Letters from the Attic

"Fascinating . . . Many will appreciate the nostalgia and personal look into the greatest era of our American history."
—Dr. Bruce Shields, professor emeritus, Yale

This personal history recalls family, love, and young romance beneath the roar of a raging war, building on letters stored away during World War II.

A widower who is now remarried, Charles Young retires from a long teaching career in Greece and returns home to Connecticut with his wife, Mary. After they move into his old family homestead, they discover a box of letters in the attic. One letter at a time, an early life is revealed.

Charles was just finishing junior high school when World War II broke out. He was a boy then and deeply in love with a girl named Launa, with whom he'd meet at night in the park every full moon—until they were discovered and Launa was sent away. There was nothing to keep them together but their letters.

In 1943, Charles was accepted into a naval program at Harvard University. Away from his family for the first time, he kept in contact once again through letters, which included a detailed account of his service with the marines during the Battle of Okinawa and the final surrender by the Japanese in Tokyo Bay in 1945.

Sharing a cache of letters from the early forties, Charles recalls family, friendship, and love throughout his life.