An Honor and A Guard: From Omaha Beach to the Heart of Nazi Germany-One Infantryman's Journey

There were those who doubted whether National

Guard Units could hold up like regular U.S. Army units

in wartime. Routinely assigned missions where the

odds were stacked heavily against them, the 175th

Regiment-29th Infantry Division not only silenced the

doubters, they went on to gain a reputation as one of

the fiercest fighting units of World War II.

This is the story of one infantryman of the 175th-Forest S.

Birch-as told to the author, his son, John F. Birch-over a period of

many years, culminating in a recorded interview, made on June 6,

1994 (50th anniversary of the D-Day beach landings). The transcript

of the interview is included.

Forest Birch's story is personal and intimate-and brings to

light experiences shared by many who served during World War II.

Birch had more than his fair share of good fortune but never forgot

the horrors he witnessed, nor the fear he felt, from the first wave

of beach landings until the ultimate surrender

of the Nazi war machine in April,1945 which

saw his unit just 40 miles outside Berlin.