Letters from the Front is a collection of letters or journal entries from American soldiers serving in Europe. A few letters from the home front have made their way into this collection; shared by the soldiers contributing to this piece of work. It details the brutal realities of war and the compassion of humans caught in an other-worldly existence of horror. The evil is real and these soldiers fought to survive. It was kill or be killed and in some cases; hide just to survive. No one criticized someone for hiding; most would have done the same. But hell, hath taken over and survival is the name of the game.

You are a soldier serving in A Company, 37th Tank Battalion, 4th Armor Division. Lieutenant Colonel Creighton Abrams served as Battalion commander of the 37th Tank Battalion throughout most of its time during the war, up until he was promoted to Colonel and assigned as Commander Combat Command A which included both the 37th Tank Battalion and the 53rd Armored Infantry Battalion. The two maneuver battalions fought side by side throughout the entirety of the western campaign from July 1944 until its conclusion in May 1945.

The 37th Tank Battalion was at the tip of the spear as Patton ordered a relief of the 101st Airborne Division at Bastogne following the German 5th Panzer Army’s failed Wacht am Rhein operation. It was soldiers from the 37th Tank Battalion who made first contact with the Screaming Eagles in Bastogne. They continued their advance and trapped several German soldiers on the west side of the Rhein River.

The Tank Battalion had an impressive career at the spearhead of General George S. Patton’s thrusts across France, the Rhein and into the German countryside. One company of the 37th attempted to liberate General Patton’s son in law, LTC John K. Waters from a German Prison Camp 60 miles behind enemy lines. The mission was a failure, but to the Wehrmacht units who fought against the tanks and soldiers of the 37th, they believed they were fighting against an entire division. The Germans called these brave men of the 37th, “Roosevelt’s Butchers”.

Although their advances were rapid, it was not without loss, LTC Abrams fought from the cupola of seven different M4A3 Shermans. He never had one shot out from underneath him but he pushed his machines as hard as he pushed his men. During the relief of the 101st Airborne at Bastogne, C Company of the battalion began with twelve tanks. When the fighting was over, Lieutenant Burgess, C Company Commander could account for only four functioning M4 Shermans. The battalion suffered a 94% turnover rate during the nine and a half months it was in combat. The German losses may have been just as high, but the Germans could not replace their losses as easily as the Americans could. Their fight was a bloody one, tangling with the dreaded German Panthers and Tigers.

Creighton Abrams was promoted to the rank of General in 1964, serving as Deputy Commander, Military Assistance Command in Vietnam, in May 1967, working with his West Point Classmate, William Westmoreland. In 1968, General Abrams replaced Westmoreland as Commander of MAC-V. Before retiring General Abrams was appointed US Army Chief of Staff in 1972. While serving as Chief of Staff, he pushed for the establishment of the 75th Ranger Infantry Regiment. The current Main Battle Tank used by the US Army is named after Retired General Creighton Abrams.

Rules

I am an easy-going person. I tend to be friendly and positive, but passionate about military history. It is what I know best. I do not expect any of you to possess the same amount of knowledge as I, but that is not necessary. I just expect you to know how to write well.

This Role play is not your standard RP where you write up a character sheet on one person and then write about their actions and conversations only. This is a collection of letters written by soldiers serving in the same unit in France (and Germany) during World War II.

1. GM is Gunther, who will write for Lieutenant Carpenter.

2. Write a letter, make an entry into your journal or post a letter from home to your soldier.

3. Please write a minimum of three paragraphs. Have fun with your letter writing or journal entries.

4. Females are allowed. Since some of our best writers in this community are female, I would not want to deprive us of their participation in this fine role play. You are not restricted to writing for only male characters. If you wish to write for female characters, that is fine with me. I realize there no female tankers in the Army during WWII, but we don't have to follow convention on every issue. I am flexible.

5. Posting frequency will be based on the last date I make in my post. I am a busy father of four children who keep me hopping. This hobby is just for fun. Please use dates prior to and including the last date I use in a post. I will update the current date in the OP as it changes. Do not advance the timeline on your own. I intend to follow an historical timeline of where the unit was on what dates and hope to keep the flow in a chronological order. Telling a story that happened several days ago is perfectly fine.

6. Please communicate with me and the others so we know what you are up to.

7. If you would like to post censored items, check out this list here.

@Odin@BingTheWing@CaptainBritton@AlShayatin@Dutchbag@FrostedCaramel

1LT Arthur Tyler has posted.

I started the day before the unit ships out to France.
Post whatever you like, then introduce your character in the Character tab. You don't need to go into a whole lot of detail, just a few paragraphs on his/her history is fine.

I know that this is jump-in but I was wondering if you could tell me the the differences between Infantry Platoon leader or Company Operations Sergeant? I am interested in being either role.

I know that this is jump-in but I was wondering if you could tell me the the differences between Infantry Platoon leader or Company Operations Sergeant? I am interested in being either role.

I'm Navy and work with Marines so I only know Marine stuff so it may be slightly wrong.

Marine Infantry structure is as follows:
4 men make up a Fireteam.
3 Fireteams make up a Squad.
3 Squads make up a Platoon
3 Platoons make up a Company.

So a Platoon Leader is the Officer in charge of a single Platoon, normally they get orders from Company Command and desseminate it to their Squad leaders who desseminate it to Fireteam leaders that lead the actual men on the assault.

Company Operations Sergeant is the NCO in charge of the Company level stuff, so lots of Paperwork and likely advising the Company Commander on tactics and strategy in combat situations.

