by Alex Kershaw
6 The hobo warned Sparks: Felix Sparks, Colorado National Guard oral history.
7 “If they catch you”: Ibid.
8 “Yeah, I do”: Ibid.
9 “No, I’m not kidding”: Colorado Lawyer 27, no. 10 (October 1998).
10 He put it all: Felix Sparks, Colorado National Guard oral history.
11 He was going somewhere: Mary Sparks, interview with author.
12 Local bars posted: Joe Medina, interview with Nate Matlock.
13 In September 1940: Allen Beckett, interview with author.
14 On the killing fields: Felix Sparks, Colorado National Guard oral history.
CHAPTER TWO—OFF TO WAR
1 “Let’s get married”: Mary Sparks, interview with author.
2 Annoyed she had not: Ibid.
3 But then, in November: Mike Gonzales, A Brief History of the 45th Infantry Division in the Second World War, 45th Infantry Division Museum.
4 Sparks and his fellow: Buechner, Sparks, p. 63.
5 What would happen to: Felix Sparks, interview with author.
6 He would be back: Felix Sparks, letter to his parents, May 19, 1943. Quoted courtesy of Blair Lee Sparks.
7 Some felt strangely empty: Hallowell et al., Eager for Duty, p. 17.
8 “It’s ‘The Last Roundup’ ”: Buechner, Sparks, p. 65.
9 After two weeks: Felix Sparks, Shoah Foundation interview.
10 Dolphins played in the: Franklin, Medic, p. 5.
11 Sparks was among: Felix Sparks, Colorado National Guard oral history.
12 You can stick: Felix Sparks, Regis University interview.
13 But if they didn’t: Ibid.
14 Among the fifteen hundred Apache: Paul Hollister, “Thunderbirds of E.T.O.,” in Eye-Witness World War II Battles, compiled by Major Howard Oleck, Belmont Books, New York, 1963, p. 133. “In the American southwest, the Indians had long venerated the Thunderbird. It was the mythical giver of rain to parched lands—bringer of freedom and hope to the perishing. And it brought its gifts with crashing thunder and bolts of lightning. Vast and powerful, the Thunderbird was awesome to evil men, and a potent friend to good men.”
15 But it was also: Cundiff, 45th Infantry CP, p. 121.
PART TWO—ITALY
CHAPTER THREE—SICILY
1 Operation Husky was: Orange, Tedder, p. 225.
2 The answer is in: Eisenhower, Letters to Mamie, pp. 134–35.
3 “I think I’ll signal”: Shapiro, They Left the Back Door Open, p. 118.
4 “I’m positive, sir”: Farago, Patton, Dell, New York, 1963, p. 282.
5 Aboard a blacked-out ship: Morison, Sicily-Salerno-Anzio, p. 64.
6 An inch of vomit: Buechner, Sparks, p. 65.
7 The convoy nearing Sicily: James Tobin, Ernie Pyle’s War, p. 105.
8 “After all, the original”: Lieutenant N. L. A Jewell, Secret Mission Submarine (Ziff-Davis Publishing, London 1944), pp. 114–15.
9 “So many brave young”: Gilbert, Churchill, pp. 748–49.
10 “I’m sure,” recalled Pamela: Ibid.
11 The question that troubled: D’Este, Bitter Victory, p. 313.
12 “No matter what happens”: Whicker, Whicker’s War, p. 89.
13 According to one bystander: Farago, Patton, p. 283.
14 The commodore didn’t say: Felix Sparks, Colorado National Guard oral history.
15 He belonged to: Jack Hallowell, interview with author.
16 It made one hell: Hallowell et al., Eager for Duty, p. 21.
17 Wisecarver promptly hit the: Franklin, Medic, p. 6.
18 Several were injured: Hallowell et al., Eager for Duty, p. 21.
19 “Go! Good luck!”: Franklin, Medic, p. 6.
20 Although the wind: Anse Speairs, interview with author.
21 In bad weather: Felix Sparks, Regis University interview.
22 Once it had secured: Ibid.
23 the regiment’s first objective: After Action Report, National Archives.
CHAPTER FOUR—THE RACE FOR MESSINA
1 Ramps dropped and the: Franklin, Medic, p. 9.
2 Twenty-seven men from: 157th Infantry Regiment, After Action Narrative Report, June–August 1943, p. 2, National Archives.
3 Cowboys in the regiment: Franklin, Medic, pp. 5–11.
4 “Hits on buildings near”: Morison, Sicily-Salerno-Anzio, p. 144.
