My Fathers War: The World War II Diary of PFC William C. Sheavly
by William H. Sheavly
Category: Biography & Autobiography

My Father's War retraces the story of an average infantryman, my father, during World War II from his induction at Fort Hayes, Ohio to his discharge at Fort Dix, New Jersey after the end of the war. What is amazing is that the story is chronicled through the vast amount of letters that were written and saved by my grandparents, all 486 of them. The letters served as the foundation of the story and they detail his day to day trials and tribulations of World War II Army life-ranging from basic training to his time in the ASTP to his assignment to the Fighting 69th Infantry Division. His letters show the frustrations of being yanked out of college and shuffled to foreign lands to fight an enemy he really did not know. You will follow how he stumbled through Infantry training at Camp Shelby, Mississippi while fighting the heat and chiggers on Divisional maneuvers. Follow his letters as he tries to keep up with the happenings back home in his small town of Canandaigua New York, and what he is doing and thinking when the 69th goes into battle in the spring of 1945.