A Marine Corps Officer, Everett Smith, served overseas for nearly three years including 1944 and 1945 in the Pacific Theater. Eighty years after the unconditional surrender of Imperial Japan ended WW II, the massive conflict that engulfed every corner of the planet is increasingly a distance memory. Its toll on an entire generation in lost and maimed lives and destruction of entire cities has faded into the history books. While the conclusion of the European war was being celebrated with VE Day on May 8, 1945, U.S. armed forces were still engaged in a vicious battle against Japanese combatants on Okinawa Island. By early August, preparations code named Operation Downfall were well underway for a massive invasion of Japan’s mainland islands. Everett expected to participate in that final campaign and privately believed he would not survive it. For military personnel serving overseas, letters from loved ones were critical lifelines. This book is a compilation of letters Everett wrote to his wife. In them, he describes the battle’s progression (censured), his dreams for their future together, and especially his love for Ruth during their many months of separation
This book tells the story of one family's experience during World War II. The story is woven around the letters of Jake and Jean, which were written during the four years from 1942 to 1945 when Jake was serving in the US Marines. During the first two years, Jake and Jean were looking forward to marriage. In the middle of Jake's four years in the Marines, Jake and Jean got married. Near the end of the four years, while Jake was 7,000 miles away, on his way to Okinawa, the last great battle of the war, Jean gave birth to their first child, a son, Johnnie. This is not the story just of Jake and Jean but also of other members of their families, both those left behind on the home front and those who served in other theaters of the war. How did the members of these two families remain calm in the midst of the swirl of emotions caused by the war? The letters never directly mention the horrors of war that surrounded the deployed soldiers. The letters all attempt to carry on ordinary daily life in a world that had gone mad.
The Eastern Shore of Maryland is a state of mind more than a place. Love Letters not only describes its physical beauty, rich history, and unique nature but also emphasizes its greatest asset--the people who live there.
This extensive collection of wartime love letters features examples from each of this country's major conflicts. Revealing the universal agony of war and the resiliency of the human spirit, more than 505 original letters are reproduced along with period photographs of some subjects, biographical background, and historical context.
Set during the devastating events of the invasion on Pearl Harbour by Imperial Japan in the 1940's, Diana Bennet writes a letter to an abusive soldier stationed in Pearl Harbour. Her letter was meant to be a new start and an empowering hope, but her life alters in unpredictable ways when her letter ends up in the hands of another soldier instead. Diana is taken in by the words of a stranger who replies with a letter of his own. William is a man struggling with the prospect of war looming over him and his words to Diana are encouraging and hopeful, even in the midst of violence.Through love bound by words and distanced by war, Diana and William discover a bond that could hurt more than war itself.Would you trust the words that are written from the pen of a stranger?"A novel about hope, change & daring to be free. Dane Chung conducts a symphony of emotion & storytelling with this beautiful poignant novel."
A collection of personal letters from overseas that reveal in day-to-day detail what it was like to serve in World War II. Recounting victory and defeat, love and loss, this is a remarkable and frank collection of World War II letters penned by American men and women serving overseas. Here, the hopes and dreams of the greatest generation fill each page, and their voices ring loud and clear. “It’s all part of the game but it’s bloody and rough,” writes one soldier to his wife. “Wearing two stripes now and as proud as an old cat with five kittens,” remarks another. Yet, as many countries rejoiced on V-E Day, this book reveals that soldiers were “too tired and sad to celebrate.” Filled with the everyday thoughts of these fighters, the letters are by turns heartbreaking and amusing, revealing and frightening. While visiting a German concentration camp, one man wrote, “I don’t like Army life but I’m glad we are here to stop these atrocities.” Meanwhile, in another letter a soldier quips, “I know lice don’t crawl so I figured they were fleas.” A fitting tribute to all veterans, this book brings the experience of war—its dramatic horrors, its dreary hardships, its desperate hope for a better future—to vivid life. “An intimate portrait of the mundane and remarkable, of heroism and terror, of friendship and loss . . . Timely, compelling, and important reading.”—Matthew L. Basso, author of Men at Work
Letters from the Pacific Front is the story of the extraordinary adventures of an ordinary marine and his brothers who wore their country's uniform during World War II. Bob Magnan walked point as a rifleman on Guadalcanal, survived air attacks on New Guinea, served as sniper on New Britain and directed artillery fire on Okinawa. With thousands of others he prepared for the ultimate invasion of the Japanese homeland that was averted only by unconditional surrender. Along the way Bob's sense of duty grew ever stronger, but his youthful idealism was tempered with healthy skepticism. He basked in the hero's welcome given by Australia to the 1st Marine Division, and he suffered the near-fatal effects of tropical diseases. He mourned the loss of a brother killed-in-action. See the war through his eyes and as he interpreted it through journals and in dozens of letters he mailed home.
