Guard Wars

The 28th Infantry Division in World War II

Michael E. Weaver

AAUP Public and Secondary School Library Selection

Narrated by Randy Whitlow

Available from Audible

Book published by Indiana University Press

An inventive study of relations between the National Guard and the Regular Army during World War II, Guard Wars follows the Pennsylvania National Guard's 28th Infantry Division from its peacetime status through training and into combat in Western Europe. The broader story, spanning the years 1939–1945, sheds light on the National Guard, the U.S. Army, and American identities and priorities during the war years. Michael E. Weaver carefully tracks the division’s difficult transformation into a combat-ready unit and highlights General Omar Bradley's extraordinary capacity for leadership—which turned the Pennsylvanians from the least capable to one of the more capable units, a claim dearly tested in the Battle of the Hürtgen Forest. This absorbing and informative analysis chronicles the nation's response to the extreme demands of a world war, and the flexibility its leaders and soldiers displayed in the chaos of combat.

Michael E. Weaver is Associate Professor of Comparative Military History at the U.S. Air Force Air Command and Staff College.

REVIEWS:

“A significant contribution to understanding how the U.S. Army organized, trained, and prepared for war.”

—Edward G. Miller, author of Nothing Less than Full Victory: Americans at War in Europe, 1944–1945

“Weaver has written an excellent account of the Pennsylvania National Guard's role in the European campaign. He has also demonstrated that there is still much important work to be done on the U.S. Army's participation in the 'good war.'”

—The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography

“Overall, Guard Wars is an excellent addition to any World War II library. The book is a study in preparedness, and many of its lessons are relevant today.”

— Journal of Army History

“Weaver has written an absorbing book that includes fascinating details about the pre-war National Guard, its relations with the Regular Army, and the uncomfortable amalgamation of the two caused by the national emergency. Weaver's research is wide-ranging and his writing skill is admirable; his analyses and conclusions are all reasonable and supported by the evidence he presents. ”

—The Journal of America's Military Past

“Micheal E. Weaver's Guard Wars does a fine job of bringing the Twenty-Eighth Infantry Division to life.”

—H-Net Reviews