There are armor wonks on the web today who nitpick death traps to death without doing much harm to coopers major thesis. The book itself is called death traps and it refers to the thousands of crew members who died or were injured in sherman tanks because the tank was designed by a committee and it was no match for german panzers with far superior armour and firepower. I would like to know why death traps by belton cooper is considered irrelevant. Gladeon barnes, chief of research and engineering of the ordnance department, was enamored of the electric drive, the united states army in world war ii, transmission system and ordna. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. While death traps offers a decent perspective of a soldiers first hand experience, thats all it is, a perspective. In belton coopers death traps on page 175 he claims. Belton coopers book death traps is a good book about the sherman. Getting to know him was every bit as enjoyable and informative as reading his book.
And if he is irrelevant, then why would hunicutts books be. Some say it was a pure assassination, a hit job to get rid of this annoying person. He was a liaison lieutenant in the 3 rd armor division for the maintenance battalion. I eagerly awaited this book s coming out since i heard of its release. 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. Whitepages people search is the most trusted directory. After the war, he completed his studies at the university of michigan with a degree in naval architecture and marine engineering. Was the ww2 memoir death traps by belton cooper historically accurate. Coopers insight makes this book an interesting read from a historical point of view death traps definitely has a significant amount of historical contents. Death traps the survival of an american armored division. 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. If you read death traps you understand the tone of the movie as well as why the eponymous tank is named fury. Coopers experiences in the battle to defeat germany. Death traps is a very good memoir by belton cooper.
You can enhance belton coopers memory by upgrading beltons public record with words and pictures, signing beltons memory book, recording an audio memory or lighting a candle. There are instances where panzers on the defense inflicted. Wikipedia article on the film mentions it was inspired by death traps, the autobiography of maintenance company officer belton y cooper. His stories are vivid, enlightening, full of lifeand of pain, sorrow, horror, and triumph. The information in this obituary is based on data from the us governments social security death index. Robert cooper in texas tx 293 records found whitepages. Robert ritchie, 32, didnt check on his 4yearold son for hours after his wife and. His experiences in the european theater were the subject of his 1998 book death traps. I have recently read belton coopers memoir death traps and generally liked it but i would like to make a couple of remarks on it. He saw a lot of battle damage on american tanks from german guns. I have never before been able to learn so much about mai.
Ambrose, from his foreword 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. Please note, with regards to my latest mingles with jingles where i talk about belton coopers death traps book, that while coopers book is an entertaining read, its been pointed out to me that he presents a lot of opinion as historical fact, and ive annotated links in this video to an operation thinktank video where they specifically address issues that cooper got wrong and. Cooper, md, mph has inspired millions to exercise for good health with the release of his first bestseller aerobics. The survival of an american armored division in world war ii by benton y. The survival of an american armored division in world war ii, published in 1998. This book lays it out better than any other recent effort, and should be part of the library of any contemporary warrior. As a young ordnance lieutenant in the 3d armor division, it was belton coopers job to travel with the combat units during the day and assist in coordinating the recovery, repair, and evacuation of the battledamaged tanks. The survival of an american armored division in world war ii. Stephen sewell, armor magazine coopers writing and recall of harrowing events is superb and engrossing.
Top 10 stars who destroyed their careers on live tv. Cooper is revolutionizing health and fitness againcalling on america and the world to get cooperized. Belton coopers description of the inadequacies of the m4 sherman tank and the superhuman efforts of maintenance crews to restore damaged ones to combat is very gripping. Fury brad pitt plays a watereddown version of his inglourious basterds character in this disappointingly bland look at a world war ii tank crew. Belton was an ordnance officer in the 3rd armored div or spearhead division. His book reflects his frustrations at having to send young, undertrained tank crews out to almost certain death in the face of mark iv, mark v and mark vi german tanks. 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. His laments about shermans being no good against tigers and panthers are questionable, as his unit did not encounter tigers and panthers when he. The pershings delayed production weapons and warfare. About death traps an important contribution to the history of world war ii. Belton coopers memoir of his world war ii service with the 3rd armored division in europe is a gem. 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.
The survival of an american armored division in world war ii by belton y. 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. What issues or problems delayed the deployment of the. Also on this program was the author of death traps, belton y. Lebanon, ohio a judge sentenced a franklin man to seven years in prison tuesday for his sons scalding death. The technical inferiority of american to german armor in world war ii is well documented and very familiar to students of that conflict. However, the truth is apparent to those that read belton coopers book, death traps that while armored vehicles can be knocked out most if not all, of them can be recovered and put back into service, if they are not allowed to totally incinerate. I read this book immediately after reading spearhead. It keeps coming up in forum threads as people keep citing it, so i figured i may as well make my position clear in a more formal manner.
View phone numbers, addresses, public records, background check reports and possible arrest records for robert cooper in texas tx. Cooper, an ordenance officer in the us 3rd armoured division, across the west european campaign of wwii and as such fills a very important gap in litterature. Read death traps the survival of an american armored division in world war ii by belton y. Death traps the survival of an american armored division in world war ii. Cooper served as an ordnance officer with the forward elements and was responsible for coordinating the recovery and repair of damaged american tanks. Coopers writing and recall of harrowing events is superb and engrossing. This was a heavy armored division that was the tip of the spear of the allied advance across europe. Well, i can think of a few reasons right off the bat for that like.
Why is belton coopers death traps considered unreliable. As a memoir, it is meandering and repetitive, far too often wandering away from the authors personal experiences into the realm of speculation. For the same reason internet hobby historians love to rate the tiger ll as the greatest tank ever the m1 abrams is based off it dontcha know and routinely place rommel at the top of the list of greatest generals ever. Patton was primarily responsible for delaying the development and production of the m26. Invariably, when this topic is raised in an online forum, someone will bring up the book death traps by belton cooper. The wikipedia page on belton coopers book includes the following from tank and afv news and the historian robert forczyk. The book, commonly found, is wellwritten, an easy read, and provides good insight as to the thinkings and workings of a junior grade ordnance officer in a field unit. Of course, when something like this happens, conspiracy theories arise quickly in the conspiracy field. Holy crap that guy must not have done a single ounce of research for his book. Cooper is a very polished writer, and the book is very readable. This information, however interesting, is also the books achilles heel. The survival of an american armored division in world war ii is a 1998 memoir by belton y.
When belton cooper was a young boy growing up in huntsville, he dreamed of building the worlds first unsinkable battleship. I have read this book several times, the first in preparation for serving as the oncamera historian for a history channel program, engineering disasters the sherman tank. Most memoirs written by the soldiers in the field focus on the anecdotes which can. An important contribution to the history of world war ii.
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