As editor of Crickhollow Books, I’m saddened to say that Frank Wayne Martin, the author of Patton’s Lucky Scout, passed away peacefully yesterday on January 7, 2010, after some years of dealing with a problematic heart condition, with recent complications that even he, the quintessential survivor, could not overcome.

I’ll just share a few words sent by his daughter-in-law, Nancy Martin, who worked so wonderfully with him to organize his World War II memoirs into his recently published book. In her sharing of the news, she offered this piece from 16th-century Catholic poet/preacher/scholar John Donne:

No man is an island,
Entire of itself;
Each is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less,
As well as if a promontory were,
As well as if a manor of thy friend’s
Or of thine own were.
Any man’s death diminishes me,
Because I am involved in mankind;
And therefore, never send to know
For whom the bell tolls;
It tolls for thee.

These famous words by John Donne are a prose passage from Meditation 17, Devotions Upon Emergent Occasions (1624).

Here’s a photo taken just after Wayne’s book was published last fall, taken at a local indie bookstore, Next Chapter Bookshop, in November 2009. I just want to add that it was a great privilege to know him and to be a part of sharing those remarkable stories, told with such humor and humanity, of his World War II days as a scout for General Patton.

Frank Wayne Martin at Next Chapter Bookshop, November 2009

Here’s another photo from the collection of Frank Wayne Martin. Dark and grainy as it is, it shows a quiet moment during the cold, cold midwinter engagement known as the Battle of the Bulge. In this terrible battle, in which some 19,000 American soldiers lost their lives, the Germans attempted a dramatic counter-offensive in the heavily wooded Ardennes Mountain region of Belgium to try to to halt the Allied advance. From mid-December into late January, the two sides clashed in desperate fashion.

During the back-and-forth engagements, some German troops disguised as Americans managed to penetrate through the Allied lines to try to cut communication wires, change traffic signs, and such.

According to Wikipedia:

Checkpoints were set up all over the Allied rear, greatly slowing the movement of soldiers and equipment. Military policemen drilled servicemen on things which every American was expected to know, such as the identity of Mickey Mouse’s girlfriend, baseball scores, or the capital of Illinois. This last question resulted in the brief detention of General Bradley; although he gave the correct answer — Springfield — the GI who questioned him apparently believed the capital was Chicago.

Frank Wayne Martin was pulled into the fighting with the rest of the Lucky Forward scouting unit. Martin recalled in his World War II memoir, Patton’s Lucky Scout, how on several occasions he encountered groups of disguised German soldiers on some of his scouting missions.

How did I know they were actually Germans? They were all shaven. They had well-fitting uniforms, with their helmets on straight, and polished boots. No GI unit ever looked like that in combat, especially if they had to use foxholes! My suspicions were confirmed when they started talking in German when they thought I was out of earshot.

Here is a photograph of PFC Martin taken during that period. In this photo, he is standing (on left) holding a binocular case in one hand, while the other hand has a grip on a small calf.

The fellow toward the back, in the knit cap, is “Doc” Kidd, the medic assigned to the Lucky Forward scouting unit. The other two soldiers are unidentified.

Frank Wayne Martin (left), "Doc" Kidd (in knit cap), and two others during the Battle of the Bulge

Photograph from the Battle of the Bulge, December 1944 or January 1945. Photographer unknown.

From the Patton’s Lucky Scout book, a World War II memoir by PFC Frank Wayne Martin:

One of my assignments as the war was winding down was to check out German equipment, to see how the war was effecting the quality.

I have always enjoyed studying economics, and during combat in Europe, the only book I carried was a rather thin textbook on economics. After Patton saw me reading it, he started assigning me to report to him my view of how well Germany was dealing with wartime material shortages.

The German equipment used in the field showed signs of “cost trimming” by the end of the war. As a point of comparison, our jeeps were pretty rugged and took a lot of abuse, but the German equivalent was in far worse shape.

The Army Volkswagen was their equivalent of the jeep. To test to see if the new ones were as rugged as needed, I found one that I was sure was just off the production line: fresh paint, new fabric on seats, etc. I first drove it around an open field, leaving ruts three to five inches deep.

PFC Martin tests the German Volkswagen "Jeep"

Then I drove across the ruts. The chassis collapsed.

I got out and tapped it with my trench knife, hearing a thin sound. The chassis looked the same as earlier models, but instead of solid steel, it was made of thin sheet steel welded into a square shape.

PFC Martin tests the German Volkswagen "Jeep"

The German Volkswagen "Jeep" failed the test (unknown soldier sits on vehicle with broken chassis).

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Happy Thanksgiving tomorrow!

Here are several more photos taken by PFC Frank Wayne Martin, working backstage during the famous performance given for General George S. Patton and members of his staff in May, 1945.

Head shot of one of the Lipizzan horses, May 1945, ready to perform for General Patton, at St. Martin's, Austria

Note the staff cars lined up in the background in the next photo, as one of the riders moves forward on the left, hidden the shadowed canopy of trees.

Lipizzan horse and rider, backstage, with Third Army staff cars in background, May 1945, at St. Martin's, Austria

Here’s a good shot of one of the riders entering or returning from the performance area:

Mounted rider at a trot on a Lipizzan horse, backstage, May 1945, ready to perform for General Patton, at St. Martin's, Austria

All these shots were taken backstage, where PFC Martin was keeping an eye on the riders to make sure they were safe and no problems occurred to mar this historic performance for General Patton and others, after their efforts to save the Lippizan horses at the end of World War II from any danger.

