Review: A moving story of wartime love
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 07 17, 2012
As a WWII history buff, I couldn't pass this one up. The letters from the author's dad, Robert Navarre Simmons, to his young bride Winifred ("Win") were a poignant record of their love affair in those halcyon days before the war began, then throughout the war. But reading them was tinged with the sadness of knowing that Robert would be killed in action in March, 1945, only months before the war ended.It was interesting that Robert's son Peter, who curiously was renamed "Craig" when his mom remarried a few years after the war, had no desire to read the letters that his mom had carefully saved. Only years later did he feel the need to try to connect with his dad and learn as much as he could about him, which led to the collection of letters. On a journey halfway around the world, the author made peace with himself and made the final connection with his father in a quiet, secluded memorial garden honoring the dead on Okinawa.Robert's letters alone would appeal to anyone interested in the war, following his path through the pacific on two different Navy destroyers, but taken in context with the author's life, they made for a very memorable and moving story.