The WWII Chain Letter Gang

Firsthand voices from World War II’s Greatest Generation have reached its sunset years; they have become increasingly scarce. However, I found a treasure trove from my late father’s possessions, an interconnected correspondence from eleven WWII warriors who served in various branches of the military from Normandy to Okinawa.
In this book, The WWII Chain Letter Gang, you will read wartime letters written by eleven men to each other while in the service from all parts of the world. Eleven of those members vowed to stay in touch during their service, needing to know about their well-being and to share their experiences from the far-flung fields where they found themselves fighting for our freedom. Their letters were censored and skirted the military’s prohibition against “chain” letters. They employed my exempt stateside father “Put” to collect and receive their written thoughts.
Almost 80 years after the war I discovered what a profound and diverse collection of fascinating experiences of the war I had in my hands. Not satisfied with simply compiling the letters, I researched the backgrounds of each letter, taking me from training camps in Florida to the U.S. fleet off Okinawa to the very shores of Normandy’s D-Day. One man in Liege, Belgium, experienced a deadly V-1 missile strike, and you can read about his horrible and brave ordeal. Another soldier was trained for Underwater Demolition (the forerunner of the Navy SEALs). Overall, the result is my narrative built around the men’s letters that provides a veritable tour of World War II in both the European and Pacific theaters.
Also, I located scores of wartime photos to illustrate the narrative. These are in addition to personal photos provided by me, by the men plus scanned reproductions of portions of the original letters. The letters in their entirety are typed by me and placed at the end of the book for easier reading. By discovering exactly where they were, I tell you what they could not.
The young men belonged to their own Wolverine Athletic Club incorporated in the state of NJ in early 1930. They knew that their lives would be disrupted by the war, if not ended. So, they devised a unique way of keeping in touch with each other. Their letters talked about practicing golf – at home and now abroad, how they played golf, softball, basketball, ping pong, and everything else, but mainly about their old golf stories and games at the Asbury Park Golf Course, and other places. They shared some of their war stories, their life experiences, and left behind for us a gripping and multi-faceted panorama of America’s greatest war.
Since I knew each and every one of these men – being related to some, knowing them as dad’s friends, in The WWII Chain Letter Gang I bring to you my insights and explanations of their letters as they tell their golf stories and challenge each other to that all time post-golf tournament game at the end of the war to see who amongst them is the best player of all time.
The war tore them apart and all they wanted to do was get back to play another round of golf, you see, that game that gave them strength to fight for our country, to want to stay alive for themselves and for the man fighting next to them. They wanted to return home. To each other.