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Modern War Studies
The Making of a Paratrooper

The Making of a Paratrooper

Airborne Training and Combat in World War II

by Kurt Gabel

Edited by William C. Mitchell

Foreword by Theodore A. Wilson

Series: Modern War Studies

Sales Date: July 29, 2015

304 Pages, 6.00 x 9.00 in

Paperback
9780700621378
Published: July 2015

$24.95

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eBook
9780700621767
Published: August 2015

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The memoir of paratrooper Kurt Gabel—a German Jew who emigrated to the US in 1938, joined the 513th Regiment of the 17th Airborne Division, and fought against his former countrymen in the Battle of the Bulge.

Gabel conveys with rare immediacy an in-depth look at the training of a paratrooper, the dangers of combat, and his transformation from romantic idealist to warrior. He vividly recounts the fire fights and such episodes as narrow escapes, separation from his battalion and his rescue by another, and the interrogation of prisoners. He tells the full story of his desperate hours on “Dead Man’s Ridge” near Bastogne.

William C. Mitchell was professor of political science at the University of Oregon and served in the 513th Parachute Infantry Regiment during World War II.

Theodore A. Wilson is professor emeritus of history at the University of Kansas and was the general editor of the University Press of Kansas Modern War Studies series. He is the editor of D-Day 1944 and author of The First Summit: Roosevelt and Churchill at Placentia Bay, 1941, which own the Francis Parkman Prize.

"This book is must reading for anyone interested in elite military units, European conflict during World War II, and an inside perspective on what it is like to be part of an airborne outfit."—Journal of Military History
"Narrates the fearless acts performed by the men of the Army’s 17th Airborne Division. From the unusual viewpoint of a young man who emigrated to the United States and fought against his German homeland at the Battle of the Bulge."—Army
"A gripping, sometimes heartbreaking and intense account of small-unit combat during the Battle of the Bulge and its aftermath."—Military Review
“A magnificent book. Quite possibly the best combat memoir I've ever read.”—Stephen E. Ambrose, author of Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest
“This is the best and clearest account of airborne training and combat in World War II...I recommend Kurt Gabel’s absorbing memoirs not only to the veterans who shared his ordeals, but also to World War II history buffs.”—John Toland, author of Battle: The Story of the Bulge