On December 19, 1944, Gene Garrison turned nineteen. He spent his birthday in a muddy foxhole, listening to the cries of wounded comrades while exploding artillery shells sent shrapnel raining down on him and the enemy prepared to attack. It was his first day in combat.

Unless Victory Comes recounts Garrison's journey as he was transformed from a fresh-faced kid from the farmlands of Ohio into a hardened soldier fighting for survival. From his baptism under fire, to the bitter fighting in the Battle of the Bulge, to the end of the war on the Czechoslovakian border, Gene Garrison witnessed the war from the ground up.

Manning a .30 caliber machine gun in the 87th Infantry, Garrison was a prime target in every firefight as General George Patton's juggernaut Third Army marched across Europe — and he lived every day knowing it could be his last. This is the story of one young man, far from home, surrounded by strangers, facing death yet never losing hope that he would live to see his family again.

Gene Garrison attended Miami University after his discharge from the Army. He retired after a thirty-year career with the Department of the Air Force. Gene and his wife, Juanita, have four children and eight grandchildren. He lives in Dayton, Ohio.

Patrick Gilbert has worked as a journalist and editor for thirty-five years. Twice nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, he is the recipient of many local and national journalism awards. He lives in Baltimore with his wife, Catherine, and their two children.