Two of our authors at Inverted-A Press are World War II veterans: John Wheatcroft, the author The Portrait of a Lover and Jesse Bier, the author of Transatlantic Lives.
John Wheatcroft speaks about his experiences during the war:
Click here to view the embedded video.
In his novel Transatlantic Lives, Jesse Bier, who was himself awarded the purple heart, had this say:
Here’s treacherous truth, at least for men, the way
it’s always been—immemorial, probably genetic, dire—
rev’d up, insurmountable—over-coming pain, obviating
death—more shameful and unaccountable than the fear of
either or both—irresistible in its fits and starts—that war
is, in between the boring parts, Exciting. “Come and get
me!” in this instant is so confident and defiant, that you
know nobody will, that you know in this moment of
transcendent thrill you’ll last—you’ve already lasted—
forever.
Ed Nordstrom received the Purple Heart, just one,
not thirteen, but no Bronze Star for wounded bleeding
durable valor.
“Hell,” he said later, “no one, or everyone, there
should have had that, shot or not. And so what, anyway? To
stick it on a shelf somewhere? It’s only recognition, and it’s
enough I recognize myself.”
Those of us who were not there can only imagine. But sometimes it helps to read the words of someone who was there, to try to understand.