I might have been lugging a tied bundle of newspapers to a school for a last paper drive before summer vacation, or pulling weeds in our family's 'victory garden' plot, or just looking at Axis aircraft silhouettes printed on the back of my cereal box. Or reading a letter from my big brother, who was serving in the navy at Dutch Harbor in the Aleutians. In those days, butter was given up for guns, and war touched the lives of everyone.

Sample my new book at http://www.theweemadroad.com