This is the story (more of a novelette) of one day for a platoon of war-weary American soldiers as they hit a remote beach in Italy and then proceed with their mission which is to take a strategically important farmhouse 6 miles inland. What makes it so interesting is that their lieutenant is killed before they even get ashore and then the 3 top NCOs are each killed leaving a low level NCO who never dreamed he would become a platoon leader in charge. Great dialogue between the soldiers as they advance on the farmhouse and have to deal with things like strafing planes, fleeing Italian soldiers and an armored car on their way to blow a bridge. Battle for the farmhouse is pretty good too.

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