Spearhead : an American tank gunner, his enemy, and a collision of lives in World War II
2019
Book
"Clarence Smoyer began the war as a gentle giant, a factory worker from Pennsylvania coal country reluctant to unleash the power of the Sherman tank he crewed. But as his tank platoon fought its way from Normandy to the Rhine and beyond, and he watched his friends cut down one by one, he learned to kill with deadly accuracy and efficiency. His fight would climax in Cologne, in the shadow of the great cathedral, where he took a shot immortalized by a chance photograph--and where he would later forge a friendship with the German tanker he tragically dueled soon after."--Provided by publisher.
Item Details
ISBN:
- 9780804176729
- 0804176728
Edition: First edition.
Description: xiii, 393 pages : illustrations, maps ; 25 cm
Other Title: American tank gunner, his enemy, and a collision of lives in World War II
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Contents:
- The gentle giant
- Baptism
- "Bubi"
- The fields
- The foray
- Beyond the wall
- Respite
- The fourth tank
- Hope
- Something bigger
- America's tiger
- Two miles
- Hunting
- The fire department of the west
- Going first
- Victory or Siberia
- The monster
- The conquerors
- The breakout
- The American blitz
- The fatherless
- Family
- Come out and fight
- The giant
- Getting home
- The last battle.
LCCN: 2018039460
Control Number: 2680645
Publisher: New York : Ballantine Books, [2019]Subjects:
- M26 (Tank) -- History.
- Panther (Tank) -- History.
- Smoyer, Clarence, 1923-
- Tank crews -- United States -- Biography.
- United States. Army -- Officers -- Biography.
- United States. Army. Armored Regiment, 32nd -- Biography.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Campaigns -- Western Front.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Germany -- Cologne.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Germany -- Tank warfare.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Regimental histories -- United States.
Genre: Biographies.