Dear Mom Book by Robert J Taylor from book shop
Home > History & Humanities > History > Military history > Military history: post ww2 conflicts > Dear Mom
Dear Mom

Dear Mom


     0     
5
4
3
2
1



International Edition


About the Book

Raised by their single mother and grandmother and living on the minimum wage, two brothers became pilots in WWII. One flew B-17 bombers; the other flew P-47 and P-51 fighters. Both were killed in action. Prolific letter writers, the brothers wrote more than 200 letters to their mother between 1942 and 1945 describing their new adventures in their ever more dangerous world. In these letters, discovered many years later by her grandson, you will see in a very personal way the war a mother saw as presented to her by her sons. Not a technical description of military tactics, battles, and jargon, the letters instead create a simple yet profound human interest story of a small, close knit American family torn apart by the reality of war. You'll read of both the loneliness and excitement they felt being away from home for the first time, see them grow from awestruck boys when they first observe military planes up close to confident pilots of the fastest and largest planes in the AAF. You will even take a ride on a dangerous combat mission. You will find out about their frustrations, perseverance, humor, courage, and relationships. But mostly you will see how two brothers with totally different personalities, reflected even in the types of planes they flew, shared a common bond of love for their mother that was unshakable. When the letters stop, you will get to read the dreaded telegrams from the War Department that took their place. And finally you get to actually hear from their mother as she describes her worst fears and the ultimate tragedy with which she was confronted as the horror of war came home to her, not once but twice. Besides the letters, there is a section of very dramatic eyewitness accounts explaining what happened to the brothers on each of their final missions. There is also a brief biographical sketch of the women who loved them and were left behind. The book is enhanced with numerous pictures with descriptive captions. For WWII aviation buffs there is a detailed list of the types of aircraft each brother trained on, including the hours and specific training facility.
About the Author: On March 11, 1944, two months before I was born, my father was killed when his crippled B-17 bomber was shot down over the Adriatic Sea. He was 23 years old. Eleven months later, when I was nine months old, his younger brother and only sibling was killed when his P-51 Mustang fighter crashed in a cow pasture in Holland. He was 22 years old. We had met and played together while he was home on leave. I grew up hearing that my father was "such a nice person" from my mother and hearing little anecdotes about both boys from my grandmother. That sufficed until I was 36 years old. In 1980 the navigator on my father's plane and one of the two survivors contacted me. He lived near Boston. I worked in Boston. We began meeting regularly for coffee, and suddenly my father came alive. I heard about the back of his leather flight jacket soaked through with sweat after a mission in spite of the frigid temperatures at 20,000 feet in an unheated airplane; about his annoyance at the green "punk major" who tried to "correct" experienced combat pilots; about the time when returning with their plane shot full of holes, my father asked Stan (the navigator) where they were. Stan replied, "I don't know Bobby. As near as I can figure we should be over Filene's Basement." I wanted more. I became interested in WWII aircraft and studied Stan's diary of all their missions. My family travelled to a Confederate Air Force show and excitedly watched B-17s and P-51s and many other planes from WWII roaring around us. But I felt frustrated that I couldn't learn more about my father and uncle on a personal level. Then I discovered a treasure chest. In 1985 I came across a stack of neatly bundled letters in a drawer at my grandmother's house. Still in their original envelopes were over 200 letters that my father and uncle had written to her from the time they first left home until their lives tragically ended. Here was the insight to them as people that I so desperately wanted. As I read the letters their personalities jumped off the page. They became real. And even today, many years later, I get so caught up in their world when I read the letters that I momentarily forget that they aren't coming home. And that is always followed by a sense of the horror my grandmother felt when the letters abruptly stopped. I want people, especially my children and their children, to get to know these two young men who lost their lives nearly 70 years ago. I do not want them to be forgotten.


