Sixty Days in Combat: An Infantryman's Memoir of World War II in Europe

By Dean Joy

Book Overview

An Infantryman's Memoir of World War II in Europe Assigned to G Company, 2d Battalion, 5th Infantry Regiment as a sophomore in college. Dean Joy served with the U.S. Army from 1943through the end of... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0891418393
• ISBN13: 9780891418399
• Release Date: March 2004
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.2" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

Thanks for fighting for our country!

This was a good book, and a very easy read. I enjoyed going on the journey with the author, and I am a better person for having read it. That being said, for whatever reason, I was expecting something a little different. I guess with all the war movies and Ken Burns documentaries, I was thinking it might be longer and more "exciting." I feel bad even typing that, since the title clearly says "sixty days in combat," and it is sixty days more than I ever served. I'm still glad I bought it and read it, but if you are looking for something a little more comprehensive, try a different book. Overall, a good read and an interesting take on one man's experience in WW2.

A Story Of A Young Man Growing Up.

"Sixty Days In combat" by Dean P. Joy. Subtitled: "An Infantryman's Memoir Of World War II In Europe." Presidio Press book, Random House, 2004. Born in Colorado in 1924, Dean P. Joy was almost nineteen when he volunteered for the draft in June 1943. He had just finished his freshman year in engineering at the University of Colorado, and, as with so many young men of the time, he was hoping to become a P51 Mustang pilot in the Army Air Corps. The author's poor eyesight squelched that opportunity. So, fortunately (or unfortunately), the young Dean Joy was told to take the test for the Army Specialized Training Program, ASTP. The author expected to be given military training along with his classes in engineering. In October 1943, he and one other fellow arrived at the University of Idaho, in Moscow, Idaho, for the Army Specialized Training Program. Great casualties in the European Theatre of Operations (ETO) caused the cancellation of the ASTP, and Dean Joy, along with " ...some two hundred thousand young Americans in the ASTP" were off to the "...poor bloody infantry after all". (P. 26). As luck would have it, Dean Joy is transferred to the 71st Light Infantry Division, given infantry training and training on mortars, shipped across the Atlantic to the ETO (on board the ship, " USS General Tasker Bliss"), arrived in France (which has an "ancient smell"), and then off to front for sixty days of combat, from March 10 to May 8 1945. Based upon his wife's suggestion, Mr. Joy has scattered sketches of " ...selected scenes that stick in my memory, as if my eye had been a camera" . These sketches (they look like pen and ink) liven up the details that his words describe; the sketches make the book easier to read. In reality, this book is an autobiography of a young man growing up in tough times in a tough arena. Dean P. Joy changes from a youngster, just hitting nineteen, a teetotaler and a kid afraid of girls, to an Army veteran, with the Combat Infantryman's Badge, running a bar in occupied Europe, and married to a displaced person. Perhaps the most poignant line in the book is on page 23, when the young Dean Joy recounts: "...innocent fun..." in snowy Idaho , a carefree memory ... " of the ASTP ...of a very pretty girl who ...stuffed snow down my neck. Oh, how I wanted to get to know her and ask her out on a date! But I was far too shy"

Very enjoyable and well done

Not a bad book at all. Dean Joy joined the war late because of an interesting school deferment. He wanted to fly the famous P-51 Mustang but ended up the71st Infantry Division. The book is very interesting reading about a unit that doesn't get a lot of press because they entered the war so late. The book is an easy read, very well written, and provides a good overview of the end of the war. Of particular interest is his description of four captured P-51 Mustangs that were converted to German use.

Good WWII Memoir of Combat Described by Young American GI

A must for WWII History buffs, but an easy read for all readers. The author recalls how he wanted, along with many other young U.S high school grads to register for military service in WWII and to "fly". With his easy writing style and incredible drawings, Dean Joy pulls you into his daily disappointments as he realized he would fight as an infantryman. You feel what he did as he writes letters home to his beloved parents. Its as though I actually felt, saw, and heard, what this young man did. The remarkable discription of the different sounds of artillery, the German towns and rivers that the Allies went through, the pride of being in Patton's 3rd Army. Along with the author, I hated the "Krauts" and sorrowed over German civilians losing homes and farms to the ravages of war. I literally "willed" this young man to make it home.