Fighting with the Screaming Eagles: With the 101st Airborne from Normandy to Bastogne

By Robert Bowen

Book Overview

Robert Bowen was drafted into Company C, 401st Glider Infantry, 101st Airborne Division, as World War II broke out, and soon afterwards found himself storming ashore amid the chaos on Utah Beach, through unfamiliar terrain littered with minefields and hidden snipers. He was wounded during the Normandy campaign but went on to fight in Holland and the Ardennes where he was captured and his "trip through hell" truly began.

In each of Bowen's campaigns, the 101st "Screaming Eagles" spearheaded the Allied effort against ferocious German resistance or, as at Bastogne, stood nearly alone against the onslaught of enemy panzers and grenadiers. His insights into life behind German lines, after his capture, provide as much fascination as his exploits on the battlefield. An introduction by the world's foremost historian of the 101st Airborne, George Koskimaki, further enhances this classic work.

Written shortly after the war, Bowen's narrative is immediate, direct and compelling. His account, one of the few by a member of a glider regiment, provides a brutal insight into the battlefields of World War II and a vivid recreation of just what life was like in an elite unit. From the horror of D-Day and the despair of captivity, to the taste of C Rations and the fear of soldiers under fire, this memoir tells the full story of one man's total war.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 193514930X
• ISBN13: 9781935149309
• Release Date: August 2010
• Publisher: Casemate Publishers & Book Distributors, LLC
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.88 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.0" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

My Grandfather was in this book.

Bowen writes in his book about a private named Harold Zimburg. If you were to search the national archieves for this name nothing will come up. The name doesnt exist. But,he is a real person...the man in the book called Harold Zimburg is my grandfather, Bowen just got his name wrong.I know this based on my grandfather's POW records, the stories he told while he was alive and the fact that his picture is in the book. Although Bowen got his name incorrect...it was very nice getting to read about my grandfather in World War 2 since he is now deceased. I am very excited there is a book out there that talks about the 401st!

Gripping, First-hand Account

My grandfather is pictured on the cover with Sgt. Bowen, at the bottom left. The vivid details in Sgt. Bowen's book make you feel like you are in 1944, watching all of the action! His book brought to life my grandfather's experiences. I still cannot comprehend what these soldiers endured, and I am so grateful that my grandfather made it back to Maine to start a family and a new life, after seeing so many friends perish. So, I am pestering him to write a book about his experiences now!

An Excellent WWII Airborne Memoir

Sgt Bowen's account of his time in the 101st during WWII is excellently written and includes much of what is missing in other 101st Airborne histories/memoirs. Veterans recollections of war are those of a war fought locally next to your closest friends; Sgt Bowen's is very much in this vein. Sgt Bowen is an astute observer and reporter of his wartime activity in Normandy, Holland, and Germany. His inclusion of being wounded, captured and subsequent interment in medical units, POW camps, and release provide a unique glimpse into this aspect of WWII veterans. Sgt Bowen has produced a book which is a thoughtful addition to the 101st Airborne's WWII history; definitely one not to be missed.

Exhilarating War Book!

Robert Bowen, who lived in Maryland, in 1943 went down to Florida to have basics (if he finishes he would join the 104 infantry division). As fate had it Bowen and a couple other of his 104th friends would be transferred to Fort Bragg where they would join the 401st regiment of the screaming eagles, the elite 101st. Bowen fights in Normandy where he was injured in the ankle. He also fights in the 72-day campaign in Holland (operation Market Garden) and there he participates in the defense of the Island. Bowen also fights at Bastogne but is captured when a German armored division finally over runs Bowen's and the rest of his surviving friend's position. The rest of his book is about trying to stay alive in the POW camp where he and all of his friends are at the edge of death because of the small and some times no rations, and dysentery. Bowen then explains his life after the War, which as you will see is quite sad.

Incredibly moving

After I first interviewed Mr. Bowen in 1998 I had tears in eyes. These feelings of sacrifice, loss, suffering, courage, and heroism surface again in this superb book. FIGHTING WITH THE SCREAMING EAGLES takes you back to the foxhole.