A Philadelphia Family Goes to War
by Kevin D. Pawley
History is usually told as the story of nations, governments, and momentous events sweeping up thousands and millions of people in their wake. But A Philadelphia Family Goes to War is a story of World War II from the roots up: everyday letters from a Philadelphia cop, a young wife waiting for her husband’s and brothers’ return from war, a soldier in the Pacific, and a sea-going Marine. Their collected letters are as mundane as descriptions of the weather, as exciting as a tale of a wounded airman being pulled from a sinking plane, and as gruesome as a frontline body count. A Philadelphia Family Goes to War tells a family’s experience of World War II with first-hand honesty. It also tells how Philadelphia and the nation endured and were changed by the war. Philadelphia enjoyed its blossoming economy and struggled to accept a burgeoning black population as it grew to be one of the leading cities for war production. The nation tuned into movies and music to understand and express itself and keep the morale high. A Philadelphia Family Goes to War is both a personal and global perspective on the war that defined the Twentieth Century.