Description
History of the 71st Infantry Division, signed by Major General Willard G. Wyman to Lieutenant General Clarence Ralph Huebner. Quarto, [8], 117pp. Red hardcover, title in gilt on spine and front panel. Frontispiece portrait of General Wyman. Illustrated endpapers with maps of World War II Europe. Some light shelf wear, residual mark on back panel. Includes letter of provenance from the estate of General Huebner. Inscribed on the title page by General Willard G. Wyman, the commander of the 71st Infantry Division: “To General Huebner, who, more than he knows, commanded this Division also. Devotedly, W. G. Wyman, Major General.”
Comments: General Huebner was a decorated military commander, serving in both World War I and World War II. In a controversial move, Omar Bradley ordered General Huebner to replaced General Terry Allen as the commander of the 1st Infantry Division, aka, The Big Red One. He took command as the troops were liberating Sicily in 1943. The 1st Division would soon be reassigned to assist in the D-Day Invasions, with the 1st Division leading the assault on Omaha Beach. As his troops moved east, they were the first to encounter the Soviet Army. After the German surrender, Huebner served as the military governor of the American zone in Germany, being the last military Governor to hold that position.
