I am taking a shot at a book review of the Nyquist book, of the shoot me any suggestions you may have. 99th Battalion: The long way home. Available in Hard and soft cover, the 2014 edition is a new English Translation with greatly expanded illustration section. The author, Gerd Nyquist, had been a bestselling mystery writer in her home country for twenty years when the unusual story of an American battalion of Norwegian speaking soldiers and its very unique place in her country’s history caught her attention. For the first time available to the English reading public is an oral history of one of the most unusual units in WWII. It has long been available in Norwegian, and was written by Norway’s preeminent crime novelist. Her book, Bataljon 99 or 99th Battalion is an unparalleled oral history of this unique battalion. Gathered in The United States and Norway from the veterans of the unit. First published in 1981 in Oslo, the book is now available in a US Edition with the full cooperation of the 99th Battalion Educational Foundation. Standing in the shadows of its better knows sister “Ethnic Battalion”. Like the 100th Infantry Battalion, the ‘Nisei’ formed of Japanese Americans serving in Hawaii on the eve of Pearl Harbor, the 99th Infantry Battalion was created by the War Department in 1942. This unit was specifically established for Norwegian Nationals living in the United States and Americans of Norwegian Extraction. They would go on to serve with some of the most storied units in WWII. The story of a battalion follows its formation in Minnesota, training at over 10,000 foot elevations in Colorado’s Camp Hale and their combat experiences in the European Theater of Operations. The battalion trained as ski troops with the storied 10th Light Division in the winter of 1942/3 and assigned to General Omar Bradly as First Army’s tactical combat force. They served with the Provisional Ranger Group after D-Day and were attached to the 2nd Armored Division (Hell on Wheels) and the 30th Division (the Blue and Grey) in hard fighting across Northern Europe. When the Battle of the Bulge began, the Battalion led “Task Force Hansen” to plug the gap in allied lines at Malmedy, Belgium. This critical town held against the advancing Nazi Panzers by elements of a Combat Engineer Company. With drawn from the lines after a month of continuous bitter cold fighting, they joined the veterans of the First Special Service Force (The Devils Brigade), including over four hundred members of Darby’s Rangers to form a new regiment with a secret mission. This collection of veteran interviews is told by an experienced story teller. Nyqiust brings the memories and stories of xx veterans of the battalion together with her research in the archives in Norway and the United states to explore the history and achievements of these men.
Posted on: Wed, 25 Jun 2014 15:35:18 +0000
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