5 Five hundred Italian soldiers: 157th Infantry Regiment, After Action Narrative Report, p. 2.
6 “Those goddamn Italians came”: Felix Sparks, Colorado National Guard interview.
7 He pressed on that: Hallowell et al., Eager for Duty, p. 23.
8 “Now we were men”: Edward Pepper, H Company, 157th Infantry Regiment, Colorado National Guard interview. 39 By late on: Hallowell et al., Eager for Duty, p. 23.
9 Men would soon call: Ibid.
10 From now on: Edward Pepper, Colorado National Guard interview.
11 “Colonel,” he told Ankcorn: Felix Sparks, Colorado National Guard oral history.
12 “I don’t care how”: Buechner, Sparks, p. 66.
13 He gathered them together: Felix Sparks, Colorado National Guard oral history.
14 Some had been stripped: Felix Sparks, 157th Infantry Regiment Association newsletter, 2009.
15 He also found the: Ibid.
16 Finally, they gathered wood: Ibid.
17 Caked in a dust: Buechner, Sparks, p. 65.
18 They have been in: Felix Sparks, letter to his parents, August 4, 1943. Quoted courtesy of Blair Lee Sparks.
19 Patton was being driven: Cave Brown, The Last Hero, p. 352.
20 “We’ve got a hard”: Felix Sparks, interview with author.
21 Eighth Army’s General Montgomery: After Action Report, National Archives.
22 “My God,” US II Corps: Bradley and Blair, A General’s Life, p. 189.
23 As far as Bradley: Ibid., p. 188.
24 “Tell Montgomery to stay”: Geoffrey Keyes, diary, July 13, 1943.
25 It was a humiliating: Ed Speairs, interview with author.
26 as the Thunderbirds pulled: Graham, No Name on the Bullet, p. 38.
27 The ancient home: The World at War, Thames Television.
28 “We must take Messina”: Blumenson, Patton, p. 202.
29 Facing the 45th was: Fort Benning Report, “Infantry Combat Part Five: Sicily,” 12-30-43, p. 5.
30 So steep was the: After Action Report, National Archives.
31 A machine-gun squad: Ibid.
32 None would be alive: Bernie Kaczorowski, Colorado National Guard interview, 2007.
33 Fighting on Bloody Ridge: Oliver R. Birkner, letter to editor, 45th Division News, February 1995.
34 At the epicenter: Vinnie Stigliani, interview with author.
35 “Maybe that’s why I’m”: Bernie Kaczorowski, Colorado National Guard interview, 2007.
36 Men sat in the shade: Guy Prestia, interview with author.
37 “It’s reassuring to know”: Felix Sparks, letter to his parents, August 4, 1943. Quoted courtesy of Blair Lee Sparks.
38 “It’s plenty hot over”: Ibid.
39 Two days later: After Action Report, National Archives.
40 The same officer recommended: Fort Benning Report, “Infantry Combat Part Five: Sicily,” 12-30-43, p. 10.
41 A davit failure caused: Buechner, Sparks, p. 66.
42 But these were: After Action Report, National Archives.
43 Men from Sparks’s regiment: Ibid.
44 “Hello, you bloody bastards!”: Biddle, Artist at War, p. 113.
45 Messina had endured earthquake: Reynolds, The Curtain Rises, p. 345.
46 He was the American: Blumenson, Patton, p. 206.
47 The Battle for Sicily: The total regimental casualties for the 157th Infantry Regiment in the Sicilian campaign: killed in action, 58; wounded in action, 205; missing in action, 16. Source: Buechner, Sparks, p. 68.
48 Crucially, Axis forces were: Hallowell et al., Eager for D
uty, p. 30.
49 “It would have saved”: Anse Speairs, interview with author.
50 He’d spent the whole: Felix Sparks, Regis University interview.
51 “We’re going to go”: Felix Sparks, Colorado National Guard oral history.
52 Through his “gentle persuasion”: Felix Sparks, 157th Infantry Association newsletter, June 30, 1993.
53 “I don’t think”: Felix Sparks, Colorado National Guard oral history.
54 A reinvigorated E Company passed: Ibid.
55 Combat was what he: Felix Sparks, Regis University interview.
56 He loved being: Ibid.
57 With these men: Ibid.
58 “Do not go to”: Fisher, Story of the 180th, p. 55.
59 “I know,” replied: Reynolds, The Curtain Rises, p. 227.
60 Patton was forced to: Whiting, America’s Forgotten Army, pp. 40–42.
61 A humiliated Patton sank: Brighton, Patton, Montgomery, Rommel, p. 229.
62 “I know I can”: Ibid.
