A Ride with the Red Bulls

James Pierce Senn, a 33 year old Laurens County, S.C., grocery clerk, was inducted into the Army in 1942. With active combat raging in North Africa, he was one of many sent as a replacement for the losses at Kasserine Pass. Little did he know that his journey with the 34th ("Red Bulls") Infantry Division, as a Medical Battalion ambulance wheel-man and sometimes litter-bearer, would last the next two and a half years and take him from Tunisia to the very northernmost reaches of the Italian "boot". The 162-page journal Senn left behind for generations to follow provides a vivid travelogue touching on the challenges of miserable mud, cold, and mountainous terrain; of miles of travel in support of every Fifth Army campaign; of experiences in combat including frequent enemy fire and his unit's friendship with the Japanese-American 100th Infantry Battalion; and, in the process, offering unique perspectives on how the war affected both the countryside and the local civilian population. His first person commentary is counterbalanced and grounded in authenticity by the parallel clarification from the official unit and campaign narratives, as provided for all Senn's days in combat service. This title is perhaps the only existing comprehensive account of the 109th Medical Battalion's activities during World War II.