Best Sellers



Product Details
  • ISBN-13: 9781502437075
  • Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
  • Publisher Imprint: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
  • Height: 229 mm
  • No of Pages: 244
  • Series Title: English
  • Sub Title: Letters from the War, 1942-1945
  • Width: 152 mm
  • ISBN-10: 1502437074
  • Publisher Date: 19 Sep 2014
  • Binding: Paperback
  • Language: English
  • Returnable: N
  • Spine Width: 13 mm
  • Weight: 381 gr


Similar Products

Add Photo
Add Photo

Customer Reviews

REVIEWS      0     
Click Here To Be The First to Review this Product
Dear Mom
Createspace Independent Publishing Platform -
Dear Mom
Writing guidlines
We want to publish your review, so please:
  • keep your review on the product. Review's that defame author's character will be rejected.
  • Keep your review focused on the product.
  • Avoid writing about customer service. contact us instead if you have issue requiring immediate attention.
  • Refrain from mentioning competitors or the specific price you paid for the product.
  • Do not include any personally identifiable information, such as full names.

Dear Mom

Required fields are marked with *

Review Title*
Review
    Add Photo Add up to 6 photos
    Would you recommend this product to a friend?
    Tag this Book Read more
    Does your review contain spoilers?
    What type of reader best describes you?
    I agree to the terms & conditions
    You may receive emails regarding this submission. Any emails will include the ability to opt-out of future communications.

    CUSTOMER RATINGS AND REVIEWS AND QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS TERMS OF USE

    These Terms of Use govern your conduct associated with the Customer Ratings and Reviews and/or Questions and Answers service offered by Bookswagon (the "CRR Service").


    By submitting any content to Bookswagon, you guarantee that:
    • You are the sole author and owner of the intellectual property rights in the content;
    • All "moral rights" that you may have in such content have been voluntarily waived by you;
    • All content that you post is accurate;
    • You are at least 13 years old;
    • Use of the content you supply does not violate these Terms of Use and will not cause injury to any person or entity.
    You further agree that you may not submit any content:
    • That is known by you to be false, inaccurate or misleading;
    • That infringes any third party's copyright, patent, trademark, trade secret or other proprietary rights or rights of publicity or privacy;
    • That violates any law, statute, ordinance or regulation (including, but not limited to, those governing, consumer protection, unfair competition, anti-discrimination or false advertising);
    • That is, or may reasonably be considered to be, defamatory, libelous, hateful, racially or religiously biased or offensive, unlawfully threatening or unlawfully harassing to any individual, partnership or corporation;
    • For which you were compensated or granted any consideration by any unapproved third party;
    • That includes any information that references other websites, addresses, email addresses, contact information or phone numbers;
    • That contains any computer viruses, worms or other potentially damaging computer programs or files.
    You agree to indemnify and hold Bookswagon (and its officers, directors, agents, subsidiaries, joint ventures, employees and third-party service providers, including but not limited to Bazaarvoice, Inc.), harmless from all claims, demands, and damages (actual and consequential) of every kind and nature, known and unknown including reasonable attorneys' fees, arising out of a breach of your representations and warranties set forth above, or your violation of any law or the rights of a third party.


    For any content that you submit, you grant Bookswagon a perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free, transferable right and license to use, copy, modify, delete in its entirety, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works from and/or sell, transfer, and/or distribute such content and/or incorporate such content into any form, medium or technology throughout the world without compensation to you. Additionally,  Bookswagon may transfer or share any personal information that you submit with its third-party service providers, including but not limited to Bazaarvoice, Inc. in accordance with  Privacy Policy


    All content that you submit may be used at Bookswagon's sole discretion. Bookswagon reserves the right to change, condense, withhold publication, remove or delete any content on Bookswagon's website that Bookswagon deems, in its sole discretion, to violate the content guidelines or any other provision of these Terms of Use.  Bookswagon does not guarantee that you will have any recourse through Bookswagon to edit or delete any content you have submitted. Ratings and written comments are generally posted within two to four business days. However, Bookswagon reserves the right to remove or to refuse to post any submission to the extent authorized by law. You acknowledge that you, not Bookswagon, are responsible for the contents of your submission. None of the content that you submit shall be subject to any obligation of confidence on the part of Bookswagon, its agents, subsidiaries, affiliates, partners or third party service providers (including but not limited to Bazaarvoice, Inc.)and their respective directors, officers and employees.

    Accept

    New Arrivals



    Inspired by your browsing history


    Your review has been submitted!

    You've already reviewed this product!