As an Infantry combat veteran of the Vietnam War and the Gulf War, I can attest that Dying Hard is the most realistic portrayal of infantry combat I have ever read. The facts and easy writing are obviously the keys to the book’s accuracy and smooth flow, and the photographs and maps are excellent as well. 10 large well-done maps help you follow the unit’s progress and each is located close to the text it illustrates so you don’t have to page back and forth.
Of the 95 photographs, 5 are in color; 14 are combat shots (bazooka, machineguns, mortars, patrolling, etc.) 23 are from the National Archives (NARA) and I have only seen one that was previously published- you are going to view a great deal for the first time. Others show general infantry life and includes one of Paddy Flint, George Patton awarding a Silver Star to the 39th Infantry Regiment commander, a couple showing graves, one (from the archives) showing a piece of a mattress cover used to bury a sergeant in Company B (we ran out of wooden caskets), and a wartime shot of the famous Town Pump bar where hundreds of soldiers from the 9th and 82nd divisions battled it out in a bar fight.
But the heart of the photos are 56 individual- and one group-shot with 9 more, of identified soldiers in Company B. Combined with detailed background of many of the soldiers, you are going to feel that you actually know many of them personally. That is the beauty of Dying Hard. It puts you there.