Up Close: A Scouts Story from the Battle of the Bulge to the Siegfried Line

The late John Davis, with Anne Riffenburgh, tells John's story of being a scout and BAR man with the 106th Infantry Division from the Battle of the Bulge through the push into Germany. In 1941, John Davis is a brash young man reveling in the sights and sounds of Los Angeles - not a bad fate for a country boy from Colorado who grew up during the Great Depression. An ocean away, life is far less rosy for those living in the shadow of war. John has heard about Hitler, who seems to have mesmerized the German people and is threatening an entire continent. John is pretty certain that none of it is going to touch him. On December 7, 1941, the Japanese launch their attack on Pearl Harbor, and all bets are off. Swept up in a surge of anger and patriotism, John joins the Army, undergoes three years of training, and in the fall of 1944, becomes part of the 106th Division - the last division to be made and the youngest division ever to go overseas. His plan for survival is simple: he will watch out for his own rear end and nobody else's. On the morning of December 16, 1944, John "Davy" Davis and 100 fellow soldiers head toward an area in Belgium called the Schnee Eifel, to face off with the Germans and take part in searing action that will eventually be known as the Battle of the Bulge. If John could know what is coming, he might be filled with dread. Instead he feels a burning need to get down to business. 2 photos. A Merriam Press World War 2 Autobiography.