In June 1944, as part of a massive amphibious invasion against Nazi-held France, a new type of soldier emerged. These were the Screaming Eagles, members of the newly formed 101st Airborne Division, who parachuted from airplanes in the dark to infiltrate German lines. Their mission was to sow fear among the Nazi defenders, disrupt reinforcements, and eliminate enemy soldiers. In the following week, the soldiers of the 101st engaged in intense close-quarter combat, facing some of the fiercest fighting of World War II.
Donald R. Burgett revisits this relentless and nightmarish battle, recounting the intense combat across fields littered with bodies, through enemy-held hedgerows, in devastated towns, and dense forests. His firsthand account offers a vivid portrayal of a young Private Burgett and his comrades, as well as the birth of an air-mobile fighting force that would become legendary in the annals of war.
