Lt. Gen. George S. Patton remarked that the 45th Infantry Division is one of the best, if not the best division that the American army has ever produced. Such praise, however, came at a steep price, for the 45th saw some of the fiercest fighting in the European campaign from Sicily to Anzio and from southern France to Germany and racked up one of the highest casualty rates. Through it all, medic Robert Doc Joe Franklin drafted in 1942 and thrust into combat with no specific training or knowledge for treating war wounds soldiered on, fighting as hard to keep his men alive as the enemy fought...