Omaha Beach and Beyond

Before D-Day, regular army soldiers called the National Guardsmen of Virginia's 116th Infantry Regiment 'Home Nannies', 'Weekend Warriors', and worse. On June 6, 1944, on Omaha Beach, however, these proud Virginians who carried the legacy of the famed Stonewall Brigade showed the regular army and the world what true valor really was. In this moving World War II memoir, the author captures the day-to-day comings and goings of GI Joe from pre-World War II National Guard days through induction, training, and deployment overseas. All leads up to D-Day and Normandy on June 6, 1944, when Sergeant Bob Slaughter came across Omaha Beach with Company D of the 116th Infantry. This was the beginning of his long march to final victory in Europe, a march that would take him and his fellow soldiers of Company D, at least those who survived, to Holland, the Bulge, and on into Germany itself - a fascinating, detailed look at the life and times of an ordinary soldier in the battlefield of Europe.