Visions from a Foxhole: A Rifleman in Patton's Ghost Corps

Visions from a Foxhole: A Rifleman in Patton's Ghost Corps. William A. Foley Jr. Ballantine Books. 257 pages; black & white illustrations; maps; $24.95.

William Foley saw World War II up close. he went to the front in January 1945 as a rifleman in the 94th Infantry Division and fought across Germany. Along the way he saw comrades killed, barely escaped death himself a number of times, trekked through eerie, destroyed landscapes and survived the harsh elements.

Foley's book is remarkably candid compared to most World War II memoirs. A replacement, Foley learned fast how to survive and understood that there were no guarantees for coming out of the fighting unscathed. The killings are indiscriminant and brutal. When he first arrives in his unit he gets hit with shrapnel while digging his foxhole. The fragments rip off his helmet, but he is unharmed. Later, he is shot in the chest, but survives because the bullet was slowed when passing through a metal dish he was holding close to his chest in the chow line.

He witnesses an immaculately dressed officer and just as he thinks that such attire could only draw fire, an 88 mm shell blows up the officer, leaving nothing but a pair of dog tags hanging from a tree.

Like many new to combat, Foley was teamed up with a veteran-Dan. he looks up to Dan and learns a great deal from him. The two share a foxhole, fight side by side and head out on night patrols together. Dan's death is poignant despite the massive number of dead.

Foley tells his story in a simple, straightforward narrative. he rarely pulls away from the frontline combat to give the wider picture of the war, though he admits the victories in the history books did not feel like much at the time. he does an excellent job of describing the fighting and the conditions under which he fought. The German landscape seems like something better left to Dante, with perpetually cloudy winter days, dead and partially destroyed trees, mud roads and ruined towns. Foley shows remarkable empathy for soldiers who ran away in combat, explaining that war is difficult and all men have their breaking points.

Not everything in the memoir is misery, however. Besides the camaraderie Foley built with his fellow soldiers, he discovered a pastime in his foxhole both to entertain himself and keep his sanity: sketching the war. Whenever he had the time, he penciled drawings of combat, its aftermath and his comrades. Some of the pictures are in the book and add an extra dimension to the story.

Anyone looking for a book promoting the glories of combat or grand strategies should look elsewhere. If, however, you are looking for the real GI experience in World War II, you will find none better. -Kevin Hymel