Last week I drove 50 miles north to pay a visit to Clayton Warman and his wife, Anne. Clayton is a decorated veteran of World War II who served alongside my father in Patton's Third Army, the 80th Infantry Division. I met him while working on the book, and we quickly became friends.
We settled in to catch up in his comfy living room that looks out on the Catoctin mountain range, and Clayton told me this story:
His granddaughter had stopped by the previous evening, just to say hi. My book, The Box from Braunau was on the floor by her chair. She saw it and asked her grandfather if he knew the soldier whose photo graced the cover. He said yes, he had known my father during the war.
Had I written about Clayton in the book? she asked then. When he said I had, she wanted to read it.
Over the course of the next three hours, she drew him into a conversation about the war - not only his personal stories and his feelings about going to war, but the wider implications regarding the political situation that led up to it.
My book got them talking. Clayton told me that none of his grandchildren had ever asked about his experiences during World War II before. He seemed happy that the book had opened the door to a new conversation with his young granddaughter.
3 comments:
What a fantastic feeling that must be, Jan. You helped that happen. :-)
It's nice to see that the book opens people up.
I reviewed The Box From Braunau for the August issue of the Internet Review of Books. What a powerful story. I thought as I read of my husband who is "tight, tight, tight..." about his memories of his service in Viet Nam. Wounds don't have to draw blood to do damage.
The review is the last in the nonfiction books.
http://internetreviewofbooks.com/
Ruth, thanks for the great review. It is amazing that the book has resonated with all ages of veterans and their families. It doesn't seem to matter which war -
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