63 But would he ever: D’Este, Patton, p. 536.
64 A long column of: Paul Cundiff, 45th Infantry CP, p. 55.
CHAPTER FIVE—MOUNTAIN COUNTRY
1 Known as Wayne: Whicker, Whicker’s War, pp. 86–87.
2 “None”: Hickey and Smith, Operation Avalanche, pp. 52–53.
3 The same could not: Ibid.
4 Montgomery also believed Clark’s: Buechner, Sparks, p. 70.
5 The news of the: Ibid., p. 71.
6 In propaganda leaflets dropped: Bishop et al., The Fighting Forty-Fifth, p. 41.
7 Men vainly tried to: Cundiff, 45th Infantry CP, p. 60.
8 More than two hundred men: Bishop et al., The Fighting Forty-Fifth, p. 41.
9 The Germans were lying: Hickey and Smith, Operation Avalanche, p. 126.
10 Kesselring sent a message to: Cundiff, 45th Infantry CP, p. 56.
11 In the Temple of: Hickey and Smith, Operation Avalanche, p. 34.
12 The Allies were ashore: Whicker, Whicker’s War, p. 84.
13 The Germans commanded all: Cundiff, 45th Infantry CP, p. 58.
14 “The Germans actually needed”: Reynolds, The Curtain Rises, p. 319.
15 What Churchill feared most: Gilbert, Churchill, A Life, p. 753.
16 It was all chillingly: Ibid.
17 “I have no reserves”: Clark, Calculated Risk, p. 165.
18 “We are going to”: Buechner, Sparks, p. 72.
19 Crucially, Allied artillery was: Allen Beckett, interview with author.
20 This “fire on time” coordination: Mike Gonzales, interview with author.
21 “We have made mistakes”: Clark, Calculated Risk, p. 171.
22 Kesselring ordered his divisions: After Action Report, National Archives.
23 “It has just begun”: Reynolds, The Curtain Rises, pp. 342–43.
24 “Just do it, get”: Sparks, Déjà Vu, p. 153.
25 Before them lay the: Morison, Sicily-Salerno-Anzio, p. 254.
26 Evidence of fierce and: After Action Report, National Archives.
27 “Don’t let that bother”: Felix Sparks, Colorado National Guard interview.
28 Early on September 24: After Action Report, National Archives.
29 At first, it was: Rex Raney, interview with author.
30 Ankcorn’s leg was so: Hallowell et al., Eager for Duty, p. 42.
31 His war was over: Felix Sparks, 157th Infantry Regiment Association newsletter.
32 Colonel John Church: Ibid.
33 On October 1, the Fifth: After Action Report, National Archives.
34 Its strongpoint was the: Clayton D. Laurie, “Rapido River Disaster,” www.military.com.
35 Dead Germans lay by: Franklin, Medic, p. 56.
36 A cold mist clung: After Action Report, National Archives.
37 “Machine gun bullets passed”: Vinnie Stigliani, interview with author.
38 He and his men: Jack Hallowell, interview with author.
39 Mortarman Jack Hallowell: Ibid.
40 He knew the next: Ibid.
41 Medics were busy tending: Buechner, Sparks, p. 77.
42 “You’re going to be”: Jack Hallowell, interview with author.
43 He was wearing an: Vinnie Stigliani, Colorado National Guard interview.
44 Among them was a: After Action Report, National Archives.
45 The medics had done: Buechner, Sparks, p. 77.
46 He had lost more than: After Action Report, National Archives.
47 Thankfully he had been: Buechner, Sparks, p. 77.
48 He had been able to think: Felix Sparks, Regis University interview.
49 But like all the: Felix Sparks, Regis University lecture, “Stories from Wartime.”
50 The German had wanted: Vinnie Stigliani, Colorado National Guard interview.
51 Sparks set up his: After Action Report, National Archives.
52 He had reached the: Grossman, On Killing, p. 44.
53 Enemy planes came in: Jack Hallowell, interview with author.
54 So great was the: After Action Report, National Archives.
55 “It is essential for us”: Chandler, Papers of Dwight Eisenhower, vol. 3, p. 1529.
56 Tying down German forces: Gervasi, The Violent Decade, p. 518.
57 “Ford a river—and”: Whicker, Whicker’s War, p. 109.
58 The Thunderbirds succeeded in: Wallace, The Italian Campaign, p. 101.
59 “The country was shockingly”: Pyle, Brave Men, p. 68.
60 When they looked back: Franklin, Medic, p. 69.
61 It was destined to: Buechner, Sparks, p. 78.
62 The Germans had been: Ibid.
63 He had received the: Warren Wall, Colorado National Guard interview.
64 “Dry feet were something”: Hallowell et al., Eager for Duty, p. 49.
