Endorsed by The United States World War One Centennial Commission
Nominated for a 2015 IPPY Award” from the Independent Publishers Association
Honoring the Doughboys: Following My Grandfather’s World War I Diary is a stunning presentation of contemporary photographs taken by the author that are paired with diary entries written by his grandfather, George A. Carlson, who was a soldier in the U.S. Army during World War I. Lowdermilk followed his grandfather’s path through France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Germany and returned with these meticulously crafted photographs and his own engaging stories that bring the diary to life for contemporary readers.
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.
(Amazon.com / June 30, 2021)
About the Author
Jeffrey A. Lowdermilk is a Santa Fe-based writer, photographer, and lecturer of America’s involvement in World War I and II who has traveled extensively in Europe during the past decades chronicling the two wars in words and pictures and, in turn, meeting with thousands of veterans who became friends and shared their own experiences and insights into what it was like to be there. His photographs have been exhibited widely at such institutions as the Colorado History Museum, National World War I Museum, and New Mexico History Museum, and he is the author of Saluting America’s World I Heroes, a historical narrative and photographic presentation that honored the ninetieth anniversary of the Armistice.
HELEN PATTON is the granddaughter of General George S. Patton, Jr., Chairwoman of the Patton Foundation, and the author of Portraits of Service: Looking into the Faces of Veterans.
