After the end of World War II, General George Patton declared that artillery had won the war. Yet howitzers did not achieve victory on their own. Crucial to the success of these big guns were forward observers, artillerymen on the front lines who directed the artillery fire. Until now, the vital role of forward observers in ground combat has received little scholarly attention. In Bracketing the Enemy, John R. Walker remedies this oversight by offering the first full-length history of forward observer teams during World War II. As early as the U.S. Civil War, artillery fire could reach as far as two miles, but without an “FO” (forward observer) to report where the first shot had landed in relation to the target, and to direct subsequent fire by outlining or “bracketing” the targeted range, many of the advantages of longer-range fire were wasted. During World War II, FOs accompanied infantrymen on the front lines. Now, for the first time, gun crews could bring deadly accurate fire on enemy positions immediately as advancing riflemen encountered these enemy strongpoints. According to Walker, this transition from direct to indirect fire was one of the most important innovations to have occurred in ground combat in centuries. Using the 37th Division in the Pacific Theater and the 87th in Europe as case studies, Walker presents a vivid picture of the dangers involved in FO duty and shows how vitally important forward observers were to the success of ground operations in a variety of scenarios. FO personnel not only performed a vital support function as artillerymen but often transcended their combat role by fighting as infantrymen, sometimes even leading soldiers into battle. And yet, although forward observers lived, fought, and bled with the infantry, they were ineligible to wear the Combat Infantryman’s Badge awarded to the riflemen they supported. Forward observers are thus among the unsung heroes of World War II. Bracketing the Enemy signals a long-overdue recognition of their distinguished service.

Rare memoir of a risky job performed by relatively few troops. Honest and observant narrative describes the good, bad, and ugly of the war. Covers World War II's closing months in eastern France and Germany.

Forward Observer is the account of a U.S. Army artillery observation crew in World War Two. Fast-paced and filled with action, the book depicts the soldiers' lives from training at the Army's Field Artillery School at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, a short stay for more training in England, and then the unit's transfer to Tunisia where they occupy the frontlines as forward observers for their artillery battalion. Forward Observer is a moving, personal story of a seldom-told aspect of combat in the Second World War.

Includes 3 charts, 22 map, 8 diagrams and 40 illustrations] This book forms part of the “Vietnam Studies” series produced by various senior commanders who had served in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War; each officer was chosen for their knowledge of the number of specialized subjects that were covered by the series. “This monograph will illuminate some of the more important activities - with attendant problems, shortcomings, and achievements - of the U.S. Army Field Artillery in Vietnam. The wide variations in terrain, supported forces, density of cannon, friendly population, and enemy activity which prevailed throughout South Vietnam tend to make every action and every locale singular. “Though based largely upon documents of an historical nature and organized in a generally chronological manner, this study does not purport to provide the precise detail of history. Its purpose is to present an objective review of the near past in order to assure current awareness, on the part of the Army, of the lessons we should have learned and to foster the positive consideration of those lessons in the formulation of appropriate operational concepts. My hope is that this monograph will give the reader an insight into the immense complexity of our operations in Vietnam. I believe it cannot help but reflect also the unsurpassed professionalism of the junior officers and non-commissioned officers of the Field Artillery and the outstanding morale and esprit de corps of the young citizen-soldiers with whom they served.”

Patton Forward Observers is a story told by a unique collection of highly trained artillery observers who fought every step of the war with Patton's famed Third Army. We remember Patton today only through the service of men like these. This is a soldier's story. Derived from wartime letters and oral histories told by the veterans themselves, we see the classic American Army experience of World War II--the friendships, courage, terror, carnage, humor and ultimate victory that all part of the Patton legend--a legend build by soldiers.

Capturing the chaotic nature of the U.S. Marine experience at war in Vietnam, this memoir recounts the experiences of a young officer in a series of unrelated short pieces. In a narrative as fragmented as the war itself, the only resolution is the same one reached by the Marines who fought--the conclusion of a tour of duty with no happy ending. Each chapter describes a specific event, a story of emotion, or a remarkable person (some are heroes, some are cowards). The reader lives the experience alongside the author, gaining a true sense of the pulse-pounding contact, surrealism, pathos, humor, and beauty that defined one of the low points of the American experience.

Finalist- Army Historical Foundation's Distinguished Writing Award The American Doughboys of World War I are often referred to as the "Lost Generation"; however, in this book we are able to gain an intimate look at their experiences after being thrust into the center of Europe's "Great War" and enduring some of the most grueling battles in U.S. history. Len Fairfield (the author's grandfather) was an Artillery Scout, or Forward Observer, for the U.S. Army, and was a firsthand witness to the war's carnage as he endured its countless hardships, all of which are revealed here in vivid detail. His story takes the reader from a hard life in Chicago, through conscription, rigorous training in America and France, and finally to the battles which have become synonymous with the U.S. effort in France--St. Mihiel and the Argonne Forest, the latter claiming 26,000 American lives, more than any other U.S. battle. Fairfield, with his artillery in support of the 91st ("Wild West") Division, was on the front lines for it all, amidst a sea of carnage caused by bullets, explosives and gas, with the occasional enemy plane swooping in to add strafing to the chaos. Entire units were decimated before gaining a yard, and then the Doughboys would find German trenches filled with dead to indicate the enemy was suffering equally. The AEF endured a rare close-quarters visit to hell until it was sensed that the Germans were finally giving way, though fighting tooth-and-nail up to the very minute of the Armistice. This action-filled work brings the reader straight to the center of America's costly battles in World War I, reminding us once again how great-power status often has to be earned with blood on battlefields.