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MWSA Review
This is a fine story of a young man’s struggle with of the Great Depression in the thirties and then the consequences of his enlistment in the Marines in time for the early fighting on several South Pacific Islands. The author, Ulmon Bray, describes his brother, Buel, and his adventures with a mix of fact from Marine records, and his letters to Bobbie, that described his inner most feelings about war, love, and despair.
The author, Ulmon, received almost all of the fifty-seven letters Buel wrote to Bobbie and was able to resurrect his brother’s experiences during the war. Reading this book takes the reader through the same battles Buel fought and his ability to follow censorship rules that made it all but impossible to tell Bobbie what he was experiencing. Friends and family members gave their accounts to this wonderful story of love and the ugly costs of war.
Reviewed by: Bob Ruerhdanz (2011)
Author's Synopsis
This is the story of a young Marine's struggle through unwanted separation from friends and family caused by the consequences of the Great Depression and by the demands of World War II. During the twenty-two months he served in the Corps, the Marine wrote more than sixty letters to a young woman who save fifty-seven of them. The substance of those letters and the recollections that emerged from a number of conversations the author had with the young girl more than sixty years later formed a theme upon which to build an account of the young man's military and non-military experiences, both factual, as well as fictional. The letters revealed not only his military encounters and life behind the lines but also focused on homefront fears and concerns. His military records established a schedule of movement and location of training and combat during his tour of duty.