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Random Chance: One Infantry Soldier's Story

by Orion C. Shockley

241 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); catalogue #06-2429; ISBN 1-4251-0671-4; US$21.95, C$21.95, EUR14.99, £11.50

Amusing to tragic. Foolhardy to heroic. These were one infantry soldier's experiences during WWII in North Africa and Europe. Extensively documented with original photographs, orders, citations, and letters.

About the Book

From amusing to tragic, from foolhardy to heroic, these were the personal experiences of one infantry soldier during World War II. After attending Officer Candidate School, Orion C. Shockley was sent overseas to North Africa and served as a forward observer for one of the first cannon companies to be attached to an infantry regiment. He was almost court-martialed in Sicily. In England he entertained U.S.O. performers like James Cagney, and was the ring announcer for a Joe Louis exhibition boxing match. Landing at Utah Beach in Normandy, he fought across France, Belgium, and into Germany as commander of a rifle company. His combat experience ended in the Hurtgen Forest. Through it all, he had two concerns uppermost in his thoughts: the well-being of the men under his command, and the well-being of the loving wife he had left at home.

About the Author

Orion C. Shockley began his military service with the Missouri National Guard in 1940. After attending Officer Candidate School and Cannon Course Number 1, he was assigned to a heavy weapons company in the 9th Division, 47th Regiment, in North Africa. He served with this infantry regiment through Sicily, England, France, Belgium, and Germany. Wounded three times, he was finally honorably discharged as a captain in December of 1945. His innovative leadership style has been evident in his experiences since then as a school administrator, a photographer, a hands-on investor in the building of cruise ships, an owner of a macadamia nut plantation in Australia, and a real estate businessman in Alaska.

Excerpts