A Promise of Peace

The war was almost over. Everybody knew it. The Americans knew it. The Germans knew it. The generals were just working out the details. Sgt. Roberts and the rest of the 4th would soon be going home to live long and peaceful lives.

And so, it had been for the men of the American 3rd Army, 4th Armored Battalion. They had trained in Texas for desert warfare. In June 1942, they were one of the first American combat units to fight with the British 8th Army in North Africa. For three sluggish years, the soldiers kept their promise to win the war against Hitler’s Germany. For the same three years, they saw too many of their young comrades fulfill their duty. For the rest of the men, those that had seen the most and yet still lived, the rumors were that the war was finally almost at an end.