Walt Larimore

March 17, 2024

March 17, 1944 – Dad’s first medal of valor caused Mount Vesuvius to blow her top

Well, not really. But the two events occurred in close proximity to each other. Phil’s first medal of valor was the Silver Star the Army’s third […]
March 16, 2024

March 16, 1944 – Baptism by fire (Part 2)

“No soldier in any of our theaters of operations is better acquainted with this war than is the Infantryman, and no Infantryman knows war more intimately […]
March 15, 2024

March 15, 1944 – Baptism by fire (Part 1)

“In every battle, the last one hundred yards of the fight belongs to the Infantry. Armed with rifle and bayonet, Infantrymen must face and defeat the […]
March 14, 2024

March 14, 1944 – Skirmishes increase on the Anzio front line

The countless stone houses of standard design lined the few roads across the Anzio beachhead. To the front of Dad’s units the stone farm houses were […]
March 13, 2024

March 13, 1944 – Stories of Army nurses in WWII that will swell your heart

While writing the early drafts of my book, At First Light: A True World War II Story of a Hero, His Bravery, and an Amazing Horse, […]
March 13, 2024

Largest COVID vaccine study yet finds up to 3 times greater risk? True or false?

https://www.forbes.com/sites/ariannajohnson/2024/02/19/covid-vaccines-linked-to-small-increase-in-heart-and-brain-disorders-study-finds-but-risk-from-infection-is-far-higher/?sh=6a31bf5c60ffA dear friend was deeply alarmed by this recent news headline, “Largest Covid vaccine study yet finds up to 3 times greater risk.” He wrote, “I […]
March 12, 2024

March 12, 1944 – Dad’s admiration for the amazing Army nurses

While still an inpatient at the field hospital on the Anzio beachhead, Dad wrote home and expressed great admiration for the nurses there.
March 11, 2024

March 11, 1944 – Hospitalized on Anzio with malaria

After dinner that evening at the field hospital on the Anzio beachhead, Second Lieutenant Phil Larimore, who had been hospitalized with malaria, felt well enough to […]
March 28, 2024

March 28, 1944 – Sometimes you hear shells coming, sometimes you don’t on Anzio

When you get to Anzio you waste no time getting off the boat, for you have been feeling pretty much like a clay pigeon in a […]
March 27, 2024

‘Dogface’ Hero: Headstrong Teen Becomes Highly Decorated Young Leader (Feb 2024 — ARMY magazine)

An article, ‘Dogface’ Hero: Headstrong Teen Becomes Highly Decorated Young Leader , based upon my and Mike Yorkey’s book, At First Light: A True World War […]
March 26, 2024

March 26, 1944 – A well deserved break at a rest camp

Beginning on 26 March, every two days another company the 30th Infantry was sent to the 3rd Division Rest Center in the heart of the Pine […]
March 25, 2024

March 25, 1944 – Fate of Anzio Beachhead rests heavily on the ‘Ducks’

Probably the two outstanding features of our handling of supplies on this 5th Army beachhead have been the “duck,” or amphibious truck, and our system of […]
March 24, 2024

March 24, 1944 – Supply lines at Anzio

The real drama of this Anzio beachhead campaign is the supply system. I’d almost like to write that sentence twice—to make sure you get it. The […]
March 23, 2024

March 23, 1944 – Was Ernie Pyle, the most famous correspondent from WWII ever scared?

Was the most famous correspondent from WWII ever scared? Here’s Ernie Pyle’s report from the front lines at Anzio Beachhead.