"A death in the family opens memories of another loss suffered years earlier, in the closing days of World War II. A letter in the mail brings a new dimension to that earlier death and unsettles an old, accepted version of events." "In this remembrance, David Everitt recounts the story of his mother's first marriage to a man named Sam Kramer, a soldier fighting against Nazi Germany who was killed on his unit's next-to-last day of combat. Everitt begins to explore this hidden chapter in his mother's life after his father's sudden death from cardiac arrest in 1999. when memories reemerge about the first time his mother had to contend with the loss of a beloved spouse." "Previously uncomfortable about examining the life of the man who preceded his father, Everitt now sees the need for completing this corner of the family portrait, one so important to understanding his mother's past, one that can be found not only in her reminiscences, but also in the concealed box of Sam's letters that have been part of the family's possessions for more than fifty years. Through them he finds the story of a remarkable man of compassion and courage, whose death now acquires wider meaning."--Jacket.