Donkeys Leading Lions: 363rd Infantry Regiment, 91st Division American Expeditionary Force, France-Belgium, 1918-1919

When Gertude Lenore (Rogers) Quindotti, his elderly aunt, passes at age 97, David Rogers discovers a packet of her family documents in the freezer compartment of her refrigerator. Within this packet is her deceased husband’s U.S. Army honorable discharge from the 363rd Infantry Regiment, 91st Division of the American Expeditionary Force (AEF). This discovery leads David on five years of research of WWI with a trip to Luxembourg and his uncle’s battlefields and American/Allied cemeteries in France and Belgium. This factional novel summarizes the events leading to WWI, presents the emergence of military intelligence by the belligerents and the important role women played in that effort, and presents General Pershing’s negotiations with the French and British while building the AEF. David tells a vivid story of his uncle’s, Americo Guidotti, brutal battles using historically re-created maps of the St. Mihiel, Meuse-Argonne, and Ypres-Lys Offenses, ending four years of horrible trench warfare and the insane killing of “half the seed of Europe”. Americo Guidotti later changes his name to Rico Quindotti, attempting to erase his horrible memories of the war. “Donkeys Leading Lions” commemorates the fierce, young American warriors of the 91st Division who are poorly led at the Corps and Army levels, but advance further in battle than any adjacent AEF Divisions. Their price is high with nearly 5,000 casualties, but their names and valor are not forgotten, even after 100 years!