3rd Armored Division and General Rose

 Bolger, Daniel P.  The Panzer Killers: The Untold Story of a Fighting General and His Spearhead 

          Tank Division's Charge into the Third Reich.  New York: Dutton Caliber, 2020.

If you are seeking a story about one of the least well-known American generals of World War II, The Panzer Killers will give it to you.  You will find tales of daring, tales of bravery, desperate charges, exultation, and tragedy in this tale of one general and his well-led division.  

Maurice Rose took command of  the 3rd Armored Division in Lighting Joe Collins' VII corp during the Normandy Campaign right after Operation Cobra got rolling.  Rose had worked under Patton in North Africa and Sicily before coming to England to take part in Overlord.  So he brought experience and  insight into German tactics when he was transferred from 2nd Armored Combat Command A to head the 3rd Armored Division.  Rose worked his officers to ensure that they would do what he wanted when he wanted it done.  And he did not sit behind the lines in a command post drawing lines on the map.  Instead, he and a small group would be moving from unit to unit, assessing how the attack was going, who needed more prodding, or when to halt and switch tactics.  It was dangerous to be in Rose's command group as the 3rd Armored fought their way through France, into Netherlands and Belgium.  The 3rd Armored took part in the Hurtgen Forest attack and helped stem the Germans in the Battle of the Bulge.  Then came the plunge into Germany proper.  The 3rd Armored followed the 104th Infantry across the Roer River and finally had a chance to cut loose again.  The Pershing tanks (the few that made it to Europe) proved their worth in the taking of Cologne.  The 3rd Armored crossed the Rhine at Remagen and moved out in March 1945 into the German hinterland.  In the Wild West of the last days of the war, Rose overplayed his hand.  He and his small command group was ambushed by a group of Germans and he was killed.  He was one of the few American generals killed in action during World War II.  The 3rd Armored finished the war under General Doyle Hickey.  

Daniel P. Bolger, an experienced armor commander, examines how Maurice Rose shaped the 3rd Armored Division to be a model of a well drilled fighting division.  Bolger nicely uses documentation personal stories to provide a rounded look at both the 3rd Armored Division and General Maurice Rose in action.  So, if you are looking to fill a gap in your knowledge of American fighting generals and their units, do pick up The Panzer Killers.  You will not be disappointed!

Libertarians vs Bears

Hongoltz-Hetling, Matthew.  A Libertarian Walks Into a Bear: The Utopian Plot to Liberate an

       American Town (and Some Bears).  New York: Hachette, 2020.  ISBN: 978-1-5417-8851-0

Take a reporter, a small town in western New Hampshire (Grafton),  a libertarian utopian project (Free Town Project circa 2004-2019), mix in brooding forests, plenty of bears, and a whole mess of folks, and you have this book.  It is a tale of free wheeling, radical idealism run amuck in rural New Hampshire where oddly enough, similar concepts seemed to be part of its history.  So set back, grab a doughnut or two, plenty of beverages and dive into this world of bears, bears, and strange folk.

Matthew Hongoltz-Hetling breaks the story into three books (Verge of the Wild; Rugged Growth; and Boundless Ruins) with multiple chapters in each book.  He has an interesting cast of characters telling bits of the story what with a logical libertarian, a very strange pastor, a bear fighting firefighter, a former Moonie, plus assorted other libertarians and townsfolk.  Not to mention the bureaucracy of bears out in the woods eating doughnuts, stray cats and dogs, plus the occasional chicken.  The story winds between the present and the past in the same manner that the roads of Grafton manage between clearing and forest.  

A Libertarian Walks Into a Bear is the tale of a utopia gone awry as they so often do in the Northeast and the rest of America.  Grand plans are all too often crushed when reality refuses to bend to wishful thinking.  And even true believers will succumb to guilty pleasures such as paved roads, decent schools funded by local taxes, and bear patrols.  But if you are interested in reading about libertarianism in the wild and the muck-up that ensues, be sure to pick up this title and enjoy yourself!