Laura's War Book

Contents The Box of Letters....................5
Part I: The University Fall 1942....................9
My Early Life....................11
Off to the Convent....................13
The U of I and I....................16
The Halcyon Days....................19
We Are Apart....................23
Letters from the University....................26
Together Again....................38
Part II: Training for War He's in the Army Now....................43
Camp McCoy, Wisconsin....................47
Meanwhile, Back Home....................58
Fort Benning, GA Officers Candidate School....................60
The New Second Lieutentant's Leave....................94
Camp Shelby, Mississippi....................96
First Assignment with Troops....................99
We Do Not Agree....................132
Birthday with the Troops....................143
There's a Small Hotel....................146
Lonesome Time....................148
Spring 1944....................153
England....................161
Part Three: At War The Importance of Letters....................175
Normandy....................177
The Notebook....................180
Happy Memories....................192
Have Faith in Your Buddies....................195
A Comrade's Advice....................200
The St Lo Breakthrough....................203
Falaise Pocket....................211
Northern France Campaign....................219
The Battle for Aachen....................226
Personnel Paperwork....................231
Girl Reporter....................237
The Siegfried Line Battle Dragged On....................240
A Lull before theNext Storm....................249
The Hürtgen Forest Battle....................257
The First Christmas on the Front Line....................262
Rest and Recreation....................269
Ardennes: Battle of the Bulge....................273
Germans Launch Surprise Attack....................277
The Road Network Must Be Held....................280
Christmas 1944....................283
1945....................289
The Typewriter and I....................290
The Nurses' Aide....................294
Patriotic Fervor....................296
The Unrelenting War Takes Its Toll....................298
Allied Counter-Attack....................302
Meet the Press....................308
No Rest....................310
Bonn-Rhine River....................316
A Promise Kept....................319
Promotion to Battalion Staff....................326
Central Europe Campaign....................331
A Very Special Platoon....................335
Tragedy....................338
A Scandal in Waynesboro....................340
Czechoslovakia-Sudetenland....................341
On the Western Front Nothing New....................345
Ironic Encounters....................347
The Long Wait to Come Home....................349
To the Hospital....................351
Maid of Honor....................353
Interviews with Returning Soldiers....................354
It's Been a Long, Long Time....................358
Time on His Hands....................360
Anxiety Takes Its Toll....................363
I Return to Chicago....................368
Wie Einst, Lilli Marlene....................370
"Give Us Your Poor ..."....................374
A Conference at Headquarters....................375
"All but One ..."....................378
He's Home....................379
Epilogue....................381
Bibliography....................397