Thomas M. Rice

Trial by Combat: a Paratrooper of the 101st Airborne Division Remembers the 1944 Battle of Normandy Thomas M. Rice

This is a thrilling personal account of a paratrooper's experiences in the 1944 battle for Normandy. In simple yet eloquent prose Rice tells how he and his regiment parachuted behind enemy lines six hours before the Allies stormed the beaches of Normandy on D-day. Rice doesn't sanitize or sensationalize his story; he tells us of the utter chaos of battle - the terror, the carnage, the horror, the folly of war. Words such as patriotism, courage, and honor are seldom written by Rice, but in the facts and eyewitness accounts presented here, we discover what genuine patriotism is, what courage consists of, and what a frightful price must sometimes be paid for honor.