Unfinished Journey: A World War II Remembrance
Morris Redmann was an exceptional young man. He graduated from college at the age of eighteen and had begun law school when his country called him to war. The year was 1943. Morris did not hesitate. From his first day of training at Camp Beauregard, Louisiana, to the frontlines in France, he sent letters home without fail. These letters, from a young infantryman in the 94th division, are a daily account of the rigors of training and of life in battle during Europe's harshest winter in fifty years. Morris was a prolific and brilliant letter-writer. His intelligence and integrity shine on every page. Through these letters, Morris lives on as a beacon of faith and courage.Morris's young life was filled with promise, but this promise was not to be fulfilled. His last letter to his parents was written in January 1945. During the Battle of the Bulge, a German artillery shell struck and killed him instantly. He was nineteen years old.Morris had grown up in a large, devoted family in New Orleans. He was the beloved oldest child of ten. His letters were meticulously kept in shoeboxes and stowed away in the attic. Upon his parents' deaths, Kerry Redmann, one of Morris's younger brothers, became the keeper of these letters.Kerry, with the encouragement of esteemed historian Stephen Ambrose, compiled Morris's letters into a volume that is both a testimony to one man's trials of war and a memorial for all the brave soldiers who have lost their lives for their country.Morris Redmann is buried in the Luxembourg American Military Cemetery at Hamm, Luxembourg. However, his life will not be lost to the annals of time. His letters survived when the soldier did not. His Unfinished Journey will now be traveled by all readers of this fascinating historical record and will continue to enlighten for generations to come.