George Browne Chapter Summary

George Browne was an American solder during World War 1. He also went by the nicknames of Brownie and Doughboy. While he was in the Army he wrote a series of letters to the love of his life, Martha. He had to leave Martha behind when he had enlisted into the war. However, he kept in touch with her, and kept her updated on everything that was going on by writing letters to her. These letters expose the life of an American Soldier during World War 1, and also helps individuals to gain an understanding of the trails and struggles that the American soldier experienced during World War 1.

David L. Snead edited the book and combined all of Brownie’s letters into a diary, then transformed them into a story by adding a little of his own commentary to complete

He says, “the trenches are funny things and it’s not as bad as some people think. If there is an attack or a raid then it is bad. Otherwise it’s the safest place within five miles of the front” . He also described the terrible attacks that they went under. He says, “what proved to be for us the cruelest days of the war. For weeks now we had been under almost constant shell-fire, snatching what little slepp we could in miserable foxholes, always wet, always cold. Life depended on a matter of feet and inches-whether the next shell would fall a few feet or yards away or whether it would find its mark. We had seen our men change before our eyes, their faces becoming gaunt and grey, their lips thin and blue, their nerves ragged from lack of sleep; their clothes, their hair, their stubble of beard matted with the slimy mud of the foxholes” . Browne continued to share his experiences, such as how he and other soldiers witnessed animals, their fellow soldiers and friends get murdered by the German’s machine guns during the war. Brownie was gassed during the last two weeks of October when the Germans released thousands of gas