In 1941, following the attack on Pearl Harbor, Redd was drafted into the U.S. Army and sent to the South Pacific. While stationed there with the rank of sergeant, Redd wrote "A Soldier's Last Letter”, which Ernest Tubb worked on and recorded in 1944, making it a No.1 hit staying at the top for four weeks out of a seven-month stay on the Country charts,[2] and crossing over to the Pop chart Top 20. The B-side of the Ernest Tubb recording of "Soldier's Last Letter" a song entitled, "Yesterday's Tears" peaked at number four on the Juke Box Folk chart.
Country singer Johnny Wright recorded Soldier's Last Letter for his 1965 album "Hello Vietnam."[3] The song was also recorded by country music artist Hank Snow. Hank was from Nova Scotia, Canada so the last line in the song was changed to "And dear God keep our Canada free..."
Merle Haggard and The Strangers later had a hit single with the song in 1970. Their version reached number three on the U.S. country chart and number four on the Canadian country chart. It also peaked at number ninety on the Hot 100.
