The day the second atomic bomb was dropped, Clabe and Leora Wilson’s postman brought a telegram to their acreage near Perry, Iowa. One son was already in the U.S. Navy before Pearl Harbor had been attacked. Four more sons worked with their father, tenant farmers near Minburn until, one by one, all five sons were serving their country in the military. The oldest son re-enlisted in the Navy. The … younger three became U.S. Army Air Force pilots. As the family optimist, Leora wrote hundreds of letters, among all her regular chores, dispensing news and keeping up the morale of the whole family, which included the brothers’ two sisters. Her fondest wishes were to have a home of her own and family nearby. Leora’s Letters is the compelling true account of a woman whose most tender hopes were disrupted by great losses. Yet she lived out four more decades with hope and resilience.
“Joy lets us see her grandmother’s personal family correspondence through letters. It is heart-tugging. Be ready to be moved by this true story.” –Van Harden, WHO-Radio Personality
Joy Neal Kidney, the oldest granddaughter of the book’s heroine, is the keeper of family stories, letters, photos, combat records, casualty reports, and telegrams. Active on her own website, she is also a writer and local historian. Married to a Vietnam Air Force veteran, Joy lives in central Iowa. Her nonfiction has been published in The Des Moines Register, other media, and broadcast over “Our American Stories.” She’s a graduate of the University of Northern Iowa, and her essays have been collected by the Iowa Women’s Archives at the University of Iowa.
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“Leora’s Letters: The Story of Love and Loss for an Iowa Family During World War II” is a gripping, well-written and genuinely moving book. At times I felt I was sitting on a rocking chair on Leora’s front porch in Iowa reading these fascinating family letters.
The book is based around the Wilson family on their farm in Iowa. Mum, Dad, two girls and five boys. As the 1940s progresses, the boys decide to serve their country during World War Two. Two join the Navy; three sign up for the Army Air Corps. But they don’t go all at once, they go one by one. And this is what makes the story almost unbearable. The tension and apprehension mount as one by one the sons leave the family fold to join up. First to their training camps. Then to the front lines of Europe, the Atlantic and the Pacific.
And with each one departing, the work mounts up for those left at home to run the large farm. It’s manageable with five boys, but then there are four left, then three, then two. Surely Junior will stay? But no. All five go to serve their country.
The letters written by Leora and her two daughters to their sons, but also between the five boys, mount up. And so does the tension. The long waits between letters. The silence that is barely endurable.
Read this exceptional book and be moved. I am sure you will then join me with my sincere congratulations both to Joy Neal Kidney and Robin Grunder. They fully deserve as wide an audience as possible.
Leora’s Letters: The Story of Love and Loss for an Iowa Family in World War II opens with a description of a family ritual: going to the local cemetery on Memorial Day to place flowers on the graves of three brothers killed in World War II. Many families across the United States engage in this ritual to honor the sacrifices of their loved ones, gaining some small measure of comfort in being with them at their final resting places–but in the case of the Wilson family, two of the three graves are empty.
Joy Neal Kidney, the author of Leora’s Letters, is the niece of those three brothers; Leora was her grandmother. Kidney took on what was truly a labor of love to find out what exactly happened to her uncles and how these events impacted the family at home on the Iowa farm. The stories of her two uncles who survived the war are also included, as well as the perspectives of their two sisters, their father, and, of course, their mother Leora. This was a family.
Kidney tells the story of her family’s experience in World War II with a skillful integration of carefully curated primary sources (the letters Leora saved and family photographs), historical research to provide clarity and context for the events, and creative nonfiction to bring the family members to life.
The structure of the book is equally impressive: it follows the Iowa farming seasons. In addition to providing unity and cohesion for the book as a whole, the details of the work on the farm each season of the year also provide a good history of the role of the family farm in World War II.
As a reader, I was greatly moved by the story of the Wilson family, a testament to the time, care, and love that went into the development of the book. In writing Leora’s Letters, Joy Neal Kidney has ensured that the memories of her family members who sacrificed so much for their country are honored and preserved. Equally important, the book serves as a reminder that we shouldn’t take these sacrifices or the human costs of war for granted, as World War II and the Greatest Generation slowly slip into the mists of history. Delbert, Donald, Danny, Dale, and Junior: we won’t forget you.
In Leora’s Letters, Joy Neal Kidney provides her readers with a genuine and heartfelt glimpse into the life of an American family during one of our nation’s most trying times. Five Wilson brothers leave their family farm in Iowa to serve their country during WW II, two in the Navy, and three in the Army Air Corps.
Through a well-crafted combination of letters, photographs, and narratives, Joy Neal Kidney draws you in and makes you feel like a member of the family. I found myself caught up in the daily experiences of all five young men and hoping each of them made it home safely. Unfortunately, war is never that kind.
Leora’s Letters is more than a story about one family’s sacrifice. It is a story about America and the kind of people who helped to forge this great nation. Our nation owes Clabe and Leora Wilson and their family a debt it can never repay. However, in reading this incredible story, perhaps we can regain a sense of what kind of people Americans were, and hopefully again, will be.
Do yourself a favor and read this book!