Editing Stephen E. Ambrose (section)

==Early life and education==
Ambrose was born January 10, 1936,<ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.upi.com/Top_News/2020/01/10/UPI-Almanac-for-Friday-Jan-10-2020/8011578535365/ |title= UPI Almanac for Friday, Jan. 10, 2020 |work= [[United Press International]] | date= January 10, 2020|access-date=February 1, 2020 |archive-date= January 15, 2020|archive-url= https://archive.today/20200115192229/https://www.upi.com/Top_News/2020/01/09/UPI-Almanac-for-Thursday-Jan-9-2020/6871578415895/|url-status=live|quote=... historian Stephen Ambrose in 1936}}</ref> in [[Lovington, Illinois]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/amb0int-1 |title=Biography and Video Interview of Stephen Ambrose |publisher=at Academy of Achievement|access-date=July 30, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120725191311/http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/amb0int-1 |archive-date=July 25, 2012 }}</ref> to Rosepha Trippe Ambrose and Stephen Hedges Ambrose. His father was a physician who served in the [[United States Navy|U.S. Navy]] during [[World War II]]. Ambrose was raised in [[Whitewater, Wisconsin]],<ref name="NYTObit">Richard Goldstein, [https://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/14/arts/stephen-ambrose-historian-who-fueled-new-interest-in-world-war-ii-dies-at-66.html?scp=3&sq=stephen%20ambrose&st=nyt&pagewanted=2 "Stephen Ambrose, Historian Who Fueled New Interest in World War II, Dies at 66,"] ''New York Times'', October 14, 2002, accessed May 27, 2010.</ref> where he graduated from [[Whitewater High School (Wisconsin)|Whitewater High School]]. His family also owned a farm in [[Lovington, Illinois]], and vacation property in [[Marinette County, Wisconsin]].<ref>{{cite news |title=A Class Act: Stephen Ambrose's History Lectures Enthrall Kids and War Veterans Alike.|work=The Capital Times |location=Madison, WI|author=Neil H. Shively|date=September 19, 1996}}</ref><ref>Ambrose, Stephen E. [https://books.google.com/books?id=HRIYzkuBDPoC&pg=PA132. ''Comrades: Brothers, Fathers, Heroes, Sons, Pals'']. Simon & Schuster, 2000, p. 132.</ref> He attended college at the [[University of Wisconsin–Madison]], where he was a member of [[Chi Psi]] fraternity and played on the University of Wisconsin football team for three years.<ref name="CNNobit">{{cite news|url=http://archives.cnn.com/2002/SHOWBIZ/books/10/13/ambrose.death/index.html|title=Historian Stephen Ambrose dies|publisher=CNN|date=October 14, 2002|access-date=June 17, 2010|archive-date=April 23, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130423044722/http://archives.cnn.com/2002/SHOWBIZ/books/10/13/ambrose.death/index.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Ambrose planned to major in pre-medicine, but changed his major to history after hearing the first lecture in a U.S. history class entitled "Representative Americans" in his sophomore year. The course was taught by [[William B. Hesseltine]], whom Ambrose credits with fundamentally shaping his writing and igniting his interest in history.<ref name="SEAB">[https://web.archive.org/web/20040218033249/http://www.stephenambrose.com/bio.html Stephen E. Ambrose bio] by Stephen Ambrose.</ref> While at Wisconsin, Ambrose was a member of the Navy and Army [[Reserve Officers' Training Corps|ROTC]]. He graduated with a B.A. in 1957. Ambrose received a master's degree in history from [[Louisiana State University]] in 1958, studying under [[T. Harry Williams]].<ref name="SEAB" /> Ambrose then went on to earn a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1963, under William B. Hesseltine.<ref name="SEAB" /><ref name="AHA">Christian A. Hale, [http://www.historians.org/perspectives/issues/2002/0212/0212new4.cfm "Stephen Ambrose Dies,"] ''Perspectives'', December 2002.</ref>