Dog Tags Yapping : The World War II Letters of a Combat GI

During World War II, thousands of high school graduates were drafted into the army as engineers or other technicians but instead were assigned to fighting units. One of these was Morton Elevitch from Minnesota. Here, cartoons, drawings and letters home recover the story of one rerouted GI.

A chronicle of war infused with uncommon cheer, this is a young man's education in life and death, and a narrative of war told completely in letters. During World War II, thousands of high school graduates were drafted into the army to be trained in colleges as engineers or other technicians but instead were assigned to fighting units and joined the great assualt in Europe after D Day. One of those combat infantrymen was Morton Elevitch from Duluth, Minnesota. Elevitch's cartoons, drawings and extremely unconventional letters home - rescued from box-in-the-basement oblivion after a more than 50-year dormancy - recover the story of one rerouted GI. The words and letters of "Privitch Elevate" offer the immediacy of the events as they unfolded. The young Elevitch escorts readers through his basic training and departure for Europe, duty in Brittany with the 94th Division and departure for Germany, combat under Patton's command, wounding by mortar fragments, convalescence in England and his return to France with the Signal Corps to guard prisoners and await demobilization. But along with these letters are the stories of his relationships with his parents, brother, the men of his company and even the prisoners of war.