Hurtgen Forest Deja Vu

One of my favorite things to do is to buy and read books. I'm not sure which I like better. If the book is cheap and I really want it, I'll buy it.

Some years ago, I happened to see any old Safeway food store in Rockville with the sign "Close-out Bargain Book Sale" or something similar on the outside. So, I wandered in and started fingering my way through the books. I found this dark thick hardback book with dark-green nearly invisible lettering on it which said, "The Battle of Hurtgen Forest". I believe the book was only a dollar, so I bought it, took it home, and read it. Turns out it was a history of one of the U.S. Army's worst defeats, where it fought an uphill battle against an entrenched German army in the Hurtgen Forest.

Not too long after I finished reading the book, Cousin Roberta died. At her "wake" at her son's house, we were sitting around the table and in comes this guy dressed in black suit and suspenders,looking like something out of the 1930s. I soon learned this large man was cousin Cal.

I found out that Cal had actually been at Hurtgen Forest and had driven a jeep for one of the generals. I've been meaning to go back and read that book and to try to figure out which general it was that he drove for. . .or to contact his family and see if they kept a record.