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Letters From A Soldier: A Memoir of World War II Paperback – September 4, 2010
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About the Author
William Morrow Kays was born in 1920 in Norfolk, Virginia. His father, Herbert E. Kays, was a U.S. Navy captain, and the family lived in Virginia, Washington, D.C., San Diego, Palo Alto, San Francisco, Berkeley and Honolulu. After college at Stanford University, Kays began his active duty in the U.S. Army, starting in July 1942. After serving in the First Engineer Battalion of the Army's First Infantry Division ("The Big Red One") in Tunisia, Sicily, England, France, Belgium, Germany, and Czechoslovakia, he was discharged in November 1945. June 6, 1944 found him landing on Omaha Beach as part of the great Allied Invasion of France. Kays is among those pictured in the famous D-Day landing photos of Robert Capa, the Life Magazine photographer who had been with him on the U.S.S. Chase and the landing craft. After the war, Kays returned to Stanford on the GI Bill, earning a PhD in Mechanical Engineering. He settled in Palo Alto with his wife Alma and four daughters, joining the Stanford Mechanical Engineering faculty in 1951. Kays' career led to chairmanship of his department as well as Dean of the School of Engineering from 1972-1984. After Alma's death in 1982, he retired from Stanford in 1990 and currently lives on campus with his second wife, Judith. He has four children and two stepchildren, fifteen grandchildren, and one great-grandchild. He is an avid fan of the Stanford football team (and has been for more than eighty years). Since the war, Kays has attended numerous First Division reunions with his fellow officers. During a sabbatical leave to England in 1959-60, Kays and his family visited Omaha Beach as well as many of the other places he had been during the war.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By
Charles P. Gibfried
on December 10, 2010
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The account was particularly interesting as the author survived all of the Big Red One's battles during World War II in Africa, Sicily, Italy, France, Belgium and Germany. Excellent commentary between the personal letters enabled the reader to "live through" the experiences of Army officers during World War II in Europe. Of particular interest was the and preparation for and participation in early landing waves during the D-Day invasion on Omaha Beach and subsequent period through the end of the war in Europe.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
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16 in 1945
on November 17, 2010
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This is an interesting story of what one soldier went through during a long time in three different parts of the war in Europe.
There was a lot more going on day after day than most of us who were not there can realize.
This book, especially the comments between the letters, gives a detailed picture of what it was really like.
I was 16 years old at that time, and barely missed participating myself. Now, from this book, I can see what a lot of my friends actually went through.
I recommend it to anyone who wants to learn what life was really like during WW II.
There was a lot more going on day after day than most of us who were not there can realize.
This book, especially the comments between the letters, gives a detailed picture of what it was really like.
I was 16 years old at that time, and barely missed participating myself. Now, from this book, I can see what a lot of my friends actually went through.
I recommend it to anyone who wants to learn what life was really like during WW II.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By
Arthur E. Bryson Jr.
on February 7, 2013
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This is a remarkable story of a lieutenant who went ahead of the troops in North Africa, Sicily, Italy, and Germany
to defuse roadside bombs. He was in the Normandy invasion too. How he survived is almost beyond belief. Based
on letters his mother saved during the war. He went over them and filled in the gaps where wartime censorship had prevented him from giving locations and details. Couldn't put it down!
to defuse roadside bombs. He was in the Normandy invasion too. How he survived is almost beyond belief. Based
on letters his mother saved during the war. He went over them and filled in the gaps where wartime censorship had prevented him from giving locations and details. Couldn't put it down!
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