If You Survive: From Normandy to the Battle of the Bulge to the End of World War II, One American Officer's Riveting True Story (Mass Market Paperback)

by George Wilson (Author) "Even though America was heavily engage in World War II in the fall of 1942, I felt safe in enrolling in college because the Marines..." (more)
Key Phrases: tank captain, trench knives, lead scout, Colonel Kenan, Captain Newcomb, Second Battalion (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
In the tradition of Company Commander, an intense memoir of the blood-drenched small-unit combat of World War II--by a man who lived it--and survived. For the first time, George Wilson tells what it was like--the blood, the horror, the death and the glory, all brought vividly to life in the most amazing combat memoir of recent years.

From the Inside Flap
"If you survive your first day, I'll promote you."

So promised George Wilson's World War II commanding officer in the hedgerows of Normandy -- and it was to be a promise dramatically fulfilled. From July, 1944, to the closing days of the war, from the first penetration of the Siegfried Line to the Nazis' last desperate charge in the Battle of the Bulge, Wilson fought in the thickest of the action, helping take the small towns of northern France and Belgium building by building.

Of all the men and officers who started out in Company F of the 4th Infantry Division with him, Wilson was the only one who finished. In the end, he felt not like a conqueror or a victor, but an exhausted survivor, left with nothing but his life -- and his emotions.

If You Survive

One of the great first-person accounts of the making of a combat veteran, in the last, most violent months of World War II.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books (May 12, 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0804100039
• ISBN-13: 978-0804100038
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 4.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (55 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #66,790 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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  #21 in	Books > History > Military > World War II > Normandy
  #70 in	Books > History > Military > World War II > Personal Narratives

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

45 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Powerful account by a true survivor, February 20, 2000

By	John T. Starr (Glendale, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is the only book about WWII ground soldiers I've yet read. Suffice it to say, it was a good start.

Three things really struck me about this book; 1. The author's uncanny memory of events, 2. The events themselves - offering glimpses into every aspect of being a ground soldier, including bravery, strategy, stupidity, cowardice and tragedy. 3. The shocking carnage.

The book's title is derived from a comment a superior officer made to the author before sending him off to battle shortly after the Normandy D-day invasion; "As officers, I expect you to lead your men. Men will follow leaders and I expect my platoon leaders to be right up front. Losses could be very high. Use every skill you possess. If you survive your first battle, I'll promote you. Good luck." With that mortifying send-off, author George Wilson and his fellow officers were sent into battle. Out of all the officers and men starting out in his company, only Wilson finished.

The book presents the author's brave, bloody journey in a straight-forward linear fashion. It is very well written, yet not burdened by attempts at literary greatness. The author, though clearly licensed to preach, spares us the sermon and simply tells it like it was.

Not until the very end of the book does he tell you "Out of all this damned useless war I hope I am entitled to a few simple observations". What follows is a decidedly brief statement that may at first seem to be too brief. Only after reading the last line do you realize that you've already read the most important anti-war statement the author could make; his recollections in the previous 267 pages.

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unbelievable, January 31, 2001

By	Chad R. Reihm (Miami Beach, FL USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

If you are looking for an action packed, non-fiction story of front line combat during WWII then look no further. I have read quite a few personal histories written by former GI's describing their experience in Europe, but very few have been as explosive and action packed as this one. Wilson fought from the St.Lo breakout in July, through France to the Hurtgen, Held the edge of the Bulge in the Ardennes and fought his way across the Rhine into Germany. He was mainly a platoon leader and was therefore, out of necessity, on the front line most of the time. He doesn't write about his home life or even much about camp life seeming to stick to his experience of confronting the enemy and teaching his men to do the same. This book is very cheap and a very easy read so it would be a shame not to pick it up. You won't regret it!

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars First class account of an infantryman in the ETO., February 10, 2001

By	George G. Kiefer (Sevierville, TN United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Author George Wilson was a replacement assigned to F Company of the 22nd Infantry Regiment of the 4th Infantry Division on 7/12/44. Joining the only 5 men left of the original 40 of the 2nd platoon, he was soon caught up in the breakout at St. Lo. The action quickly moves beyond Paris to the heartbreak of the Hurtgen Forest. This is the finest telling of that engagement this reviewer has read. No winter wear, nearly constant and merciless artillery and mortar fire, murderous tree bursts and epidemic trench foot were only part of their suffering. On the morning of 11/30, his company started out with 140 riflemen, two medics, 3 noncoms, and 5 officers. At day's end, they had lost the medics, all noncoms, 4 officers and 90 riflemen. By the next day, there were only a total of 12 men left to the company after reaching their objective, the Cologne Plains. Thoroughly decimated and only partially reinforced, and in a near final irony, they were relieved and given R and R in the Ardennes only days before the start of the Bulge. Unbelievably, the battle weary men of the 4th Div. stopped the Germans cold in their section and managed to set the southern boundary to the 75-mile breakthrough.

George Wilson was never given the decorations or the field promotion he had been promised.