Скачать или смотреть Elliott Goldstein's interview for the Veterans History Project at Atlanta History Center

Catalog number: VIS 201.0146
In this interview, Elliott Goldstein remembers his history as an artillery officer in Europe during World War II. He had been drafted in 1940 although he had earned his law degree. He turned down a posting in the Judge Advocate General (JAG) Corps because he felt that it was "his war." His enlistment was deferred because the Armory burned down. He was first in the 122nd Infantry Division, but that was converted to the 179th Division. While he was on maneuvers, his apartment was broken into and his wife was badly frightened, so he transferred to another unit to be closer to home. After arriving in Europe, his unit became replacements for the 9th Division in the fall of 1944. Although they had observed signs of movement from the Germans, they were told not to worry, the Germans would never attack that area. An officer and friend from another unit warned him that the line was thin where he was and that if the Germans did attack, report it and run. Goldstein then recalls the harrowing events that followed as they were shelled by the Germans and how they discovered they had dug in directly in the axis of the advancing German troops. Goldstein describes in detail the defensive preparations they made and the process of aiming artillery. He describes the qualities of leadership he observed. He recounts atrocities committed by the Germans against American prisoners of war. He describes the effort of an Army officer who was on the Army's polo team to talk him into staying in the Army after the war.