Letters from Uncle Dave: The 73-year Journey to Find a Missing-In-Action World War II Paratrooper by Phil Rosenkrantz

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Follow the story of Russian Jewish immigrants who sent five sons off to World War II and the Occupation Forces. Four returned. Sadly, their middle son, Army Staff Sergeant David “Rosie” Rosenkrantz, an 82nd Airborne Paratrooper–who served heroically in Sicily, Italy, and Holland–went missing during a German counterattack at the end of Operation Market Garden.

This well documented and timely story chronicles the 73-year journey to find Dave and bring him home. This book is special and unique because of the bizarre journey that finally led to identifying his remains in 2018 and richness of dozens of surviving letters he wrote home. Inspired by the movie Saving Private Ryan, Dave’s nephew, Phil Rosenkrantz, began a 20-year quest to find out what happened to his uncle. Although he never knew his Uncle Dave personally, Phil got to know him through the letters and conversations with people who knew him. The journey included many trips to Europe to visit the places where his uncle fought and died…and becoming friends with a young Dutchman and others who searched for 35 years to locate Dave’s remains.

Year first published: 2020