Dearest Mama : the lost letters of a fallen soldier and the stories of those he left behind / William S. Walker.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Walker, William, 1945- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Blanton, Bud, 1924-1945--Family.

Blanton, Bud.

Blanton, Bud, 1924-1945--Correspondence.

United States. Army. Infantry Division, 104th--Biography.

United States.

Soldiers--South Carolina--Horry County--Biography.

Soldiers.

World War, 1939-1945--Casualties--Germany.

World War, 1939-1945.

World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives.

Genre:

personal correspondence.

Biographies.

Personal correspondence.

Physical Description:

x, 210 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Columbia, South Carolina : The University of South Carolina Press, [2024]

Summary:

"A cache of letters leads to a journey of discovery that reveals the long and lasting consequences of war. William S. Walker never knew his uncle, Fletcher 'Bud' Blanton. Blanton had been killed fighting in Europe during World War II before Walker was born. Walker had heard stories about Bud, but for most of his life his uncle had existed only as a faded memory. That path changed when Walker opened a dusty cabinet forgotten in his garage attic and found a paper sack and a note in his father's handwriting that read, 'Go through before you throw away.' The bag was filled with family photos, correspondence, and a collection of letters and postcards that his uncle Bud had written to his family during his time on the frontline as a US Army infantryman in Europe. The first letter he pulled from the bag opened with the line, 'Dearest Mama.' Walker's Dearest Mama is Bud Blanton's story. More than that it is a deeply personal family chronicle that resonates for all those left behind when servicemembers do not return home from combat"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

A sister remembers

From the farm to the front line

The first year without him

Coming home

Those he left behind

Bud Blanton's friends who also never came home

Peter Batty and the American military cemetery at Margraten

Finding Peter Batty

The Timberwolves

Two Medal of Honor recipients, two different stories

James Gibson and the house on Averette Street

The names on a flag

Rest easy, men.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Other Format:

Online version: Walker, William, 1945- Dearest Mama.

ISBN:

9781643365022

1643365029

OCLC:

1429637572

Publisher Number:

90100761535