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The
War as I Saw It
1918 Letters of a Tank Corps Lieutenant
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By
Harvey L. Harris
184
pages, bibliography, black and white illustrations
1998, paperbound
ISBN 1-880654-12-1
Order Number: PP121
Price: $14.95
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During World
War I, soldiers in the American Expeditionary Force rarely fought
in the newly developed tank, and those who did manned British
and French tanks since American models did not become available
until after the war. Harris joined the Tank Corps because it was
considered the elite unit of the ground forces and had a certain
amount of romance connected with it. Initially assigned as a driving
instructor, he later saw action at the St. Mihiel salient and
on the Meuse-Argonne front. This book, which offers an extensive
preface, summarizing Harris's life before, during, and after the
war, along with some penetrating insights into his character,
collects 46 letters he wrote home while in service. As they show,
Harris saw war as a game not unlike the football games he played
in his youth. Although he spent only 18 months in Europe, he looked
upon it as a bold adventure, surviving the bad periods and enjoying
the better moments. He returned from war apparently unscathed
in both body and mind. The letters provide an entertaining if
hardly probing portrayal of World War I from a tank officer's
point of view.
Harris saw
war as a game not unlike the football games he played in his youth.
... He looked upon it as a bold adventure, surviving the bad periods
and enjoying the better moments. The letters provide an entertaining
... portrayal of World War I from a tank officer's point of view.
Recommended for academic and public libraries. LIBRARY JOURNAL.
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