65 “We’ve caught the torch”: Tregaskis, Invasion Diary, p. 193.
66 Ankcorn had heard that: Felix Sparks, Colorado National Guard interview.
67 His mood improved further: Buechner, Sparks, p. 77.
68 One day that fall: Mary Sparks, interview with author.
69 So long as the: Felix Sparks, interview with author.
70 “You can’t go back”: Felix Sparks, Colorado National Guard oral history.
71 “Can I get on”: Ibid.
72 “I’ve a war to”: Sparks, Déjà Vu, p. 158.
73 Later that morning, Sparks: Felix Sparks’s Distinguished Service Cross recommendation file.
74 To his amazement: Mary Sparks, interview with author.
75 Sparks told him to: Colorado Lawyer 27, no. 10 (October 1998).
76 “You’re still here!”: Jack Hallowell, interview with author.
77 Every one of his: Felix Sparks, Colorado National Guard oral history.
78 Orders had come from: After Action Report, National Archives.
79 He knew he could: Bishop et al., The Fighting Forty-Fifth, p. 67.
80 Later that morning, after: After Action Report, National Archives.
81 “I want to go”: Felix Sparks, Colorado National Guard interview.
82 “No, Jack, you can’t”: Rocky Mountain News, March 10, 2007.
83 Under cover of darkness: Felix Sparks, Colorado National Guard interview.
84 They had even placed: Ibid.
85 “I’ll take care of”: Felix Sparks, Colorado Army National Guard oral history.
86 Instead of returning to: Buechner, Sparks, p. 78.
87 “That’s a habit they’ll”: Hallowell et al., Eager for Duty, p. 78.
88 In some areas: Lewis, Naples 44, p. 131.
PART THREE—ANZIO
1 “The problem is staying”: Felix Sparks, Regis University lecture, “Stories of Wartime.”
CHAPTER SIX—DANGER AHEAD
1 The divisions at Anzio: Buechner, Sparks, p. 80.
2 “Either it was a”: Morison, Sicily-Salerno-Anzio, p. 336.
3 Early on January 22, 1944: Lucas als
o wrote in his diary before the landings: “Army has gone nuts again. The general idea seems to be that the Germans are licked and fleeing in disorder and nothing remains but the mop up. They will end up by putting me ashore with inadequate forces and get me into a serious jam. Then who will take the blame?” Source: Buechner, Sparks, p. 95.
4 By midnight, more than thirty-six: Morison, Sicily-Salerno-Anzio, p. 343.
5 “This whole affair has”: Whicker, Whicker’s War, p. 125.
6 The sun shone brightly: Hallowell et al., Eager for Duty, p. 51.
7 Men scanned the shoreline: Felix Sparks, Colorado National Guard oral history.
8 Men had to step: Franklin, Medic, p. 83.
9 “Buck up, we got”: Hallowell et al., Eager for Duty, p. 51.
10 He would soon be: Felix Sparks, 157th Infantry Regiment Association newsletter, March 31, 1989.
11 “Easy, boys, there’s danger”: Cundiff, 45th Infantry CP, p. 141.
12 Once a man was: Felix Sparks, Regis University lecture.
13 Dead bodies lay strewn: Felix Sparks, Regis University interview.
14 Sparks began to suspect: Buechner, Sparks, p. 83.
15 Because the Allies had: Hallowell et al., Eager for Duty, p. 53.
16 They soon started to: graffagnino.com/doctorslounge/anzio1944.htm.
17 Here his regiment’s Second: Jack Hallowell, interview with author.
18 The Germans were on: graffagnino.com/doctorslounge/anzio1944.htm.
19 “The Führer expects the”: Whicker, Whickers War, p. 123.
CHAPTER SEVEN—HELL BROKE LOOSE
1 All across the beachhead: graffagnino.com/doctorslounge/anzio1944.htm.
2 The horizon filled with: Ellis, The Sharp End, pp. 70–71.
3 Sparks had already seen: Whitlock, Rock of Anzio, p. 196.
4 After an hour: graffagnino.com/doctorslounge/anzio1944.htm.
5 “Then those are Krauts”: Whitlock, Rock of Anzio, p. 186.
6 As far as the: Morris, Circles of Hell, p. 288.
7 They were confident of: Felix Sparks, 157th Infantry Regiment Association newsletter, March 31, 1989.
8 With their machine guns blinking: Ibid.
9 Sparks called to two: Buechner, Sparks, p. 84.
10 “Get them!”: Whitlock, Rock of Anzio, p. 186.