A SOLDIER'S DIARY

A wartime diary by an enlisted man? It is unheard of. They usually write short mementoes of their experiences. Only Generals write wartime diaries. Men like Eisenhower Montgomery Bradley Collins and others but not enlisted men. However to every rule there is an exception. There is this book titled “A Soldier’s Diary” which was written an enlisted man. He served in the U. S. Army Signal Corps during World War 2. The soldier Alfred DiGiacomo kept a daily diary of his experiences during the three years that he served. It is through this diary and family correspondence that the details the life of a G.I.--- The training the routine duties the drama of war the liberation the release provided by passes and leaves the love affairs the challenges of living in the field and under the treat of death are all revealed. Key moments of the war in Europe are presented: London air raids Normandy beachhead liberation of Paris and Brussels the buzz bomb bombardment of Liege and of the building he was in resulting in the death of some of his fellow soldiers and the wounding of himself and many of his fellow soldiers and the horrors of the Buchenwald Concentration Camp.. After his enlistment in the U.S.Army he was trained as a switchboard operator and after months of training he was shipped to England. In October 1943 where he was assigned to the 926 Signal Battalion Sep TAC The 936 provided vital communications for the Ninth Tactical Air Command from the first day the Ninth Tactical Air Command was activated and during and after the invasion of Normandy when the Ninth Tactical Air Command provided fighter bomber support to the U.S. First Army through France Belgium and then into Germany to the Elbe River.