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Crack! and Thump: With a Combat Infantry Officer in World War II

By: Charles Scheffel, Barry Basden
Narrated by: Virtual Voice
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This title uses virtual voice narration

Virtual voice is computer-generated narration for audiobooks.

Publisher's summary

Captain Charles Scheffel is one of 12 persons whose war experiences were featured in the History Channel production, WWII IN HD, a 10-hour color series narrated by Gary Sinise. CRACK! AND THUMP is Scheffel's chilling account of ground combat of a young company-grade officer who fought with the 9th Infantry Division in North Africa, Sicily, France, Belgium, and Germany. Scheffel vividly recalls the terror, mind-numbing fatigue, raw emotions, and horrific conditions fighting men endured to achieve victory in World War II.
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What listeners say about Crack! and Thump: With a Combat Infantry Officer in World War II

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  • Overall
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Excellent

It’s a Great book. AI narrator actually not bad. Loved the story from the officers perspective.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Not bad for an AI

This was narrated by an AI but other than long pauses in unusual places (and those may have been due to editing) it was a good listen.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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I remember you Captain.

I remember the Author telling his story about getting that hotel room in San Antonio for him and his Ruthie on Ken Burns PBS World War II Documentary.
So glad to hear the whole story. My Grandfather served in many of the same places, and came home safe to my Grandmother Ruth.

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Treason?

First off, the AI narration isn’t too bad. Much better than I thought it would be. My problem is with this man as an officer. Granted I was only a few chapters into it before putting it down, but some things don’t add up. The first instance was when they were bound for New York, although being told specifically that your destination was secret and they couldn’t tell anyone, ha actually uses his status as an officer to bring his wife along. Then not only bribes, but coerces a subordinate to send her a telegram after being told it is expressly forbidden.

When tasked with teaching hand to hand combat, after being shown how woefully unprepared he is for it, he decides he is going to ignore the orders and tells his troops if the enemy is too close to shoot that they should run.

Then, well deployed, he states that as an officer, he censored his own mail, and although he didn’t specify where they were, claims proudly that he dropped enough hints so his brother could guess where they were.

He clearly believes that as an officer, he it’s not bound to the same rules as his troops. He put some self above his troops, and engages in activities that fail to prepare his soldiers for battle, and is a potential security risk. I really don’t care if he goes on to do wonderful things after this, this is all I need to know that he is a shitty officer.

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