{"product_id":"jeep-show-a-trouper-at-the-battle-of-the-bulge-9780990888451","title":"Jeep Show: A Trouper at the Battle of the Bulge","description":"\u003cstrong\u003eJeep Show\u003c\/strong\u003eA Trouper at the Battle of the Bulge\u003cp\u003eDespite a fatherhood deferment, thirty-year-old dance instructor Jim Tanzer enlists in the Army in 1943. Stella, his wife and partner in their dance act, regrets his choice.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eJim goes for paratrooper, but gets assigned to the Morale Corps because of his show business background. He is classified MOS 442: Entertainment Specialist.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePrivate Jim Tanzer is shipped to the European Theater of Operations and assigned to Jeep shows: three enlisted entertainers are driven to the front lines, where they put on small variety shows for combat infantry. Private Mickey Rooney leads Jim's squad.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCaught in the Battle of the Bulge, Jim retreats to Bastogne, where he is attached to Team SNAFU, a hastily-organized unit composed of survivors from overrun infantry companies, dismounted tankers and artillerymen, as well as clerks, bakers, mechanics and other rear-echelon soldiers pressed into combat to support the 101st Airborne Division.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDeftly interweaving Jim's story with historical events, O'Connor provides a compelling picture of a combat soldier's life in the ETO. Jeep Show also illuminates the Army's comprehensive efforts to improve the moral of its citizen-soldiers, and other little-known aspects of the U.S. war effort.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eO'Connor salts the story with fascinating snapshots of show business life in pre-war America. For fans of WW2 non-fiction and fiction, including Band of Brothers, Saving Private Ryan, Ken Burns' The War, The Thin Red Line, With the Old Breed, The Red Badge of Courage, and Catch 22.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Okpi Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50872382030098,"sku":"9780990888451","price":10.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_6d6c13dd-e5b5-48a2-88ef-81a208cb0513.jpg?v=1737895929","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/jeep-show-a-trouper-at-the-battle-of-the-bulge-9780990888451","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}