About the author

John T. "Jack" Scannell

<p>&quot;A Soldier&#39;s Story&quot; was transcribed from audiotapes of John T. &ldquo;Jack&rdquo; Scannell&rsquo;s recollections of his WWII infantry service in Europe, supplemented with contemporaneous conversations. It is offered as one soldier&rsquo;s personal narrative of an historic war that profoundly affected a generation whose experiences pre-dated the automatic recording and routine documentation of day-to-day life that we now enjoy in this internet age.</p><p>&quot;A Soldier&#39;s Story -- World War II and the Battle at Sessenheim, France&quot; offers a gripping personal account of one soldier&#39;s combat experiences on the bloody battlefields of France and Germany during the months preceding the Allies&#39; 1945 victory in Europe.&nbsp; John T. &quot;Jack&quot; Scannell was a staff sergeant with the 411th Infantry Regiment of the 103rd &quot;Cactus&quot; Division.&nbsp; He was decorated with the Silver Star for his heroic rescue of wounded US soldiers from a French farmhouse under siege of German fire. Defying a threat of court martial and braving enemy attack, he returned to the farmhouse where the wounded men had been left behind, honoring his promise to them that he&rsquo;d come back. &nbsp;Five decades later, after relentless searching, one of those men would locate him and be able to thank him finally.</p><p>The author currently lives in Michigan with his wife, Norma. &nbsp;He is the father of twelve children, and the grandfather (so far) of fifteen grandchildren.</p>