The Replacement: The Maturing of an 18-year old in WW II Paperback – 1 January 2009

Kauffman was drafted at the end of 1943, just after his Eighteenth birthday. His background was a pacifist Mennonite one but he is personally willing and very proud when he is accepted into the army. After training he is sent to England as a designated replacement for the casualties expected after D-day. He is duly assigned to D Co 36th Armored Infantry Regiment of the 3rd Armored Division in June.The author experiences some combat in the Normandy hedgerows before being wounded in fairly amazing circumstances. He returns to his unit later in the year and this for me was the most interesting section of the book. While assigned as the operator of the rear 30 cal machine gun of his halftrack, most of his fighting and moving is by foot. He experiences the awfulness of winter fighting through his participation in the Battle of the Bulge and through into January when he is wounded again. Much of his personal combat results in him taking prisoners but there is quite a bit on street fighting and countering enemy patrols in the woods. He doesn't reveal a lot of personal deadliness but he is very much in the front line and there is a lot of death around him.While there are many combat memoirs from the airborne and infantry divisions, for some reason there are very few from the US armored formations. And in Kauffman's area of service, armored infantry, there are just a handful. His perspective is quite interesting then. He works with tanks and operates from a halftrack - though in his case it was mainly used for transport. He writes quite a bit of the men in his `crew' and the others in his unit. There are quite a few casualties but I think there is a difference in scale compared to the other infantry units. It seems they had more reliable access to supplies and when vehicles were being serviced, more time to rest. Even so, it was still tough and dangerous duty.Kauffman's book is reasonably well written, without being a masterpiece. His style did grow on me and I really did lap up the winter fighting of the second half. The final chapters tell of his travels back to Europe in later years and friendships, including some with former enemies. There are some nice moments here. Even so, I have read many memoirs of war in the ETO and this entry is in the middle of the pack. It is of interest though, given Kauffman's perspective as an armored infantryman.

I've known Bobby Kauffman (Robert F. Kauffman) for more than 50 years, longer than my understanding of World War II. He is one of the most honorable, upright, wonderful people I have ever known, and I am proud to call him a friend. This, of course, may make my review of his book suspect, but I'm hoping that it actually contributes to the review; knowing him should give me some insight into the character and intellect that produced the book.I've been a student of World War II since my Junior High School years. I've got a substantial personal library of some 60 linear feet of books, most of them hard-bound. (This is, perhaps, a peculiar way of describing my WW II library, but it should suffice.)My library includes both overview works and more personal works. I've become familiar with all the battle theaters, as well as the Air War and the Home Front. I have surprised veterans with my knowledge of the War (including my Uncle Earnest, who wouldn't tell anyone in his immediate family how he was wounded, but told me; his wife was amazed.)So. My good friend Bob tells me he has published a book of his World War II memoirs. I knew he had been writing monographs, short descriptions of flash-bulb moments of his experiences; indeed, I had read some of them. (And, mea culpa, I had never suggested he consolidate and publish them; my bad.) I immediately ordered a copy of his book from Amazon, waited until I finished a rereading of Robert Leckie's Strong Men Armed, and read it. Avidly.I knew some of the incidents, for Bobby had told them to me. I've held the bullet taken from his abdomen after his first wounding; sobering, that piece of lead. I've seen his wounded finger, heard first-person the story of its happening. What I consider mostly is his descriptions of the other GIs he served with, and the civilians he encountered and came to know and love, and even of some of his adversaries. Bob is more about others.And, that is, perhaps, the point of his book: it is not about Robert F. Kauffman, but about the Everyman who served Up Front in the ETO. Bob went in as a replacement Private, and came out as a tested Private First Class. He was not showered with encomium and medals, save his two Purple Hearts (perhaps the least coveted award), his justly-earned Combat Infantry Badge, and, oh yes, a Bronze Star. He doesn't mention the Star in the book's narrative; that's typical Bob.He engaged in war at a distance and at its most personal, hand-to-hand. He sweated and froze, slept on the ground and in the ground. He ate rations and went hungry. He made friends and lost friends. He went in young and idealistic and came back tested and recovered, still idealistic but somewhat cynical; in that, he went in a good man and came back a better man.Bobby has lived his life since World War II as a family man, a husband (to a beautiful, caring woman) and a father. He retired from the U.S. Postal Service, having been one of an army of people who delivered the mail. He served as a pillar of his church and a mentor to many, many kids, trying his best to guide us into productive, meaningful lives. Bob has been a compass for many lives, pointing in a good direction.His book really does tell it like it was for so many 18- and 19-year-olds in Europe during World War II. It is unadorned, sometimes unintentionally ungrammatical, but real, real, real.Replacements won the war in Europe, and Bob was one of them.

This is not a professionally written book. All the better to read in this heroes words how he picked up amidst very little fanfare and glory and went to war. I don't want to give away the best parts of the book but think about this. You land on D Day. You are severely wounded. Where do you end up next???? You won't believe it. It is real drama and real intensity. Like I said it is not professionally written. He tells you what it was really like. In the end there is a dramatic confrontation of evil and this man, fighting for his life and our way of life. But he doesn't get confused. He is there to do a job. He is lucky beyond words. (It is better to be lucky than good.) Robert Kauffman epitomizes perhaps better than any history of World War Two that I have read why the allies beat Nazi Germany.

THE REPLACEMENT is an Excellent book on an individual that just wanted to do the right thing AND help WIN the war. This book takes us clearly thru the eyes of a "grunt" and how he pursued his duty as a Repacement.He became a leader - not by choice but doing what was the 'right thing to do.'We will see fewer and fewer of these types of books just because these 'grunts' are passing on to a Better Life.

Meeting Robert F. Kauffman was an honor. Reading his book was amazing.Bob Kauffman tells his story of his war experience in such a way, that it seems you are there yourself.Reading the book, you see a young man. Scared for the war, unsure of the events that are about to happen.It is not a story about a hero, or about a soldier that shot his way thorugh German lines. It is a story about a man, growing up fast during the war, experiencing terrifying things.That makes this book very special. The humble way of telling, the details and the respect for life itself.Again: meeting Bob in person was very special to me. It felt as we had become a new friend.His book is a one of a kind that everybody should read.fam. KoningsGrandmenil/Belgium