The story of PFC Martin’s role in the event is found in the book:

Patton’s Lucky Scout
The Adventures of a Forward Observer
for General Patton and the Third Army in Europe
by Frank Wayne Martin, with Nancy Martin
Crickhollow Books, October 2009
(a World War II memoir)
paperback, 308 pages, $18.95 (click on the title above to order)

But the book does not contain any photos; instead, we are placing them on this blog, in batches. More to come soon!

Lipizzan horses backstage, May 1945, ready to perform for General Patton, at St. Martin's, Austria.

From the book, Patton’s Lucky Scout, by Frank Wayne Martin with Nancy Martin:

Lucky Forward had penetrated deep into Czechoslovakia by this time in the war. We were staying in a lovely little whitewashed house in a beautiful village. I was actually sleeping under a roof when this mission began. Very early one morning I woke up to a driver looking for me, shouting “Hey, Martin, the General wants to know if you can saddle and ride a horse?”

So begins a chapter about PFC Martin’s involvement in the operation to save the famous performing Lipizzan horses of Austria.

For the rest of the story, see the Patton’s Lucky Scout book, now available in paperback for $18.95, from fine bookstores online and in your neighborhood. (If you don’t see it on the shelves, ask for it; good bookstores will special-order a title for you.)

PFC Martin took a number of “backstage” photographs of the horses and riders coming and going. His role: to guard and protect the handlers.

The trainers were still technically prisoners of war, so my job was to guard them during the performance. Also, military protocol required that nobody else would be allowed to enter the holding area or mingle with the trainers.

Lipizzan horses backstage, May 1945, ready to perform for General Patton, at St. Martin's, Austria.

(More photos to follow in next post.)

Four GIs in the Battle of the Bulge (Chester "Spud" Spudowski with "grease gun" and Sgt. John Archibald (Archie) Skuse in the middle, two unnamed soldiers on far right and left.

PFC Frank Wayne Martin’s group had been due for R&R, but instead was called into action in the Battle of the Bulge, a drawn-out affair that lasted from mid-December 1944 into January 1945, with stretches of bitter cold weather, with lows of -40 . . . or colder.

According to satirist Oscar Wilde:

I dislike modern memoirs. They are generally written by people who have either entirely lost their memories, or have never done anything worth remembering.
– Oscar Wilde (1854–1900)

Patton’s Lucky Scout avoids those traps. It is quite the opposite, a World War II memoir by an intelligent, trained observer (who also happens to be a great storyteller), and who did a lot of things worth remembering and sharing. Although it happens in the heart of war, as Patton’s Third Army marches across Europe, the account is quite upbeat and positive, reflecting the author’s deep compassion, his sense of humor, and an unflagging commitment to remembering what we share and value most as human beings, even in the midst of conflict.

From the Preface (by Nancy Martin) to Patton’s Lucky Scout, by Frank Wayne Martin (with Nancy, his daughter-in-law who helped compile and edit the book):

If I heard it once, I heard it a hundreds of times: “He should write a book!” about his time with Patton. Often there was an additional comment, [such as] “My uncle was in the Third Army but I don’t know what he did.”

This book is written is written in part for all of those who wonder what their loved ones experienced. While Frank Wayne Martin’s role was atypical, a lot of his experiences were universal.

The stories in this book are based upon his memories: the recollections of PFC Frank Wayne Martin, who served in the 328th regiment of the 26th Yankee Division in the Third Army during World War II. He kept no journal and has no written notes from his time in the Army, but does have photographs he took [note: some of which we'll be sharing here on this blog].

The story episodes were written over a period of several decades, with the compilation being done over the past four years. Every attempt has been made to verify his stories, but due the nature of his work that is largely impossible.

Memoirs are not solely documentary history, but also story. The events are seen and interpreted through one person’s point of view. Indeed, while they bring a lot of valuable, boots-on-the-ground perspective to military history, or any type of history, they mostly bring insight into the invisible realm of values . . . what individuals felt was most important to remember and honor and share through their stories.

While this may not create a documentary, impartial account . . . it is all the more interesting and valuable because of that.

As famous author Tobias Wolff wrote in his preface to This Boy’s Life:

I have been corrected on some points . . . . Also, my mother thinks that a dog I described as ugly was actually quite handsome. I’ve allowed some of these points to stand, because this is a book of memory, and memory has its own story to tell.

We hope you enjoy reading Patton’s Lucky Scout, and that it will help others recall and share their stories of things that matter most.

PFC Frank Wayne Martin on motorcycle

Here is a photo of PFC Martin on a motorcycle. Somewhere in Europe, date 1944 or 1945.

Frank Wayne Martin is the author of Patton’s Lucky Scout: The Adventures of a Forward Observer for General Patton and the Third Army in Europe (Crickhollow Books, Oct. 2009), a World War II memoir.

Welcome! This blog (with photos and some additional stories) accompanies the book:

Patton’s Lucky Scout
The Adventures of a Forward Observer
for General Patton and the Third Army in Europe
by Frank Wayne Martin
with Nancy Martin
Crickhollow Books, October 2009
paperback, 308 pages, $18.95

This is a fascinating, often humorous memoir of World War II by a remarkable soldier, a scout working behind enemy lines for General George S. Patton’s famed Third Army on the move.

The stories are the memoirs of PFC Frank Wayne Martin, who served in the 328th regiment of the 26th Yankee Division in the Third Army during World War II.

The co-author, Nancy Martin, compiled the stories into a cohesive narrative, working closely with her father-in-law.

The book is due to arrive from the printer about October 15 and will be available from bookstores, online and around the corner.

More soon!