I was an adult when my father handed me a well-worn, black notebook that had been tucked in among his numerous books and asked me if I wanted to read it. I was amazed. It was a diary that he had apparently kept during his years in combat - a document that I had not know existed. As I began to skim through the entries, I discovered that he had been in almost every major battle with the Germans in North Africa and Europe. However, it was not just dates and places. Instead, he had noted details, included descriptions, and inserted his own opinions about the various events, places, and people. It read more like a story than a diary, and it was unique because it had been written as these events were occurring around him, not written from memories of the past.
Once I was able to convince him to let me turn his diary into a manuscript, he and I began my work, and we had three wonderful years before his death to complete the task. Chappie World War II Diary of a Combat Chaplain is the result of that effort.
It is the account of an ordinary man’s response to extraordinary events going on around him.
My father was 32 married with no kids when he was drafted. He was assigned to go to North Africa with the invading force. I don't know much other than he was with the 1st infantry division. When he was in Africa he traded in his rifle for drum sticks as part of the 1st division band. He went to sicily, then normandy d-day plus 7, belgium and the battle of the bulge, and then germany. I also know he was a chaplain assistant during most of the war also. I even think he was with a chaplain from new jersey. My father was born in new jersey and went across the Raritan river to school,Rutgers, class of 1932. Even though I became a WW11 buff, I like many children of vets never had conversations, other than short funny stories.
Posted by: tom hannan | April 12, 2009 at 01:22 PM