"The Soldier's War: Understanding a Father's Silence," a Local Author and Historian Presentation
Join us on Tuesday, April 29 at 6:30pm for a talk with Karen Marshall, local author of Finding My Father’s Footsteps: A Journey Within the Battlefields of WWII. She will discuss her experience of personal discovery as she traced her father’s military service and unraveled the mystery of how he acquired Heinrich Himmler’s annotated personal copy of Mein Kampf at the end of WWII in Europe. Starting with her father’s narrative of his experiences as a Second World War infantry rifle platoon leader, which she discovered two days after his death, Karen traced her father’s regiment's footsteps from D-Day to VE Day and solved the mystery. What emerged from her research is a memoir of family and personal growth that is also a heartfelt tribute to the soldiers of the 4th Infantry Division's 22nd Infantry Regiment during World War II. It is also a fitting tribute as we approach the 80th anniversary of VE Day on May 8, 2025.
Karen lives in Chester County, Pennsylvania. She has worked in historic preservation for more than twenty years. For fifteen of those years, she was Chester County’s Historic Preservation Officer, where she managed the extensive documentation of the Battle of Brandywine. Retired and still active in community preservation, she is chair of the Kennett Township Historical Commission and serves on a number of boards of nonprofits that convey the stories of the past and how they inform our lives today.
Library Contact
100 E. MacDade Blvd. | Folsom, PA 19033
Phone 610-583-0593 | Email ridleylibrary100@gmail.com
www.ridleylibrary.org
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Thursday/Friday
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Saturday
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Sunday
Closed