When I Return....

Ever wonder what a non-fighting G.I. experienced during the World War II? Follow this G.I.'s travels via his letters to his Baltimore, Maryland fiancée back home. When I Return…. allows the reader to look into his varied military training including in the Army Air Corps and Army, basic training, specialty training, and his day-to-day experiences while stationed on the island of Saipan in the Pacific in September, 1945, shortly after the Battle of Saipan. Like many other young men going off to war, he did not want to get married and later leave a widow, or worse, a fatherless child. His letters home to his fiancée detail those decisions as well as his thoughts about their marriage plans, frustrations about the war, and his day-to-day experiences as a soldier. An amateur photographer, Allen and his two buddies, set up a thriving side business on Saipan processing their own and other G.I.'s photos. They accumulated a fascinating collection of photos, a number of which have been included in the book.

Tina has authored a number of local genealogy reference books. Researching her father's military history a number of years ago, she was told, like many others, that his military records had been burned in the St. Louis, Missouri fire. Several years later she repeated the process and was surprised to receive a large stack of copies of slightly burned records including a trove of information about her father.. Tina's family includes a son and grown grandson. Tina currently makes her home in Laurel, Maryland.