Joseph Alsop Redding was born in Yazoo City, Mississippi on June 7, 1894, and his family relocated to Shreveport, Louisiana in 1910.

[2] Redding joined Company L, 1st Louisiana Infantry Regiment in 1912, and advanced through the ranks to Sergeant before obtaining his commission as a second lieutenant in 1916.

[5] During the war Germans attacked Redding's unit with gas, and he received wounds that resulted in award of the Purple Heart.

[6] Redding maintained his commission as a member of the organized reserve, and in 1922 returned to the Louisiana National Guard as a captain and Commander of Company H, 156th Infantry Regiment.

[7] At the start of World War II, Redding was commander of the 204th Coastal Artillery Regiment (Antiaircraft), stationed in San Diego, California.