR during World War II., December 28, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Those Devils in Baggy Pants (Hardcover)

History books rarely get into the everyday lives and thoughts of soldiers during war. This book does that and more by chronicling the exploits of Company C, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 82nd Airborne Division during its 6 European Campaigns during World War II. The book is a little rough around the edges because Ross Carter, a member of Company C, died of cancer in 1947 before he could rewrite the original draft. Still, it conveys the thoughts and actions of this elite force like no history book can. Especially compelling is the Battle of Cheneux during the Battle of the Bulge which has been compared to the final battle in Saving Private Ryan but with many more casualties.