UNKNOWN SOLDIERS: Reliving WWII in Europe

Born in 1922, the author was supposed to be the fourth in a line of Dr. Joseph Garlands—a healer, not a killer. But after failing organic chemistry, Joe took a leave from Harvard, swapping the expected medical career—and guaranteed military deferment—for a gun, a gas mask, and the storied U.S. Army 45th Infantry Division. The year was 1943; the destination, Italy, where Nazis held the high ground, eager for target practice on Americans.

Voted “most temperamental” in his Roxbury Latin School class of 1940, Garland kept his impetuous nature in check and his ideals in view when he chose journalism as a postwar career. Author of over 20 nonfiction books, Joe lives with his wife on the harbor shore of Gloucester, Massachusetts, America’s oldest fishing port and their constant inspiration.

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