Our War for the World: A Memoir of Life and Death on the Front Lines in WWII

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Our War for the World: A Memoir of Life and Death on the Front Lines in WWII
2006-09-01
Army


By Hymel, Kevin M

Our War for the World: A Memoir of Life and Death on the Front Lines in WWII. Brendan Phibbs. The Lyons Press. 341 pages; black and white photographs; $16.95

Brendan Phibbs was a surgeon with the 12th Armored Division during World War II, but he doesn't devote his memoirs to writing about treating wounded soldiers. Instead Phibbs focuses on battles, war stories and the philosophy of war.

Our War For the World starts out with a gripping tale of helping to carry a dead comrade through a German town in search of an appropriate resting place over the protestations of a rear area officer. The rest of the book is about the division's battles at Herrlisheim and at the Colmar Pocket as well as the attack into Germany and the plight of concentration camp survivors.

Phibbs provides gripping accounts of the battle of Herrlisheim, where the 12th Armored got a bloody nose from the Germans. He actually gave tactical advice to his commanders which they ignored.

Later when it seemed the combat command was about to be overrun, the commander, a colonel, halted the panic around him and ordered his staff to pick up their rifles and defend the headquarters. The timely relief by a group of tanks prevented a standoff, but the incident gave Phibbs a new respect for his colonel.

Phibbs also lays out the enemy's strategy for the battle of the Colmar Pocket, telling several stories of the fighting in southern France and his encounters with French troops and civilians and their revenge on collaborators. One of the longest stories he relates comes from a GI in the 3rd Infantry Division who explained, "pulling a Patton" and a "Truscott operation." Pulling a Patton referred to anyone concerned with ceremonies or ego. A Truscott operation was anything that succeeded through speed and hard work. The GI, of course, did have a bias: Gen. Lucien Truscott had commanded the 3rd Infantry and was much revered by his soldiers.

One of Phibbs' more interesting stories involves a German prisoner who claimed to be an American soldier. He was brought to the combat command headquarters where he explained how the German defenses were laid out and how best to defeat them. Was it a trap or was he telling the truth? The German explained that he had been captured in France by Americans and agreed to be a spy because he did not believe in the Nazi cause, even if it meant the death of his countrymen. A secret password he was given was eventually verified, and the 12th Armored blasted through the German defenses. Phibbs was impressed with the man's bravery for he was risking everything for his beliefs.

While the book is a bit difficult to follow because of Phipps' long soliloquies, it is still an important piece of World War II writing, well worth the effort.

-Kevin M. Hymel

Copyright Association of the United States Army Sep 2006

(c) 2006 Army. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.Copyright 2006, YellowBrix, Inc.

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