My dad’s Army jacket.
I am sitting in the outdoor office, with a pile of sunflower seeds to attract the chipmunks, and a mason jar of homemade cider kefir and tea. I got chilly, went in, got a hat and. . . . my father’s army jacket. Here is a photograph of him wearing it; he’s 20 at the.. read more →
Avenging Angel, Sinz, February 1945.
Once censorship was lifted, my father could fill in details for his family. It is personally interesting to me that my father’s parents and brothers, and aunts, uncles and cousins were all part of a support network that helped him to survive the war. He had a large network of people writing to him and.. read more →
February 13, 1945
The letter where my father tells about a pivotal event in his life: Dear Mom and Dad, At last! At long last we have moved to division reserves and I have had my first shower of 1945. Can you imagine it – -almost two months. I went down black and smelly – and emerged clean.. read more →
October 14, 1945
In 5 years and 1 day from the day this letter was written, I would be born to a man who told me decades later that it took 5 or 6 years for him to feel normal again after returning home from WWII. (Normal included steady alcohol use.) During those years of adjustment, he finished.. read more →
Crossing the Saar
Every time my father spoke about WWII, he said that more happened to him there than he could ever talk about. One event in particular, the crossing of the Saar River, stood out in his tales, although he never said more than how awful and terrible it was. He maintained that I would never understand… read more →
Learning to disconnect.
My father, as a 19-year old soldier wrote this on February 3, 1945 to his Mom and Dad: “How can I write or speak of some of the horrors I have been forced to witness? I don’t know whether or not I should. Why should I depress you – – you’d only worry. But in.. read more →
