Author of ‘What I Didn’t Tell My Mother About My War’ to appear in Springfield

Walter Stitt relaxes on the steps of the barracks during training at Camp Polk, Louisiana. Within a year he would be serving in a Sherman tank in some of the deadliest battles of World War II. Twice his tank commanders and others alongside him in tanks were killed by German shells. He received two Purple Hearts; the National Order of the Legion of Merit, the highest honor of France; and the Order of Saint George Medallion, the top award given to members of the Army's mounted force (tanks, cavalry) by the United States Armor Association of the United States Army. CONTRIBUTED