Robert DeBard

Robert DeBard retired as an emeritus professor of higher education from Bowling Green State University having served as an academic dean and graduate college faculty member for 24 years. In 2011 he received the University's Master Teacher Award. Having authored or edited four books and 27 articles during his career, in 2013 he set out to write the memoir of "Smokin' Joe" Bredeson, his father-in-law and veteran of World War II. Working with Joe over the period of four years, an amazing story of tragedy and ultimate triumph emerged. Awarded the "Indie Reader" Discovery Award for Memoir in 2019, this deeply personal account from D-Day to the Battle of the Bulge presents testimony of the price of freedom for this member of the "Greatest Generation."