Lowdermilk’s passion for World War I and military history began as a young boy when he listened to his grandfather tell his stories about serving as an infantryman— a “doughboy”—in Europe during the Great War. When his grandfather passed away in 1983, Lowdermilk’s mother gave him her father’s diary, which included not only lengthy descriptions of the landscapes, towns, and battles he had experienced, but also keen observations and insights about life as a doughboy for Mr. Carlson and his buddies.
Lowdermilk became fascinated with the diary, first transcribing it and then plotting his grandfather’s course. He immersed himself in the history of World War I and its geography, eventually retracing, more than a dozen years, the path of his grandfather’s journey.
This image-rich tour of European landscapes, battlefields, and monuments offers the reader an experience that is at once an intimate reliving of Carlson’s time as a doughboy, a lively collection of Lowdermilk’s travel anecdotes, and a moving expression of gratitude to American veterans of the Great War. The foreword by Helen Patton, granddaughter of General George S. Patton, Jr., adds an extra dimension to the narrative.