Bud Wagner in North Africa Anti-aircraft machinegun operator |
When Susie and I were dating in the 1970s, Bud brought out his diaries and asked me to give an opinion as to whether they would be of interest to anyone. At the end of the weekend I gave him my verdict: "Yes!"
So began his journey toward becoming an author. His keen day by day observations were then amplified with a lifetime of research and reflection to provide readers with important insights through the eyes of a young soldier from rural Minnesota.
Bud Wagner -- cook, machine gunner and company agent -- had the privilege of being on the first convoy to make its way across the Atlantic for the European theater. And the good fortune of having survived the duration of the war without becoming a casualty in North Africa and Italy, which included beachheads at Anzio and Salerno.The book is a joint project involving the research skills and memoirs of WW II veteran Bud Wagner and his son Lloyd Wagner (Masters in Literature). When I encouraged to amplify his diaries and make a book of them I had no idea of how invested he would become in this project. He greatly exceeded my expectations and, with Lloyd's able editing, he has produced a fascinating manuscript that includes a large quantity of original photos and other documents.
"Dear Bud, ... Thanks not only for the copy of the book, but also for putting those wartime notes into a permanent record. It is an important addition to all the "stuff" historians record. I couldn't put the book down once I got into it. It brought back a lot of memories reading about times, places, and people from 55+ years ago."
~ retired General John W. Vessey,
former head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Just today I was forwarded an email from one of Susie's classmates who just finished reading Bud's diary/memoirs. Her comments were so poignant I requested to share them here. She wrote:
Bud and his mud-covered "peep" |
- He kept a lot of his personal feelings to himself, so I thought it interesting how affected he was by the death of one of the fellows who he wasn’t as close to when they were fighting in Italy (don’t remember the name), but I suppose after seeing so much death and destruction anyone would really start questioning the purpose. It was amazing how well he actually handled all the destruction around him.
- I was surprised how poor the quality of the Army “peeps” were as his was always breaking down, a certain amount due of course, to the conditions. You can feel his frustration with it.
- It’s amazing at how adaptable the human species are. To go from a tight, secure family environment to preparing for war, then to the thick of it, and handle the emotions as well as your father did, is remarkable.
- Those men suffered so much and complained so little. Hunger, cold, heat, lack of a safe place to sleep, danger of losing their life, etc, etc. they truly were the “greatest generation”.
Disabled German tank. |
It seems to show every aspect of “army life “ -- the important details and accuracy mixed with the training -- moments with friends and music, faith, along with frequent headaches and times of boredom.
One of the surprises for me was Bud's love of poetry. There are numerous poems included in the book. One of my favorites is titled, "You're A Machine Gunner Now." Another is titled "A Battalion Agent" which you can find in this blog post titled "War Poems Tell Stories."
https://pioneerproductions.blogspot.com/2022/01/a-battalion-agent-war-poems-tell-stories.html
When I was in Italy last year my visit coincided with Italy's Liberation Day. On that day Italy celebrated the Allies victory over fascism. There were nationwide expressions of gratitude to the U.S. for its role in defeating Mussolini. You can read about my experiences here:
https://pioneerproductions.blogspot.com/2023/05/liberation-day-italy-celebrates-victory.html
One last link
Various Ways of Looking at History with Commentary (and a Book Offer)
https://pioneerproductions.blogspot.com/2023/04/various-ways-of-looking-at-history-with.html
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