The Rock of Anzio: From Sicily to Dachau: A History of the U.S. 45th Infantry Division

The Rock of Anzio chronicles the WW II experience of the 45th Division, a national guard unit primarily from OK, TX, and NM. This covers prewar status, the callup to federal duty, and its' prodigious battle action in Sicily, Italy including Anzio, France, and Germany. Personal remembrances of former thunderbirds (the divisions' nickname) are widely used as well as the divisional history. Far from being a dry accounting of the divisions' exploits, this book is very easily read, with many small details well covered as well as the overall strategic situation the division was facing at that time. I personally wasn't aware of the critical defense of Anzio by the thunderbirds. Battle actions are well written and exciting to read. I would recommend this book to anyone with a special interest in the Italian campaign and it is a excellent companion book to Edwin Hoyt's Backwater War.

My late grandfather was a Thunderbird (157th rgmt, M co), and seldom talked of his World War Two days. After reading this book, I now know why. I can only imagine what it must have been like to live for days on end in a wet foxhole, always cold and miserable. Only have the faintest idea of what horrors he saw when Dachau was liberated. The stories of those days were never told by him. As with many men of his generation, he did not want to remember those terrible events of nearly sixty years ago. _The Rock of Anzio_ tells the story that my grandfather was never able to tell, a story that should be told.

I really enjoyed this book. It moved so well, and kept my interest from cover to cover. I have read many unit histories, and this work is the most complete. It cover the unit from activation, through all of its battles. Anzio and Dachau must get the highest praise. Anzio is written so well, I can hardly see how the US prevailed in that battle. I also never knew of the conflict between the Thunderbirds (45th ID) and the Rainbows (42nd ID), over the liberation of the Dachau Concentration camp (even having visited it). The author does a great job, buy this book!

I served through the eight campaigns the Forty-Fifth "The 45th Division "Thunderbird" Infantry Division is credited with an I heartily agree with statement by Colonel Anse H. "Eddie" Speairs (Ret) formerly of C Company, 157th Infantry Regiment that, "No Marine has more love for the corps than we have for the 45th." I was one of the many Thunderbird veterans interviewed by Flint Whitlock by phone and letter and am thankful he was there to record our history. Tom Clancy wrote in one of his books, "If it isn't written down it didn't happen." I'm forever thankful Flint Whitlock "made it happen." the 45th Division was populated by many American Indians from more then twenty tribes. America should be proud of them - they were great. I served with A Battery 160th Field Artillery and was awarded a Silver Star and two Purple Hearts.

My father was a member of the 45th 180th Co E from North Africa to "somewhere outside of Rome" where an artillery shell took him out. He never talked much about it and took most of his personal stories with him this past January. This book gave me a chance of closure on this as I finally got to know the reason for the silence. Thank you to the author and this web site for making this available.