10 Significant Facts of Memories of Heaven: Memories of Hell

1.)  Trebonyak dropped out of high school.

2.)  Trebonyak got drafted into the U.S Military, for World War II

3.)  While in Normandy, Trebonyak was shot in the head with a German bullet. (his helmet stopped it)

4.)  After the battle in Normandy, he was one of only the few that survived in his platoon.

5.)  Trebonyak then joined up with two other platoons, and took over St. Malo, Brittany Peninsula, France.

6.)  His new platoon, met up with 3 more platoons, and circled up more than 20,000 Germans, in Loire Valley, Anger, France.

7.)  Trebonyak then entered Germany, which in the winter months is very cold and snowy.  His platoon lost many soldiers due to the weather.

8.)  While in Hurtgen Forest, Germany, Trebonyak’s platoon received the Presidential- Unit Citation, for advancing more than 3,000 yards in the bitter cold, against enemy artillery, mortar, and machine gun fire. 

9.)  On December 19, 1944, Trebonyak was shot in the leg, while his platoon was surrounded in Gurzenich, Germany. 

10.)  When he returns home, Trebonyak moves to Detroit, MI, and finds out that Newt died in an explosion in the same battle that he was wounded.

2 Main Characters?

Since the book is written in first person, the author, George J. Trebonyak, “Trek” is clearly one of the main characters along with Newt (the book doesn’t state his real name.)  Trebonyak and Newt are two completely different soldiers.  Trek is a warmhearted individual, and Newt, on the other hand, is coldhearted. In the book, when the Germans, or the enemies, surrendered, or were shot, Trek would stop shooting and get a medic.  However, Newt would continue shooting or just leave them there to die.  Trebonyak and Newt develop an unbreakable bond throughout the story, starting when they met at camp, and were placed in the same platoon.