Duty, Honor, and a Loaf of Bread ─ Portrait of an American Family in Ww II

Like other families, letters were the fabric that held the fledgling Waldron family together during the personally trying, society changing events of World War II. Bill, the town baker, voluntarily became an infantry soldier and platoon scout in Europe and Marge, a new wife, became the town baker - the Waldron's version of Rosie the Riveter. Nothing in their lives had prepared them for these roles yet everything in their lives made them equal to the tasks at hand. Their letters to one another provide an intimate view of an American family triumphing in the face of adversity. Duty, Honor, Faith, Love and Family all play a role and readers will come to love and admire both of them. Bill's letters from the Battle of the Bulge, the Siegfreid Line and through the end of the war across Germany and into Czechoslovakia are particularly interesting. He reveals himself as a down to earth patriot who volunteered for a very dangerous job and excelled - a man with survivor's instincts who avoided illness, frostbite and wounds under extremely difficult circumstances. Historical perspective is provided by sidebars throughout the book which explain matters referred to in the letters as well as what is going on in the war and at home. The sidebars are themselves an education, made immediate and interesting by the personal experiences conveyed in the letters. A really great read!