One is an Officer in charge of less people, one is an NCO "in charge" of more people.

@The Spectre

A Platoon Leader is the Officer in charge of a single Platoon, normally they get orders from Company Command and disseminate it to their Squad leaders who disseminate it to the men on the assault.

Company Operations Sergeant is the NCO in charge of the Company level stuff, so lots of Paperwork and likely advising the Company Commander on tactics and strategy in combat situations.

One is an Officer in charge of less people, one is an NCO "in charge" of more people.

FrostedCaramel is correct about the PL being an officer. 2nd Lieutenants and 1st Lieutenants occupy this slot in a platoon. I am aware the US Army used Operations Sergeants during World War II and later. They are not used today, but the USMC do use them today. The ranks during WWII were very different than they are today and were only used from 1942 to 1948. The authorized rank for an Operations NCO (Non-Commissioned Officer) is Technical Sergeant (3 stripes and 2 rockers), but could be occupied by a Technician 3rd Grade (3 stripes, one rocker and a "T" in the middle). The Technician ranks were only used during WWII. After the Air Force split off in 1948, the Army dissolved them, then later included the Specialist ranks which were used during Vietnam and then eliminated again in 1983.

I know that can be confusing. I've been studying milhist for over 42 years.

The benefit of starting with the lower rank, is your character can be promoted during the RP. That is why I chose a 1st Lieutenant for the Company Commander.

NOTE: there are no infantry fire teams used during WWII. That structure was used sometime after the Korean War era. I know they were used during Vietnam War and later.

@Gunther It would probably be useful to include a list of what would be censored in letters from servicemen (e.g troop movements, criticism of superiors, etc.). It would also be cool if, in our letters, we deleted certain parts, like a real censored letter would.

@Gunther It would probably be useful to include a list of what would be censored in letters from servicemen (e.g troop movements, criticism of superiors, etc.). It would also be cool if, in our letters, we deleted certain parts, like a real censored letter would.

CENSORSHIP ITEMS:
1. Any details about upcoming operations
2. Times or dates regarding troop movements
3. Locations or destinations of where units are going
4. Current locations of units.
5. I wouldn't say criticisms of superiors per se, but the topic of what they are being criticized for. It could point to a weakness in the officer or the unit. Saying, "I criticized the old man about how he handled a situation recently and now I am in hot water with him" is ok. Saying, "I criticized the old man because he allowed the men to all go to sleep without posting guards" would not be OK.

@Gunther & @FrostedCaramel, thanks for helping me out. I am making a small bio on my character, who's gonna be the Company Operations Sergeant.

EDIT: Posted my character sheet.

@Gunther & @FrostedCaramel, thanks for helping me out. I am making a small bio on my character, who's gonna be the Company Operations Sergeant.

EDIT: Posted my character sheet.

I believe your character should be a Sergenat and not an Officer in the position of Company Operations Sergeant.

@Gunther Would there be any African-Americans in this unit?

@Gunther Would there be any African-Americans in this unit?

When it comes to Role Play, I'm all for breaking down those barriers. I already said female characters were allowed even though they were not permitted in combat arms during WWII. The same could be said about African Americans and segregation in the 1940s. Racism was overt then; blatantly easy to see. Expressing racism in today's integrated army will result in an Article 15, non-judicial punishment.

Go for it!

From the source I am currently reading on the history of the 37th Tank Battalion, they are in constant contact with the enemy from 17 to 28 July 1944. It is not intensive, but daily sightings and the occasional rounds being exchanged near the lead units in the column. But on the 28th, the Battalion experiences its real test during its attack on Coutances and then Avranches, at the northern edge of the neck of Brittany, which fell on the 30th.

This next post the battalion is still in preparations, but the next after this one, things will get warmer and then hotter when we get to the time period of 28 - 30 July.

I am also reading Sons of the Reich; II SS Panzer Corps by Michael Reynolds, MG (Ret.), British Army. MG Reynolds was a NATO Commander during his military career.

Well, I have posted my first IC post in months.

Name: Scott D. Turmin
Race: Italian-Chinese
Age: 78
Rank: Corporal-Sergeant of the Light Brigade / Dad's Army
Bio: Joined the army since he was bored.
Family: Five teen wives. Don't tell his other wives. 46,5 kids.
Likes: War
Dislikes: Fucking nazis and fucking-nazis

By the way can I use his chinese name Xin Liao?

@AzimuthEmperor Could you please use a realistic character prior to posting? Thanks. Most American GIs in the 1940s were between the ages of 17 and 35. No one would permit a 78 year old regardless of ethnicity into the Army. I was trying to keep it somewhat realistic; at least based on an historical event.

@CaptainBritton Welcome! I figured you would have taken a tanker with your cavalry experience.

I'll have a new post up Friday; advancing the calendar and getting into a fight.

CS and first post up. Hope you all like it!

@CaptainBritton Welcome! I figured you would have taken a tanker with your cavalry experience.

I debated it, but ultimately I went with my gut on making a rifleman doubling as one of the M2 operators on one of the M3 halftracks. I do hope that's acceptable.

Perfectly fine.
You can write for another character if you like in an M3 Sherman or M18 Hellcat. I've been doing a lot of reading on the 37th TB, 4th AD. They were at the tip of Patton's spear. They saw a lot of shit between Operation Cobra and the end of the war.

I'd say that's enough for a war correspondent to write about. I'll start writing today after work.