Paperback cover image of Jeep Show: A Trouper At The Battle Of The Bulge, a World War 2 novel
This is a damn good novel. It brings the sights, sounds, smells, and emotions of World War II to life as few other novels do.” – Richard Smoley, author, Seven Games of Life
Tell A Friend

Jeep Show

A Trouper at the Battle of the Bulge

Join show business drop-out Jim Tanzer as he enlists in the U.S. Army’s Morale Corps in WWII. Along with Private Mickey Rooney and others, he is detailed to entertain soldiers in combat zones. Will he survive the largest battle ever fought by the U.S. Army?

A Soldier’s Tale from the WWII Frontlines

Despite a fatherhood deferment, thirty-year-old show business drop-out Jim Tanzer enlists in the Army in 1943, a decision that may cost him his marriage and his life.

Private Tanzer is placed in the Morale Corps, shipped to Europe, and detailed to a squad led by Private Mickey Rooney, the movie star. They perform for entertainment-starved combat infantry in places where the USO cannot go. Caught in the Battle of the Bulge, Jim retreats to Bastogne and finds himself in Team SNAFU, a hastily-organized unit composed of survivors from overrun infantry companies, as well as clerks, bakers, mechanics and other rear-echelon soldiers pressed into combat to support the 101st Airborne Division. Jim later participates in the liberation of the Ohrdruf concentration camp and produces amateur shows with Displaced Persons in occupied Germany, before heading back to the States for an uncertain reunion with his wife.

Tell A Friend

A Frontline View on the Battle of the Bulge

O’Connor skilfully intertwines the narrative with historical events when Private Tanzer is caught up in The Battle of the Bulge, Nazi Germany’s last major offensive of World War II and the largest battle ever fought by the American Army. Stranded on the German border, Jim falls back just in front of the “bulge” in the American lines created by initial German success. As part of Team SNAFU, Jim supports the 101s Airborne in the famous defence of Bastogne.

Jeep Shows: Supporting Troop Morale on the Frontline

Napoleon said “Morale is to the material as three is to one.” In WWII the U.S. Army Morale Corps, aka Special Services, had an extensive program of movies and live entertainment to boost the spirits of U.S. troops. At the front, though, only Jeep shows were possible, and they were vital to letting combat soldiers relax, laugh, and know they were not forgotten. Private Mickey Rooney’s squad was especially effective.

A Must-Read for Fans of WWII History

With its realism and emotional depth, Jeep Show is a must read for WWII buffs and lovers of historical fiction alike. The story will fascinate fans of Band of BrothersSaving Private Ryan, Ken Burns’ The War, The Thin Red Line, With the Old Breed, The Red Badge of Courage, Slaughterhouse Five, and Catch 22. Americans whose father served in WWII will be particularly interested.

Inspired by history, family and true events

Robert B. O’Connor is a marketer and writer based on Memphis. His father was a WWII veteran but Jeep Show began at Procter & Gamble, when O’Connor was told the Oxydol Circus legend. The promoter of that ill-fated circus, Jim Hetzer, inspired protagonist Jim Tanzer.

Critical & Reader Acclaim

Skillfully intertwines Jim’s personal journey with the broader canvas of World War II

The story of an ordinary soldier in World war II who is tasked with an extraordinary mission, Jeep Show: A Trouper at the Battle of the Bulge is a novel by Robert B. O’Connor who chronicles the astonishing journey of Jim Tanzer, a thirty-year-old dance instructor who enlists in the Army in 1943 to fight the Nazis. Jim’s showbiz background lands him in the Morale Corps as an Entertainment Specialist.

Shipped to Europe and tasked with performing in Jeep shows (small variety acts put on for combat infantry just behind the front lines) Jim travels throughout the Combat Zone with squad leader Mickey Rooney – the Hollywood movie superstar who was also in the Morale Corps (as he was in real life).

Their performances, more than just entertainment, are a beacon of hope, bringing brief moments of song, dance, and laughter to weary troops, letting them know they are not forgotten.

Jim’s story becomes intertwined with history when he is caught in the Battle of the Bulge. In Bastogne, he joins Team SNAFU, a makeshift unit supporting the 101st Airborne Division. Jim’s courage and determination in the face of overwhelming odds is a testament to the human spirit. Jeep Show is fiction based on little-known aspects of the U.S. World War II effort seen through the eyes of an unlikely hero.

As a novelist, Robert B. O’Connor skillfully intertwines Jim’s personal journey with the broader canvas of World War II, shedding light on the Army’s extensive morale-boosting efforts. O’Connor peppers the narrative with fascinating details about the show business world of the 1920s, 30s, and early 40s, while also capturing the grim realities of war.