One Soldier's Journey During World War II Told Through His 114 Letters Home.This is unfiltered history told through one soldier's (114) personal letters sent to his mother, father, and sister during WWII, spanning six years of adventures across the U.S. and South Pacific. Each letter is transcribed along with high resolution images of each letters and postage. Available in full color or black and white.The author or these letters was Dwight Earl Margrave, who wrote them to his parents and sisters from 1940 to 1946. Dwight was 1/4 Sac and Fox, Native American Tribe. Julia Margrave Steere, his daughter compiled the letters into a manuscript in 2012. Her son, Christofer Johnson has recently brought them to publish during the Covid-19 Pandemic. Published for Americans who love history, especially those whose parents and grandparents built this great nation out of the depression and helped win World War II in both Europe and the Pacific.As Ever, Dwight is not a story of combat, but a story of a single soldier's journey from Nebraska to the Northwest in search of work, and to the Alaskan Territory to build air bases, before the bombing of Pearl Harbor. The story continues throughout the United States and Canada and eventually ending in Okinawa, Japan right after the atomic bombs were dropped. The story concludes in Nebraska where like so many other veterans, Dwight started his own business, applying the skills and discipline he learned while in the Army."It was an honor and a privilege to have been afforded the opportunity to read the manuscript for this amazing, humbling, and invaluable narrative about an everyday American choosing his life's path in an unabashed search for freedom, adventure, and ultimately, Love itself."- Dennis M., MAJ., US Army"From the moment I saw the handsome soldier sitting on the stoop of his parent's front porch, I was intrigued by the idea of catching a glimpse of one man's life during wartime. Not just any war but the deadliest conflict and greatest threat to democracy in our history. With raw eloquence, moving still photographs, and an inspiring heart, Letters Home is a genuine made in America journey through the mind's eye of an "All American" boy from the heartland to the battle field, as he emerges a self-made man during one of our nation's most tumultuous eras.With raw eloquence, moving still photographs, and an inspiring heart, Letters Home is a genuine made in America journey through the mind's eye of an "All American" boy from the heartland to the battlefield, as he emerges a self-made man during one of our nation's most tumultuous eras." - David K."The realness of the letters pulled me back into that time period. I felt the cold he mentioned and the longing for home when times were tough. Such a wonderful personalized touch that is just made even more personal by the actual letters. - Jo R."I casually picked up the book one evening and started to read. I could not put it down until I finished reading the last letter." - Stefanie M.
A must read for anyone who was in Vietnam or has a loved one deployed to a combat area. An engaging story of a young life, a challenging tale of life in the military service during the Vietnam war, and a heartwarming love affair is all set to captivate anyone’s heart. Letters to Louise is an autobiography about a naive young man coming from a very stable and protected environment enlisting in the navy. As a hospital corpsman, he became a combat medic with the US Marines. This memoir recounts his life in the military service where he experienced living, eating, fighting and sleeping in the mud and jungles of South Vietnam. But more than that, it also chronicles the memories of events and includes the actual text of letters written over a period of four years to his girlfriend who was still back home in high school while he was stationed in the United States, Japan, and Vietnam. Through Letters to Louise, readers will find an interesting journey of life and love through the story of the author. They will find this book entertaining and inspiring while they engross themselves into the pages filled with thrills, excitement, passion, dreams, and love.
