Spearhead
An American Tank Gunner, His Enemy, and a Collision of Lives in World War II
by Adam Makos
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“A band of brothers in an American tank . . . Makos drops the reader back into the Pershing’s turret and dials up a battle scene to rival the peak moments of Fury.”
—The Wall Street Journal
From the author of the international bestseller A Higher Call comes the riveting World War II story of an American tank gunner’s journey into the heart of the Third Reich, where he will meet destiny in an iconic armor duel—and forge an enduring bond with his enemy.
When Clarence Smoyer is assigned to the gunner’s seat of his Sherman tank, his crewmates discover that the gentle giant from Pennsylvania has a hidden talent: He’s a natural-born shooter.
At first, Clarence and his fellow crews in the legendary 3rd Armored Division—“Spearhead”—thought their tanks were invincible. Then they met the German Panther, with a gun so murderous it could shoot through one Sherman and into the next. Soon a pattern emerged: The lead tank always gets hit.
After Clarence sees his friends cut down breaching the West Wall and holding the line in the Battle of the Bulge, he and his crew are given a weapon with the power to avenge their fallen brothers: the Pershing, a state-of-the-art “super tank,” one of twenty in the European theater.
But with it comes a harrowing new responsibility: Now they will spearhead every attack. That’s how Clarence, the corporal from coal country, finds himself leading the U.S. Army into its largest urban battle of the European war, the fight for Cologne, the “Fortress City” of Germany.
Battling through the ruins, Clarence will engage the fearsome Panther in a duel immortalized by an army cameraman. And he will square off with Gustav Schaefer, a teenager behind the trigger in a Panzer IV tank, whose crew has been sent on a suicide mission to stop the Americans.
As Clarence and Gustav trade fire down a long boulevard, they are taken by surprise by a tragic mistake of war. What happens next will haunt Clarence to the modern day, drawing him back to Cologne to do the unthinkable: to face his enemy, one last time.
Praise for Spearhead
“A detailed, gripping account . . . the remarkable story of two tank crewmen, from opposite sides of the conflict, who endure the grisly nature of tank warfare.”
—USA Today (four out of four stars)
“Strong and dramatic . . . Makos established himself as a meticulous researcher who’s equally adept at spinning a good old-fashioned yarn. . . . For a World War II aficionado, it will read like a dream.”
—Associated Press
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
February 19, 2019 -
Formats
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Kindle Book
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OverDrive Read
- ISBN: 9780804176736
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EPUB ebook
- ISBN: 9780804176736
- File size: 75561 KB
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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December 1, 2018
An in-the-moment re-creation of the Allied breakthrough of the West Wall into Nazi Germany by a remarkable cadre of tank crewmen of the 3rd Armored Division.Based on testimony from several surviving veterans--both American and German--military writer Makos (Devotion: An Epic Story of Heroism, Friendship, and Sacrifice, 2015, etc.) presents the true story of this intrepid division, which Gen. Omar Bradley described as having led the endgame against the beleaguered Germans across Europe "with a serious and grim intensity." The primary hero of this tale is Cpl. Clarence Smoyer, who evolved in his tank duties from being a gunner on an aging Sherman tank, dodging superior Panthers through the fields of occupied Belgium, to commanding the first Pershing in a spectacular showdown into Cologne, Germany, in spring 1945. It was the beginning of the end for Germany in the months after the D-Day landings, and the 3rd Armored Division was leading the breakout across northern France, thus earning the name "Spearhead" Division. With illustrations and photos, Makos offers comparisons between the unpopular and outgunned Shermans and the seemingly invulnerable Panthers and Tigers. However, "a secret weapon" had just arrived from America in the form of the Pershing tank, introduced by the legendary commander Maj. Gen. Maurice Rose, who led the Spearhead Division. In it, Smoyer would charge into Germany's fortress city, Cologne. However, as the author writes, "this is not a story about machines, how one tank stacked up against another. This is a story about people." Through alternating firsthand accounts by Smoyer and a German tank crewman, Makos reveals much about the German determination to thwart the Allies during the final Battle of the Bulge as well as the weary civilian population's quick turn to fraternization once the game was over.A compelling, exciting adventure of a hard-driving American force, "the first Allied unit to punch through the West Wall and to also capture a German town."COPYRIGHT(2018) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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February 1, 2019
With his latest work, Makos (A Higher Call) follows Clarence Smoyer, a gunner with the U.S. Army's Third Armored Division, across France in the closing year of World War II. Makos offers a detailed recounting of battles, describing gory scenes of Sherman tanks hit by German Panzers, and German tanks hit by Pershing tanks. A new Pershing was given to Smoyer after multiple Sherman tanks were destroyed, killing several but sparing Smoyer. The author describes how Smoyer and his Pershing dueled with German tank commander Gustav Schraeder's Panzer. At the height of the conflict, they both fired on a speeding car, killing a grocer and his clerk trying to escape the fighting. Along with the battles and deaths of friends that haunted Smoyer, he experienced deep PTSD, although he was not diagnosed until many years later. In 2013, Smoyer met his German counterpart at the Cathedral in Cologne, where they both reflected on the demons of war. The grocer and clerk are buried next to the cathedral, and every year Smoyer puts a yellow rose on the grave. VERDICT This thorough military history is recommended for general readers and younger audiences alike.--Harry Willems, Great Bend, KS
Copyright 2019 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
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