Customer Reviews

UNLESS VICTORY COMES: Combat With a Machine Gunner in Patton's Third Army

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Nice, easy to read account of some pretty intense action. I've read so much about the ETO that I'm starting to read accounts of the same events by different authors. That's pretty nice since I've found that some accounts support each other, and some accounts don't. That shows just how different units that fought the same battle a couple of miles apart could have had a completely different experience. This book adds a really great first person account to the history of WW2. Fans of the ETO will enjoy this perspective. Those less studied will find that Mr. Garrison helps put a face and name to the action that general interest WW2 volumes could never do.

I think you'll enjoy this book enough to reccomend it to someone else.

"Unless Victory Comes", by Gene Garrison (with Patrick Gilbert). Subtitled: "Combat With A Machine Gunner In Patton's Third Army". Casemate, Havertown, PA, 2004.

At the very end of his book, Gene Garrison states that "...this book is my memoir. It is not intended to be a definitive history of the fighting in Europe".

The author has accomplished his stated purpose, as he has produced a matter-of-fact memoir that describes his experiences in the European Theatre of Operations. As a young man (one of his chapters is entitled, "Turning Nineteen In Battle", page 29), Gene Garrison describes the journey from stateside, (Fort Jackson), to England and then to France, where his outfit, the 87th Infantry Division, arrived after the D-Day invasion.

Unlike so many other personal memoirs, this author rapidly sums up basic training and then his transfer to the "Golden Acorn" division, which he describes as a reserve division that had not seen action since World War I. Private Garrison was volunteered to be machine gunner, which he describes as good in that there were two men together, but was also bad since the firepower of the machine gun would draw down enemy attention. His description of standing on the back of a Sherman tank, as he fired the top mount fifty caliber machine gun is all presented with just the facts, even as he is pushed off the tank to avoid enemy fire. Garrison's memoir goes on in this matter-of-fact fashion until the end of hostilities in Europe. Then, at the very end of war in Europe, Garrison is diagnosed with yellow jaundice and required to go to the hospital. Very poignantly, as he leaves his comrades, he shouts a farewell to Tony D'Arpino, saying, "...you're the only one left from Fort Jackson".

The chapter is closed with a quote from the front of his book, "When the last man was gone, would there be anyone to miss him?"

I read this in a few hours after moving into my new home. The narrative is extremely interesting, detailing Mr. Garrison's experiences in training and then into combat in the ETO. Interestingly, Mr. Garrison was sent to France in December 1944, just in time to participate in the Battle of the Bulge (what luck!). I found his story interesting because of the breadth of missions he was engaged in and the fact that it wasn't all about combat. There are some unforgettable scenes here and you really get a sense of what combat was like for a US machine gunner advancing toward Berlin. Recommended

Gene's story traces his "coming of age" in the terrifying experience of world war II. His experiences demonstrated the vivid memories that followed these soldiers for the rest of their lives. The book was well written, and the flow followed a typical soldier's own limited viewpoint of going from place to place without being told why or what's next, but going ahead and making the most of a tough situation anyway. Many thanks to the men like Gene who sacrificed greatly in horrifying conditions during the war to preserve our freedoms.