The cause was apparently a heart attack, said his son, Ted.

Through interviews and correspondence with veterans and accounts from their journals, Mr. Astor, who served with the 97th Infantry Division in the Second World War, told of combat as experienced by foot soldiers, sailors and pilots.

“Those people who are there know what it sounded like, what they saw, what they thought and what actually happened, as opposed to some of the official accounts, which at times are self-serving and not wholly accurate,” Mr. Astor told CNN on Veterans Day 2005.

In its review of “A Blood-Dimmed Tide,” Mr. Astor’s account of the Battle of the Bulge, The Plain Dealer of Cleveland said he conveyed “the sight, feel, smell and taste of a historic battle told by soldiers who did the fighting, not those who moved map pins back and forth in the safety of a rear echelon headquarters.”

In a 1997 review of “The Mighty Eighth,” Mr. Astor’s history of the Eighth Air Force’s missions over Europe, Publishers Weekly called him “one of the most accomplished oral historians at work today.”

Gerald Morton Astor, a native of New Haven, grew up in Mount Vernon, N.Y. After his wartime service, he received a bachelor’s degree from Princeton. He was the picture editor of Sports Illustrated in its early years and worked as an editor for Sport magazine, Look, The Saturday Evening Post and Time.

Besides his accounts of the Battle of the Bulge and the air war in Europe, Mr. Astor wrote of World War II in books including “The Greatest War: Americans in Combat, 1941-1945,” “June 6, 1944: The Voices of D-Day,” “Operation Iceberg: The Invasion and Conquest of Okinawa in World War II” and biographies of Maj. Gen. Terry Allen, a leading combat commander in both North Africa and Europe, and the Nazi medical experimenter Dr. Josef Mengele.

He also wrote “The Right to Fight: A History of African Americans in the Military” and “Presidents at War,” an account of presidents’ evolving assertion of authority to take military action in the absence of a Congressional declaration of war.

Mr. Astor edited “The Baseball Hall of Fame 50th Anniversary Book” and wrote a biography of the heavyweight champion Joe Louis, “And a Credit to His Race.” He collaborated with Anthony Villano, a former F.B.I. agent who recruited informants from the Mafia, in “Brick Agent.”

In addition to his son, of Ardsley, N.Y., he is survived by his wife, Sonia; a brother, Burt, of California; and a granddaughter.

In the preface to his book on D-Day, Mr. Astor wrote that “only through the words and memories of the men who fought that day does one grasp a sense of what war is about, how it consumes human lives and what is masked by the dry term ‘casualties.’”

“Combat is a terrible experience,” Mr. Astor told CNN 60 years after the end of World War II. “At the same time, it’s very exciting, and the life that one leads in the military builds bonds that last a lifetime.”

Well Chris Lindner beat me to it again.  She wrote about Mary Jane Hanron and even offered some ideas.

Frankly I am impressed  with Mary Jane and have been for a long time.  I remember her interview with you, Ben, that was published in a local paper in your area as I recall.  Ben that's how I found out all about you but don't worry I wont tell.  I  know that through the years she has kept up with you and the 517 PRCT.  My deceased wife taught High School for 30 years so I have a deep appreciation for teachers.  Mary Jane you get better and smarter all the time, might be time to write a book or something along those lines.  Keep in touch with Ben and Mail Call, us old guys really appreciate you.

Now on to Grandma Chris Lindner.  Her daughter Jen had a little boy on Christmas Eve.  That's real Tax planning!  Anyway going back to my Pen Pals that Chris mentioned in the last Mail call it was fun getting 30 really great letters from 5th graders.  One of the main questions that was asked was "How many people did you shoot?"  The reason I didn't get to speak to the class is the Texas schools closed for the summer and I was in San Antonio visiting the Lindner family.

Ben you tell me your not getting enough for Mail Call so I decided to write the above (mess) information.

Darrell Egner