Monday, May 25, 2009

Soldier from the War Returning - The Greatest Generation's Troubled Homecoming

Thomas Childers, Professor of History at the University of Pennsylvania, has written a book, with the above title, from the heart. He details the truth about the return of World War II veterans. Using both his personal story, which includes his father's return from England and the death of his maternal uncle in the last bomber shot down over Germany before VE day (written about in Wings of Morning), he articulates the truth that many of we children of World War II veterans have discovered - that even if our fathers came home physically whole, there were invisible wounds from the war that we intuited, but were not able to put voice to for many years. He also thoroughly details the high unemployment and the high divorce rate after the war. A great read if you want to discover the not so rosy homecoming of the Greatest Generation.

The NPR show Here and Now broadcast an interview with the author on Memorial Day, May 25, 2009. (click on title for a link to the show's site.

2 comments:

Jan Elvin said...

I've enjoyed reading your blog and also struck by our similar stories. I'd like to invite you to look at my website and blog also - you'll see what I mean. Can we exchange links?
My father served in the Army under Gen. Patton in World War II, and I've written a book about my search for the cause of his emotional wounds. My research took me to a concentration camp in Austria, to uncover a diary Dad had kept during combat, and to meet some of the soldiers who fought with him. Here are the links to my website and blog. Thanks for your blog.
www.janelvin.com
janelvin@blogspot.com

Jan Elvin said...

Of course I meant to write http://janelvin.blogspot.com

not what I wrote above.