Dearest Mama
eBook - PDF

Dearest Mama

The Lost Letters of a Fallen Soldier and the Stories of Those He Left Behind

  1. 176 pages
  2. English
  3. PDF
  4. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - PDF

Dearest Mama

The Lost Letters of a Fallen Soldier and the Stories of Those He Left Behind

About this book

A cache of letters leads to a journey of discovery that reveals the long and lasting consequences of war

William S. Walker never knew his uncle, Fletcher "Bud" Blanton. Blanton had been killed fighting in Europe during World War II before Walker was born. Walker had heard stories about Bud, but for most of his life his uncle had existed only as a faded memory. That path changed when Walker opened a dusty cabinet forgotten in his garage attic and found a paper sack and a note in his father's handwriting that read, "Go through before you throw away." The bag was filled with family photos, correspondence, and a collection of letters and postcards that his uncle Bud had written to his family during his time on the frontline as a US Army infantryman in Europe. The first letter he pulled from the bag opened with the line, "Dearest Mama." Walker's Dearest Mama is Bud Blanton's story. More than that it is a deeply personal family chronicle that resonates for all those left behind when servicemembers do not return home from combat.

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Yes, you can access Dearest Mama by William S. Walker in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in History & Military Biographies. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. DEAREST MAMA
  3. Title
  4. Copyright
  5. Dedication
  6. CONTENTS
  7. List of Illustrations
  8. Prologue
  9. Chapter 1 A Sister Remembers
  10. Chapter 2 From the Farm to the Front Line
  11. Chapter 3 The First Year Without Him
  12. Chapter 4 Coming Home
  13. Chapter 5 Those He Left Behind
  14. Chapter 6 Bud Blanton’s Friends Who Also Never Came Home
  15. Chapter 7 Peter Batty and the American Military Cemetery at Margraten
  16. Chapter 8 Finding Peter Batty
  17. Chapter 9 The Timberwolves
  18. Chapter 10 Two Medal of Honor Recipients, Two Different Stories
  19. Chapter 11 James Gibson and the House on Averette Street
  20. Chapter 12 The Names on a Flag
  21. Epilogue: Rest Easy, Men
  22. Acknowledgments
  23. Appendix A: The Letters
  24. Appendix B: How They Signed the Flag
  25. Notes
  26. Bibliography
  27. Index