Overall since there is not much definitive information that exists or surviving today about the absolutely phenomenal superhuman accomplishments of the Spearhead Division in WWII, "Death Traps" is a thrilling read, quite informative, spellbinding narrative and gratifying. I'm thankful that a book detailing this most vital historical subject exists at all even though it has glaring flaws.

However, the author Belton Y. Cooper appears to be one of those personalities, like retired politicians, ambassadors or celebrities, who always just happen to have been present in the center of history in the making time after time again. So much so it's like he was also sitting in a fourth chair next to Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin at Yalta.

I'm at somewhat of an advantage in my critical review of "Death Traps" as my father happened to have been the supervising Technical Sergeant, 3rd in command of Company C Maintenance Battalion 3rd Platoon HQ. When comparing his chronology against the must read 3rd AD Bible "Spearhead in the West" and my father's surviving papers from the war, Cooper sometimes errs in correct place names and misplaces exactly where Company C Maintenance was actually working on a mentioned date and location.

I don't have much information on Maintenance Company A or B's whereabouts but I do know exactly where Company C was from Normandy to Darmstadt till sailing home in Le Havre and some of his mentions weren't where Cooper states in his book. Minor example Cooper writes early in Ch. 4 that on August 5, C Company Maintenance was "bivouacked about a half a mile east of Reffuveille and Juvigny" when actually C Co. Maint. was still located back at Marigny from August 2nd to 9th. My dad was shot at by sniper fire in Brecey on their way to moving forward setting up shop at Chatillon-sur-Colmont from August 9th to 14th. Also "Juvigny" is properly called "Juvigny-le-Tertre," I would think if you're attempting to dictate history at least try to be historically accurate for Christmas sakes.

That's just one of his many minor inconsistencies. Where he really goes off the wall is his recollection of the Battle of the Bulge. Whenever Cooper is not single handedly winning the war he places C Company Maintenance everywhere they weren't. Page 185 he puts C Co. Maint. in Werbomont, now granted the Ardennes Campaign was one big messed up fluid battlefield from the word go but C. Co. Maint. was never at Werbomont. To set the record strait they vacated Aachen on December 23rd and arrived in Spa, Belgium staying briefly till December 27th. Then relocated for most of the battle to Vieuxville till January 11th. Moved forward to Harre, Belgium for two weeks till January 25th and then fell back to Terwagne for 10 days till February 7th cleaning up the battlefield piecing the battalion back together to full strength for the return to Germany and the March 5th push into Cologne.

It becomes apparent over the course of reading "Death Traps" is that to put the sometimes fantastical recollections of Mr. Cooper in perspective is to keep in mind that he was a Lieutenant Officer with the 3rd AD. I think therefore someone should have politely pointed out to him at times that there was a little something on his nose, something that looks a bit brown.

Case in point is Cooper's failure to adequately address the Bocage Country following D-Day. My father arrived at Omaha on D+27, a day before Cooper. The story he told me was everyone came up from the beach and just stopped cold, standing in shocked disbelief looking at the hedgerows. WTF Hedgerows?!? We have all this heavy equipment, 3/4 Ton Trucks, 2 1/2 Ton Cargo Haulers, Tank Retrievers and 10 Ton Wreckers and nobody said anything to us about hedgerows. Every enlisted G.I. wanted to shoot dead any officer right then and there for being so insidiously stupid. Nobody took the time for reconnaissance, no photos, not one mention back in England that they would be fighting through hedgerows. All respect for any officer in command of the 3rd AD dissipated in utter disgust for landing everyone in the worst of all possible places to start fighting a war. My father noted that most of the officers in the 3rd AD were crackpots to begin with. I think the valor attributed to the fighting men of the 3rd AD was primarily in order to stay alive, get to Berlin as quick as possible before getting killed by their own Officers and go home. Cooper's writing doesn't exemplify this fact anywhere in "Death Traps" probably because he was a Lieutenant jolly trotting around wearing rose colored field goggles.

Cooper is highly accurate in pointing out that Patton was an over glorified psychopath. How so many books are written and movies made about this ultimate nut job along with Montgomery who's another egocentric freak and not more movies, TV dramas or books about the 3rd Armored Spearhead Division or Major General Maurice Rose I fail to comprehend.

Don't take my critic of the book the wrong way, "Death Traps" is extremely worthwhile reading and highly recommend. Just take it with a grain of salt.