Write a summary of the main events of the story No Ordinary Soldier.
Answers
Explanation:
Ordinary Soldier: My Father's Two Wars" is two stories folded into one. The primary one concerns a young soldier, first stationed in Hawai'i, later across the Pacific, simply trying to survive WWII and get back home to his wife. The second is the man's daughter's search, many years later, for answers about her dad. Wed while he was home on furlough, letter-writing provided the author's parents their only communication for much of their courtship and first few years of their marriage. Built around these letters is Ms. Williams' attempt to make sense of her father, an at-times difficult man who died of leukemia at the age of only 51. After a (too?) short introductory chapter, the bulk of the book consists of their letters, interspersed with short entries from the author providing background material about the individuals mentioned, the specifics of her father's unit, the larger progress of the war or (then) current events. As to the good, the wealth of details provided by Mr. Gilmore (Herb) about his soldiering in Hawai'i both before and after December 7th 1941, and later, Pacific Island hopping, makes for fascinating reading. As much as the 'we' of today like to romanticize the WWII era, it was a long, hard (and of course dangerous) slog for all who served. During the Second World War those in the service (and at home) were prolific letter-writers, and one gets a fairly good sense of Herb Gilmore: an honorable, if somewhat judgmental individual who had an artistic eye, enjoyed a game of tennis and adored his wife. Mrs. Gilmore (Ann) comes across less vividly, but her letters do provide an account of what it was like to be a soldier's wife, and what life in the US was like, during that period. A real highlight of the book are the many wonderful photographs and pieces of ephemera from her father's collection. Another strength is the way the Ms. Williams is able to marshal her research to deftly provide just enough context between the letters to clarify points of information and help the narrative, but not so much as to interrupt the flow or drift into digressions. The author is an able writer, but gratifyingly resists any urge to step on the letters, instead allowing the material speak for itself. Slightly less successful, in this reviewer's opinion, is the 'second' part of the story, the author's attempts to understand her father and her family through these letters. I don't know that the introductory chapter gives a full enough picture of her family and its dynamics, so that when the correspondence section ends and the book enters its final portion, Ms. William's interviews with family members and her journey of personal understanding, it hadn't been made entirely clear to this reader why the author was sure there was a mystery to be unraveled about her father and her family. As to the mystery, or secret, if you prefer, Ms. Williams draws her conclusions based on rather slender evidence. It's not all conjecture, a couple of curious tales are revealed via her interviews, but a fair amount consists of citing a line of a letter here and there. She engages in some, for lack of a better term, psychoanalyzing, which goes with the territory of trying to untangle parent-parent or parent-child relationships, but again, I didn't feel as if I knew these people well enough to nod my head in agreement with the author. I respect her conclusions based on the totality of her experiences and research, but I was left wanting a bit more. Overall, an interesting collection of correspondence between a soldier serving in the Pacific before and during WWII, and his wife, one that provides fine contemporaneous accounts of their lives. The impressive amount of research conducted by Ms. Williams complements the letters in an informative, yet concise and readable manner. If the framing of these letters by her personal quest perhaps doesn't quite work as well as the author intended, it's only in the sense that I wished that part was more fleshed-out. Recommended, especially for the descriptive details of an American GI's life in the Pacific Theater, along with some terrific photographs.
Explanation:
Ordinary Soldier: My Father's Two Wars" is two stories folded into one. The primary one concerns a young soldier, first stationed in Hawai'i, later across the Pacific, simply trying to survive WWII and get back home to his wife. The second is the man's daughter's search, many years later, for answers about her dad. Wed while he was home on furlough, letter-writing provided the author's parents their only communication for much of their courtship and first few years of their marriage. Built around these letters is Ms. Williams' attempt to make sense of her father, an at-times difficult man who died of leukemia at the age of only 51. After a (too?) short introductory chapter, the bulk of the book consists of their letters, interspersed with short entries from the author providing background material about the individuals mentioned, the specifics of her father's unit, the larger progress of the war or (then) current events. As to the good, the wealth of details provided by Mr. Gilmore (Herb) about his soldiering in Hawai'i both before and after December 7th 1941, and later, Pacific Island hopping, makes for fascinating reading. As much as the 'we' of today like to romanticize the WWII era, it was a long, hard (and of course dangerous) slog for all who served. During the Second World War those in the service (and at home) were prolific letter-writers, and one gets a fairly good sense of Herb Gilmore: an honorable, if somewhat judgmental individual who had an artistic eye, enjoyed a game of tennis and adored his wife. Mrs. Gilmore (Ann) comes across less vividly, but her letters do provide an account of what it was like to be a soldier's wife, and what life in the US was like, during that period. A real highlight of the book are the many wonderful photographs and pieces of ephemera from her father's collection. Another strength is the way the Ms. Williams is able to marshal her research to deftly provide just enough context between the letters to clarify points of information and help the narrative, but not so much as to interrupt the flow or drift into digressions. The author is an able writer, but gratifyingly resists any urge to step on the letters