You Cant Get Much Closer Than This, A.Z. Adkins
You Cant Get Much Closer Than This, A.Z. Adkins
List: $19.99 | Sale: $13.99
Club: $9.99

You Can't Get Much Closer Than This
Combat with the 80th "Blue Ridge" Division in World War II Europe

Author: A.Z. Adkins, Andrew Z. Adkins III

Narrator: Corey M. Snow

Unabridged: 8 hr 34 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 03/29/2022


Synopsis

After the Citadel and Officer Candidate School, Andrew Z. Adkins Jr. was sent to the 80th Infantry Division, then training in the California-Arizona desert. There, he was assigned as an 81mm mortar section leader in Company H, 2nd Battalion, 317th Infantry Regiment.

Lieutenant Adkins and his fellow soldiers took part in light hedgerow fighting that served to shake the division down and familiarize the troops and their officers with combat. While scouting for mortar positions in the woods, Adkins met a group of Germans and shot one of them dead with his carbine. This baptism in blood settled the question faced by every novice combatant: He was cool under fire, capable of killing when facing the enemy.

Adkins acted with skill and courage, placing himself at the forefront of the action whenever he could. His extremely aggressive delivery of critical supplies to a cut-off unit in an embattled French town earned him a Bronze Star, the first in his battalion.

Before his death, Andy Adkins was able to face his memory of war as bravely as he faced war itself. In 1944-45, he did his duty to his men and country—and here, he serves new generations of military and civilian listeners.

About A.Z. Adkins

A. Z. Adkins, Jr. is the author of You Can't Get Much Closer Than This.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Alan Tague on May 05, 2023

A great battle by battle narrative of World War II written by someone literally in the trenches. I must admit my rating is greatly influenced by the fact the author recounts the same journey my father took during this terrible war as a member of the 317th Infantry, Company E. So many details and des......more

Goodreads review by Charlie on September 06, 2014

Good WW11 book but just too wordy for my taste. Yes, I would recommend this book to the WW11 buffs. It did bog down some with (as far as I'm concerned) with too many details that made it confusing and difficult for a clean understanding of what was being said.......more

Goodreads review by Sonny on April 20, 2021

Excellent account of Lt. Andrew Adkins experiences with Combat Company H, 317th Infantry Regiment, 80th Division of the U. S. Army during the latter part of WWII.......more

Goodreads review by Bill on November 18, 2018

The author's father, A.Z. Adkins, Jr., in 1984 and about five years prior to his death in 1989, gave the author a ring binder which contained a journal he had kept during his service during WWII with the U.S. Army unit mentioned in the title. The events documented in that journal are presented in th......more

Goodreads review by Jay on January 20, 2023

When Lt. Andy Adkins was wounded during the fighting at Sivry, France, in October 1944, and sent back first to Paris, then to London, for treatment and recovery, he had time to start writing down all his experiences in World War II to date: his enlistment after graduating from the Citadel in 1943, b......more