Despite their notable and important achievements, the history of the United States Army Forty-Second Division’s accomplishments during WW-II have remained a footnote in history.  Moreover, most of the personal experiences of the men have remained untold.  This book brings forth these accomplishments and experiences.

This book is a comprehensive work about the Rainbow Division‘s experiences during World War II.  To bring that story alive in a novel, the book centers around my father who is the protagonist and was a “replacement” infantry rifleman assigned to the Rainbow Division after the division was already in Europe.

To provide context, the book touches upon the larger picture of what was happening in the geo-political world, and within the war. 

Some of the history proffered you might know, other portions you may not.  But even those portions you know about, I think you will find some interesting details you were not aware of.   

For the Rainbow Division itself, the book provides an overview of where and what happened to the division on almost a daily basis, starting from leaving Camp Gruber, its home in Oklahoma, until the end of the war.  However, the book also provides detailed stories of individual GIs and their experiences, which helps bring to life what was actually happening on the ground for the men of the division.

In addition, because the book has a special twist in that my father had family on the German side, including in the Nazi Party, the Hitler Youth and the army, the book uses parallelism concerning relevant issues which come from the German perspective.  This brings an additional depth and context to the story.

Lastly, because many of the experiences of the Rainbow Division involved and touched upon significant historical events of the time, instead of getting down into the weeds of those events and thus distracting from the story, there are several Appendices which discuss in depth those historical events, including information about Dachau, the SS & SA, the Hitler Youth & Volksstrum, and the pre-World War II history of the Rainbow Division.

All of the events set forth in this book are true.  The utmost care and time was spent to preserve an accurate record of the events depicted and thus to honor the men who fought so bravely with the Forty-Second Division.