Led by Love of Country

This book is extremely important because of Ralph’s daily record keeping and his vision to collect artifacts that today are treasures to all who appreciate what the Greatest Generation did in 1944-1945. Ralph’s part of the fight started with the Hurtgen Forest and ran through the end of the war, close to Heinrich Himmler’s home. This isn’t a book to read and put away, but one to frequently return to and examine what Ralph had the foresight to preserve. Every page is a written and visual WWII history lesson.

If you want to write your father’s story about his time and front-line service in World War II, you should do it the way David Miles has done it here in this book. Nowhere is the bond between father and son more visible than in this book. David Miles has created a masterpiece here, not only to memorialize his father, but also to remember the “greatest generation” of his father’s comrades, especially those who gave their lives on the battlefield for our freedom. Also, those who gave their best to free Europe from the yoke of Nazism and were fortunate enough to return home. Thank you for this great book!

My grandfather served in the 4th Infantry Division during the Second World War. I never had the opportunity to discuss his experiences with him. This is the book I wish I had about his travels. Part memoir, part travelogue, part artifact book, this examination of a common GI’s exploits across Europe is deeply personal. David Miles’ introspective journey chronicling his father’s wartime odyssey is a stirring example of how one can revive and contextualize family history.