LOVE LETTERS FROM THE BATTLE OF OKINAWA

About the Book

A Marine Corps Officer, Everett Smith, served overseas for nearly three years including 1944 and 1945 in the Pacific Theater. Eighty years after the unconditional surrender of Imperial Japan ended WW II, the massive conflict that engulfed every corner of the planet is increasingly a distance memory. Its toll on an entire generation in lost and maimed lives and destruction of entire cities has faded into the history books. While the conclusion of the European war was being celebrated with VE Day on May 8, 1945, U.S. armed forces were still engaged in a vicious battle against Japanese combatants on Okinawa Island. By early August, preparations code named Operation Downfall were well underway for a massive invasion of Japan’s mainland islands. Everett expected to participate in that final campaign and privately believed he would not survive it. For military personnel serving overseas, letters from loved ones were critical lifelines. This book is a compilation of letters Everett wrote to his wife. In them, he describes the battle’s progression (censured), his dreams for their future together, and especially his love for Ruth during their many months of separation

About the Author

A Marine Corps officer during WWII, Everett Smith served overseas for three years. From August 1944 until Japan’s surrender, he was in the Pacific Theater. His letters from Okinawa, each initialed by a censure, shared his duties and dreams while seldom mentioning the vicious fighting that surrounded him.