The U.S. 1st Infantry Division (1st ID), familiarly known as the Big Red One, adapted to dynamic battlefield conditions throughout the course of its deployment during World War II by innovating and altering behavior, including tactics, techniques, and procedures. The evidence shows that both the Division's leaders and soldiers did so by thinking critically about their experiences in combat and wasting little time in putting lessons learned to good use. Simply put, they learned on the job-in battle and after battle-and did so quickly. This is remarkable in that the terrain, weather, and the enemy changed as the Division fought its way through North Africa, Sicily, France, Belgium, Germany, and finally Czechoslovakia; equally important were constraints imposed on the 1st ID by manpower shortages (some of them critical), structural changes, and even weapons capabilities, all of which required continual adjustment.

In telling the Division's WWII story, not only in the historical narrative but in an extensive Photographic Essay-which comprises 65 images, many of which have never been reproduced-to appear in the center of the work, Gregory Fontenot includes the stories of individual members of the Big Red One, officers as well as enlisted men, having gleaned information from the hundreds of memoirs, diaries, and postwar interviews he either consulted or personally conducted, making his third volume in the American Military Experience series a meaningful and memorable one.

About the Author
Gregory Fontenot is a retired Colonel of the U.S. Army. He is currently a consultant on threat emulation for Army experimentation and a working historian. He was lead author of On Point: The US Army in Operation Iraqi Freedom published by CGSC Press and is the author of The 1st Infantry Division and the US Army Transformed: Road to Victory in Desert Storm, 1970-1991, winner of the 2017 Army Historical Foundation award for Unit History, as well as Loss and Redemption at St. Vith: The 7th Armored Division in the Battle of the Bulge.

Reviews
The U.S. Army of World War II fielded many superb fighting formations, but the 1st Infantry Division, the famous Big Red One, surely has a valid claim to be the greatest of them all. From North Africa to Sicily to Omaha Beach and the Battle of the Bulge, the Division was right there in the heart of the greatest land battles in history. Who commanded and inspired this great outfit? Who stood in its stalwart ranks? Most importantly, how and why did this division, more than all the others, learn how to fight and win against the tough and lethal German Army? In No Sacrifice Too Great, 1st Infantry Division Gulf War combat veteran andrenowned military historianGregory Fontenot explains it all with candor and insight. It's a great American story by our Army's premier soldier-scholar."-Daniel P. Bolger, Lieutenant General, U.S. Army, Retired and author of The Panzer Killers: The Untold Story of a Fighting General and His Spearhead Tank Division's Charge into the Third Reich

"As the number of WWII veterans has declined precipitously in recent years, and those few veterans who are still alive are in their 100s-and because the gap between the WWII generation and current generation that knows little about the military continues to widen-a book such as this is vital in keeping this information alive."-Flint Whitlock, editor of WWII Quarterly magazine, author of The Fighting First: The Untold Story of the Big Red One on D-Day

"Gregory Fontenot, with a deep knowledge of World War II history, a rich, profound understanding of how armies work, and the heart of a soldier, provides an excellent study and analysis of the campaigns and battles of the 1st Infantry Division, the Big Red One, in World War II, in his book, No Sacrifice Too Great. This book is informative, well-written, dramatic, rich in insights, and deeply instructive for leaders at all levels."-Adrian R. Lewis, The David B. Pittaway Professor of Military History, University of Kansas, author of Omaha Beach: A Flawed Victory and The American culture of War, 3rd Edition, retired soldier, U.S. Army Ranger.

"Greg Fontenot's No Sacrifice Too Great follows the First Infantry Division from the beaches of the Mediterranean and Normandy through the fields of France to the forests of Germany. Throughout, the author demonstrates that if war is a learning contest, then the "Big Red One" was among its best students and had few peers in adaptation, innovation, and improvisation. The division's fabled story and eventual success does much to explain the vital American contribution to Allied victory in World War II and the liberation of continental Europe, and offers a model for building highly effective organizations in the future."-Christopher M. Rein, author of The North African Air Campaign: U.S. Army Air Forces from El Alamein to Salerno and Mobilizing the South: The Thirty-First Infantry Division, Race, and World War II



Book Information
ISBN 9780826222848
Author Gregory Fontenot
Format Hardback
Page Count 616
Imprint University of Missouri Press
Publisher University of Missouri Press
Weight(grams) 442g