Stories – Page 2 – A Box of Old Letters

A Girl from Maine Goes to War

Author

Tom Parks

On June 6th, 1944, allied forces crossed the English Channel, stormed the beaches of Normandy, and began pushing the Germans back towards Berlin. The long-planned and eagerly anticipated D-Day invasion was the beginning of the end of the Nazi nightmare that had gripped Europe since September of 1939.

However, at that moment, no one knew exactly when the war would be over. No one knew it was going take 11 more months of worldwide death, destruction, and heartache before Germany finally surrendered and another two months after that before Japan capitulated.

Pearl Harbor & Going to War

Author

Tom Parks

My father graduated from Jamestown High School in Jamestown, North Dakota on June 1, 1939. He was 17 years old.

That day, newspapers all over the country featured at least a couple of stories mentioning Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany. While the articles contain an undercurrent of concern, there was nothing specific in any of them that would indicate war in Europe was just 91 days away.

Finding a Box of Old Letters

Author

Tom Parks

Just before Christmas of 2009, my parents, then in their late eighties, decided they needed to move. My father, in particular, felt they were no longer capable of living completely on their own.

Endurance

Author

Tom Parks

One day, when I was in my teens, I asked my father about his experiences as a prisoner of war during World War II. The story he told was simply beyond the comprehension of a fourteen-year-old. Stunned, I told him I didn’t think I would have survived. I have never forgotten his quiet reply, “Son, humans are amazingly strong creatures. When the time comes, you will surprise yourself with what you are capable of and what you can endure”.

Watching Hogan’s Heroes with my Dad

Author

Tom Parks

Hogan’s Heroes, the CBS sitcom about life in a German prisoner of war camp during World War II, debuted on September 17th, 1965. Our family was living in Burnt Hills, New York, a small, bedroom community upstate just a few miles north of Schenectady. I was fifteen years old and just starting the 10th grade.

Category: Stories

A Girl from Maine Goes to War

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Pearl Harbor & Going to War

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Finding a Box of Old Letters

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Endurance

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Watching Hogan’s Heroes with my Dad

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