Critique: Although a work of fiction, Jeep Show: A Trouper at the Battle of the Bulge brilliantly draws upon real people, places, and events drawn from the European theatre of World War II. A fun and fascinating read from start to finish, one one that rises to an impressive level of literary excellence, Jeep Show is especially and unreservedly recommended for community and college/university World War II themed fiction collections.

A wild ride with entertainers serving during WWII

O’Connor’s historical novel highlights the “Jeep shows” that entertained soldiers during World War II. Jim Tanzer (based on the real-life Jim Hetzer) is a song-and-dance man who enlists in the military to fight in WWII.

He’s quickly assigned to the Morale Corps at Camp Sibert. “You’ll be entertaining combat soldiers in places where the USO can’t go,” his captain tells him. One of his fellow enlisted men is Mickey Rooney (who actually was in the Morale Corps during the war). They are two among a cast of more than 50 in a show called Hip Hooray that travels to New York and London before it’s disbanded in favor of “Jeep shows,” in which teams made up of one driver and two performers are sent out in a Jeep to perform for the troops. Jim, Mickey, and their friend Wes are one such team traveling to various battlegrounds, including the Ardennes and the famed Battle of the Bulge. The action hops back and forth in time, providing readers with depictions of an 11-year-old Jimmy’s introduction to Vaudeville and his relationship with his wife, Stella.

It seems odd to call a World War II novel “delightful,” but that’s exactly what you get with O’Connor’s mix of history and fiction as battles rage on and enlisted men entertain the troops. The narrative covers a wide swath, from drama onboard ships to dealing with nasty weather to, of course, the travails of the injured (including Jim) and the dead during the war. It’s a fascinating look at a part of the military that many folks probably have never heard of. The characters, both real and imagined, are well drawn, and the author has a knack for dialogue that rings true. There’s also humor, thanks in no small part to Rooney’s presence. The interjection of real-life characters, particularly Rooney, isn’t jarring; in fact, it serves as a useful reminder that Jim Hetzer was a very real person. This is a compelling mix of showbiz and war, laughter and tears—a fine line that O’Connor walks well. A wild ride with entertainers serving during WWII.

Hilarious but rousing novel of a dance instructor facing the Battle of the Bulge

This refreshing take on military fiction masterfully balances the gravity of war with unexpected moments of fun and camaraderie, touring readers through the European front with a hero who reads Variety and plans to write a parodic play called Spamlet. The storytelling is fleet and crisps, alive with crack comic dialogue (“Nobody does cross-dress like the Army”), as Jim falls in with a ragtag support unit called Team SNAFU. Says a sergeant: “Summa these numbskulls can’t even know how to march. How they gonna fight?” O’Connor’s portrayal of the Battle of the Bulge is both historically accurate and deeply personal for Jim.

The transition from performing for troops to becoming combatants themselves creates a compelling narrative arc, connected to an epochal struggle. Still, even among the novel’s many laughs, O’Connor never diminishes the urgency of the mission of the (fictional) Morale Corps, demonstrating how entertainers brought crucial moments of joy to soldiers amid the brutal reality of combat. This warm, convincing portrayal of backstage banter, improvised performances, and the bonds formed between performers adds layers of warmth and humanity.

Booklife, November 2024

So many stories of the Greatest Generation will go untold

We’re all aware of the heavily produced shows the USO did with Hollywood stars in the rear areas, but I had never heard of the tiny groups Uncle Sam sent to the front lines, to try and raise the morale of battle worn troops: 3 or 4 entertainers in a jeep with a driver, who would perform songs and skits in 10+ shows in a day. Jeep Show begins in 1944 , when the Allies were taking back Europe from the Germans, but the war still had a year of misery and death ahead.

O’Connor says he was inspired by the letters of song-and-dance-man US Army Private Jim Hetzer, who left his comfortable life at age 29 to join the war effort, and landed in Jeep shows with Private Mickey Rooney to entertain the troops, literally between firefights. Rooney was an established movie star, though his fame afforded them little in terms of safety or special treatment.

It took me a few pages to appreciate the clever ambiguity of the subtitle. Carefully researched, punctuated by the cornball humor of the time, Jeep Show puts the reader squarely in the action, in intense fighting. Private Jim Tanzer (based on Hetzer), is in the foxholes, running messages carrying his M1 carbine, dodging enemy fire and bombs with various regiments to get back to his unit, Morale Corps Battalion 6817. It is an incredible story, well told, a must-read for historical fiction buffs.

Will Sonnet, author, Duck Hunting in Quicksand

A remarkable, painstakingly researched book

Jeep Show is a remarkable, painstakingly researched book about World War II and the men who fought it – and, particularly, the men who entertained them on the front lines during the Battle of the Bulge. O’Connor takes us through what our soldiers went through, from boot camp to the battle and back, as told through the eyes of Jim Tanzer, a dance teacher turned trouper. It’s an amazing, fascinating read about one of the turning points in world history.

John Waggoner, former USA Today and AARP Magazine Columnist