From my list on World War II stories gleaned from letters, diaries, and personal remembrances.
Why are we passionate about this?
It is no secret that the World War II generation is fast disappearing, with fewer and fewer veterans of that global conflict alive today. As their voices are lost, wartime letters often can speak forcefully and eloquently for that earlier generation, informing modern-day readers about the grind, frustrations, and hardships those in uniform experienced. We discovered as much when we read the 505 letters that Ellen's parents, friends before the war, wrote to their respective families while serving in Europe to defeat Nazi tyranny. This collaborative project also taught us a valuable lesson: Before tossing out old letters stashed in drawers, closets, or attics, read them. Hidden treasures may lurk inside.
Barbara and Ellen's book list on World War II stories gleaned from letters, diaries, and personal remembrances
Why did Barbara and Ellen love this book?
It’s no secret that uniformed men and women welcome canine friends in wartime. In our book, Bill Husselman and Mary Brandon wrote home regularly about dogs they or their mates adopted in France, Italy, and elsewhere.
That said, Robert Weintraub’s book is no ordinary tale about bonding between humans and animals. Weintraub painstakingly recounts how an RAF radar technician named Frank and a purebred English pointer named Judy survived separate hells at the start of World War II, only to be imprisoned in an internment camp in the Pacific. There, despite being close to starvation, they used their wits to keep each other alive, even as they were subjected to ever-worsening cruelty and malnutrition.
Weintraub’s story is spellbinding and inspiring–and no less a love story of loyalty between man and dog.
1 author picked No Better Friend as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.
An extraordinary tale of the remarkable bond between one man and his dog during the Second World War.
The two friends huddled close together, each of them the other's saving grace in a world gone to hell . . . There was nothing terribly unusual about POWs suffering horribly at the hands of their Japanese captors. All across the Pacific theatre, Allied captives were experiencing similar punishment. But there was one thing unusual about this particular duo of prisoners.
One of them was a dog.
Flight technician Frank Williams and Judy, a purebred pointer, met in the most unlikely of…