Later, cooper recalled the experience in a book, death traps. Death traps death traps is easily one of the bestknown memoirs of any us junior officer during world war ii, and certainly so for the us armored forces. His experiences in the european theater were the subject of his 1998 book death traps. Its highly opinionated, but that is the privilege of a war memoir. The reader should not expect a typical soldiers tale, however. Was the ww2 memoir death traps by belton cooper historically accurate. Rants and death traps posted in the chieftains hatch. He saw a lot of battle damage on american tanks from german guns.
Dec 18, 2007 an important contribution to the history of world war ii. I have never before been able to learn so much about maintenance methods of. Read death traps the survival of an american armored division in world war ii by belton y. And if he is irrelevant, then why would hunicutts books be considered relevant.
Death traps is as much a history book as it is a memoir, which makes it a fairly heavy read. Carl h cooper, carl h cooper, carl harold cooper and carl m cooper are some of the alias or nicknames that carl has used. He moved to birmingham to work for ingalls shipbuilding company. Cooper served as an ordnance liaison officer of the us 3rd armored division from the invasion of normandy until the end of the war. With a forward by popular historian stephen ambrose and the backing of a major publisher, death traps has become quite well known amongst ww2 history aficionados. The main theme of the book is that m4 sherman was, as the title implies, a. Sep 03, 2016 missing man found dead in indianapolis retention pond. After the war, he completed his studies at the university of michigan with a degree in naval architecture and marine engineering. If its something he saw, its likely reasonably reliable. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. American armoured division in the field from the dday landings to the fall or.
American armoured division in the field from the dday landings to the fall or berlin. The insight cooper provides offsets the literary problems. Death traps the book the true saga of spearhead heroes of a different sort written by 3rd armored world war ii veteran belton cooper of birmingham, alabama, and first published in 1998, death traps has received wide acclaim in military circles. Death traps and millions of other books are available for amazon kindle.
Full text of the times news idaho newspaper 19930831. The book relates cooper s experiences during world war ii and puts forth an argument against the us armys use of the m4 sherman tank during the war. The main theme of the book is that m4 sherman was, as the title implies, a death trap to the men that operated them. We have 10 records for tremain cooper ranging in age from 33 years old to 46 years old. Death traps by belton cooper is a memoir of his us army service in world war 2. Lieutenant cooper served with the 3rd armored divisions maintenance. The first is what i guess can only be considered a rant, or at least some serious venting, in the tank destroyer board documentation from january 1945, given that i think it unlikely that the note would ever had made it to the person being talked about. I have never before been able to learn so much about maintenance methods of an armored division, with precise details that underline the importance of the work, along with descriptions of how the job was done.
The death trap is a 1989 twin turbo 421ci sbc powered ford mustang. First published in 1907, is an instructional book for trappers on the art of building deadfalls from logs, boards and rocks, and making snares and toss poles, for catching all types of furbearers, such as skunk, opossum, raccoon, mink, marten and bear, and coop traps for catching wild turkey and quail. The problem is that people are focusing on the wrong parts of his book and taking those wrong parts as accurate. The survival of an american armored division in world war ii. Aug 28, 2000 as a young ordnance lieutenant in the 3d armor division, it was belton cooper s job to travel with the combat units during the day and assist in coordinating the recovery, repair, and evacuation of the battledamaged tanks. Missing man found dead in indianapolis retention pond. It is written in the style of a memoir, but it also presents itself as a history of the 3rd armored division, the unit in which cooper served as an ordnance lieutenant. When belton cooper was a young boy growing up in huntsville, he dreamed of building the worlds first unsinkable battleship. Jan 30, 2015 death traps and fury fury is a relentlessly grim world war ii movie, and as the source autobiography death traps makes clear, it should be.
Full text of the times news idaho newspaper 19930831 see other formats. Despite these gripes, death traps should not be ignored. He was a liaison lieutenant in the 3 rd armor division for the maintenance battalion. Carl cooper harold, 80 idaho falls, id background report. I have never before been able to learn so much about mai. Weigley, author of eisenhowers lieutenantscooper saw more of the war than most junior officers. The book relates coopers experiences during world war ii and puts forth an argument against the us armys use of the m4 sherman tank during the war. Feb 02, 2014 the problem is not that death traps is irrelevant. It started with this press clipping in the san antonio light. The survival of an american armored division in world war ii, published in 1998.
Tremain has been found in 8 states including south carolina, new jersey, louisiana, north carolina, georgia, and 3 others. From the fall of france to the defeat of germany the memoirs. The survival of an american armored division in world war ii by benton y. An important contribution to the history of world war ii. In a downtoearth style, death traps tells the compelling story of one mans assignment to the famous 3rd armored division that spearheaded the american advance from normandy into germany.
Rants and death traps the chieftains hatch world of. As a member of the 3rd armored division maintenance battalion, he had liaison duties that took him far and wide, so he saw more of the war than most junior officers, and he writes about it better than most anyone. Invariably, when this topic is raised in an online forum, someone will bring up the book death traps by belton cooper. I would like to know why death traps by belton cooper is considered irrelevant. Death traps and fury fury is a relentlessly grim world war ii movie, and as the source autobiography death traps makes clear, it should be. A man who had been reported missing was found saturday in a retention pond on the northwest side, indianapolis police said. Despite apparently being outnumbered, the 4th armoured division won out after several days fighting with casualties of just 32 afvs compared to german losses in excess of 200 afvs.
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