Small Victories in a Great Big War: The Terrifying and Sometimes Hilarious Adventures of a World War Two Paratrooper

Life for a World War II paratrooper was grave and perilous; John H. Canfield's experience was no different. However, this young man found himself in so many crazy--sometimes humorous--situations that he almost forgot about how dangerous it was.

Filled with pranksters and superiors full of bravado and an unfortunate brush with racial bigotry with a fellow African American soldier, Canfield shares his many stories from basic training and jump school. But his best stories are from the war. From having to translate a dinner for an inebriated superior using his scant French, to getting chewed out by none other than General George S. Patton, Canfield shares a wealth of experiences from his WWII tour of the European theater.

In Small Victories in a Great Big War, John H. Canfield shows that half the battle is surviving, and that he did. With bravery and flair, Canfield returned home to Connecticut with more than a few amusing anecdotes.

John H. Canfield was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1943 and found himself trained as a frontline medic. He then volunteered to be a paratrooper with the very real prospect of jumping out of airplanes in front of--and behind--enemy lines. Canfield experienced a wide breadth of training, including combat, and felt he was prepared enough--or lucky enough--to have survived to tell his war stories. While his time in combat was short, his experiences were vast.

More than seventy-five years after the end of World War II, John H. Canfield's stories are now shared with the world.