Temporary Widow

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>In October 1944, Trautman was sent to Paris by General Eisenhower to organize the Library Branch for the European Theater of Operations. In December 1944, Eisenhower sent Trautman to survey library needs across France, Germany, Holland, Belgium, and Luxembourg. He was to proceed to Namur, Belgium, in mid-December. As Trautman journeyed there, Germany launched the Battle of the Bulge. After bedding down in an abandoned town with several soldiers, Trautman discovered the following morning that they were trapped. A column of German tanks had moved in overnight and were blocking the roads. After several days, Trautman and his men fought their way out. Moved by this ordeal, Trautman purchased 17,000 books in Paris for immediate distribution to troops still fighting in the Bulge. Having completed his mission for Eisenhower, he returned to the United States in January 1945 with a renewed determination to increase the number of books going overseas.</jats:p>