Robert Lynn Fuller - After D-Day: The U.S. Army Encounters the French

AFTER D-DAY

AFTER D-DAY

THE U.S. ARMY ENCOUNTERS THE FRENCH

ROBERT LYNN FULLER

Louisiana State University Press
Baton Rouge

Published with the assistance of the V. Ray Cardozier Fund

Published by Louisiana State University Press

www.lsupress.org

Copyright 2021 by Louisiana State University Press

All rights reserved. Except in the case of brief quotations used in articles or reviews, no part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any format or by any means without written permission of Louisiana State University Press.

Manufactured in the United States of America

First printing

Designer: Michelle A. Neustrom

Typeface: Whitman

Printer and binder: Sheridan Books, Inc.

Cover photo: American officer and French partisan crouch behind an auto during a street fight in a French city, 1944. National Archives and Records Administration, RG 111.

Cataloging-in-Publication Data are available from the Library of Congress.

ISBN 978-0-8071-7495-1 (cloth: alk. paper) ISBN 978-0-8071-7514-9 (pdf) ISBN 978-0-8071-7515-6 (epub)

In memory of Hans A. Schmitt, 19212006,

professor of modern European history at the University of Virginia

In 1945 Hans served as a lieutenant in the U.S. Army in Paris; he was there.

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

A s always, the staff at all the French departmental archives that I visited to research this book were helpful, friendly, and eager to accommodate. The staffs at the departmental archives of Aube, Bouches-du-Rhne, Meurthe-et-Moselle, and Yonne all went out of their way to assist me, especially Arnoud Fouanon in Auxerre. I particularly want to thank Jrme Leclerc of the Archives dpartementales de Meurthe-et-Moselle for the friendliness he extended to me. The late professor Jean-Louis Etienne in Nancy also took an interest in my work and offered sage advice. I thank the late Charlotte Goldberg for sharing with me her memories of the German occupation and liberation of Nancy. The staff of the Archives nationales in Pierrefitte-sur-Seine was welcoming, helpful, and made my research not only fruitful but enjoyable. My visit to France was made more pleasurable by the good company and friendship of Dominique and Maryline Beuret. I thank Jolle Prim for her hospitality in Saint-Denis, Christian Darmon in Auxerre, and Patrick Thierry in Troyes. Rich Noble and Eric Van Slander of the National Archives and Records Administration in College Park, Maryland, proved helpful; Rich went out of his way to make my visit more enjoyable. Dr. Richard Sommers and the staff of the U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center of the War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, provided valuable assistance at the Military History Institute, as well as a General and Mrs. Matthew B. Ridgway Military History Research Grant to help defray costs of research at the MHI. The staff of the Microforms Department of the Library of Congress were friendly and helpful. Charles Robertson offered helpful counsel and good company. Anonymous reviewers offered helpful advice. I thank the many people in the United States who aided me in ways big and small: Phil Berger, Emily and Deborah Best, the late Jane Clark, Leslie Derr and the late Kurt Eigner, Tricia Fleck, Vince Giannini, Susan and Walter Haydel, and Tim Souweine and Lisa Reichenbach. My family provided lodging, food, and welcome distraction: Rick and Sue Fuller, my mother Marjorie Huntsberger Fuller, Michael Fuller, Jeff and Rebecca Fuller, Chris and Yvonne Fuller, and Alyssa Wilson and her brood. My sister-in-law, Kathryn Ragsdale, offered valuable editorial suggestions for this work, which is better for her red pencil. Above all, I owe a debt of gratitude to my wife, Lynda Fuller Clendenning, who always provided counsel and support when I needed it. Thank you, Lynda.

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