The Green Box

Book excerpt: Seventy years ago soldiers who survived World War II returned home to pick up the pieces of their lives. Second Lieutenant Robert Kurtz was one of these men. Fewer than ten years later, he died unexpectedly, leaving behind a wife and four young sons. The youngest, Jim would have no memories of his father, and it left a huge gap in his life, compelling him to search for the identity of the man he only knew from a few pictures and overheard family conversations. It would take him more than fifty years to learn essential details about this devoted father and husband...and unexpected hero. The resulting narrative is a unique blend of memoire and biography. Jim Kurtz weaves together his search with the emerging picture of his father's life, vividly telling a story that is war chronicle, romance, mystery, and personal reflection. And it all started when an eight-year-old boy climbed some attic stairs to open a forbidden green box.