WORLD WAR II: A LEGACY OF LETTERS - One Soldiers Journey

In 2002, upon returning to his grandparents’ house for a family wedding, Clinton Frederick made a remarkable discovery—a trunk filled with letters written by his father, Capt. George F. Frederick. Through these letters, Clinton is able to piece together a picture not only of his father, but also of the key battles in the Pacific during WWII. The long-hidden correspondence helps him capture the human side of war (the aspirations, fears, terror, horror, grief, anger, sympathy, love and devotion) that his father experienced in battle, and the trauma of his family waiting for his return from the South Pacific.

Clinton interlaces the letters of his father's service with events of WWII and on the home front. His letters began when the New Jersey 57th Infantry Brigade is activated in October 1941.

The journey of Capt. Frederick takes him from the war games prior to that 'Day of Infamy', to train as a glider pilot, meeting and marrying the love of his life, and into the front lines in key battles in New Guinea and the Admiralty Islands.