[Lecture / Panel]
An American Family in WWII by Sandra O’Connell

About This Event

Author Sandra O’Connell will be signing copies of her book “An American Family in WWII” about America in the 1940s. It is the story of one family, told through their own words and correspondence, attempting to stay connected to one another despite the gnawing worry and distance of war. When Ralph “Lee” Minker Jr. entered U.S. Army Air Cadet training in 1943, he began writing letters to his parents and two teenage sisters; letters that describe the rigors of pilot training and ultimately his life at the base, as he flew 37 combat missions over Nazi Germany. The letters from the family members to Lee bring a vibrant reality to the home front—rationing, bond drives, and the daily tension of war—through the people who lived it.