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Dr. Stephen E. Ambrose
Stephen Ambrose, the best-selling historian and longtime resident of Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, grew up in Whitewater, Wisconsin. He received his bachelor?s and doctorate degrees at the University ofWisconsin and his master?s degree at Louisiana State University. He taught at what is now the University of New Orleans from 1960 to 1964 and again from 1971 until retiring in 1995. He served on the faculty of Johns Hopkins University from 1964 to 1969, the Naval War College in 1969 and 1970, and
Dr. Ambrose had a passion for history that translated into a number of acclaimed books and award-winning films about the explorers of the American West and the ?citizen soldiers? ofWorld War II. The house in Bay St. Louis where he wrote most of his books was called Merry Weather, after one of the heroes of his best seller, Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening ofthe American West.
In his books about World War II, Dr. Ambrose chronicled the experiences and combat feats of the regular Joes, the grunts who fought in the foxholes, stormed the beaches at Normandy and flew the bombing missions over Europe that won World War II. He made heroes of these American soldiers and airmen and created a renewed appreciation of what is now popularly known as ?the greatest generation.?
For Dr. Ambrose, the World War II history was personal. Though he never served in the military, he remembered that, back in Wisconsin as a 10-year-old boy, seeing the veterans return from the war was a thrill. He often said, ?I thought the returning veterans were giants who had saved the world from barbarism, and I still do.?
His phenomenal success as a popular historian fueled and financed his desire to ?give something back? to the veterans of World War II who had given him their stories and America their efforts. So in 1985 he started working on the establishment of a National D-Day Museum to be located in New Orleans. This dream was realized in 2000 when the $21 million museum was opened.
In 2002, Dr. Stephen Ambrose was diagnosed with lung cancer. In an interview with the New Orleans Times-Picayune, he said he was inspired to continue writing by the example of Ulysses S. Grant. That old general grimly finished his autobiography, widely considered the best presidential memoir ever written, while painfully dying of throat cancer. Dr. Ambrose died October 13, 2002.
Dr. Ambrose is survived by his wife and five children.
Kansas State University in 1970 and 1971.
Program
Master of Ceremonies
Presentation of Colors
Pledge of Allegiance National Anthem Invocation
Introduction of Guests Remarks
Benediction
Retrieval of Colors Unveiling of Sign
Hon. J. P. Compretta, Dist. 122 Miss. State House of Representatives
MDOT Honor Guard Office of Enforcement
Representative Compretta
Valerie Nettles
Rev. Dr. Nick Johnson
Stedefeast Center of Astropsychotherapy,
Biloxi, Mississippi
Representative Compretta
Leo Seal, Jr., Chairman of the Board, Hancock Bank
Moira Ambrose, wife of Stephen Ambrose
Hon. Wayne Brown, Southern District Transportation Commissioner
Hon. Gene Taylor, United States House of Representatives, Fifth Congressional District, State of Mississippi
Fr. Michael Nance, Associate Pastor,
Our Lady of the Gulf Catholic Church, Bay St. Louis, Mississippi
MDOT Honor Guard
Ambrose family, Congressman Taylor, Commissioner Brown, Representative Compretta, and Leo Seal, Jr.
Reception immediately following compliments of Hancock Bank. Plants courtesy of Adams-Loraine Flower Shops, Bay St. Louis.