book- mom

(Place on page 15, after para 2)

Like most wives and girlfriends around 1944, Mom watched Dad go off to war, leaving behind my brother Jimmy, who was only a toddler. She would get an occasional letter and post card from Dad, who was embedded on the Western Front of Europe. For security reasons the soldiers were not allowed to tell anyone where they were located, so often the mail would say "Greetings from Somewhere in Holland..." Mom kept all of his mail. It had to be so hard on her, not knowing where my father was or even if he was still alive from day to day.

That statement was never so true as Christmas Eve, 1944. Mom received a telegram, which was usually bad news anyway. The telegram simply read that Dad was injured. No explanation if he was dead or alive, no clue where he was or in what condition he was in. That had to be a horrible Christmas for my family.

As it turned out, Dad was hurt during the famous Battle of the Bulge, which was the largest battle ever fought by the United States Army. He sustained shrapnel wounds in his right leg and was flown to England to recuperate.  He was one of the lucky ones, The Gold Star banner hanging in our window at home turned Silver to indicate that a wounded soldier resided there.

I know my father was very brave to face the horror of World War II. But so was my mother. And so it almost became a "normal' way of life back then, 12 years before i was born.