THROUGH A LONG ABSENCE: WORDS FROM MY FATHER’S WARS
Praise for Through a Long Absence
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
AMHERST AVENUE, ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, 1950
CHEVY CHASE, ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, THE 1990S
DELMAR BOULEVARD, ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, 2005
CHAPTER 1: LEAVING AMERICA
NORTH AFRICA: December 24, 1942 to July 28, 1943
CHAPTER 2: THE FIRST FIELD
CHAPTER 3: BEDSIDE MANOR
CHAPTER 4: ABSENCE
CHAPTER 5: ART BLOOMS IN AFRICA
CHAPTER 6: BART AND HIS DAUGHTER RECALL HIS BOYHOOD IN ST. LOUIS
CHAPTER 7: THE BOXCAR TO ALGERIA
CHAPTER 8: THE HOSPITAL IN THE RACETRACK
CHAPTER 9: BERTIE, BARELY SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER 10: SINGLED OUT
CHAPTER 11: THE GOOD MOTHER
CHAPTER 12: YOWEE. THEY AIN’T KIDDIN’.
CHAPTER 13: BERTIE AND SAMMY
CHAPTER 14: A CLIFF AND AN OLIVE GROVE
CHAPTER 15: COMING UP IN THE WORLD
SICILY, ITALY: July 30, 1943 to November 11, 1943
CHAPTER 16: THE REAL THING
CHAPTER 17: DARK CORNERS
CHAPTER 18: A STRANGE EBULLIENCE
CHAPTER 19: SHOOTOUT
CHAPTER 20: THE SPREADING BLACK CLOUD
CHAPTER 21: ENTER SPRING
CHAPTER 22: A WORLD LIGHT-YEARS AWAY
CHAPTER 23: ARMED AND READY
CHAPTER 24: EXPERIENCED TRAVELERS, THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY
CHAPTER 25: BART AND BENEDETTO
CHAPTER 26: THE ARTIST BEFORE LA LIBERAZIONE
CHAPTER 27: STRANGER AT THE FUNERAL
ENGLAND: November 26, 1943 to June 9, 1944
CHAPTER 28: TORTWORTH COURT
CHAPTER 29: SEARCHING FOR A BRIDGE TO WALES
CHAPTER 30: BLASTER PASSANANTE
CHAPTER 31: THE MURKY SPECTER OF CHANGE
CHAPTER 32: HERE WE GO
CHAPTER 33: THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY— AND THE EIGHTEENTH
FRANCE: June 10, 1944 to September 28, 1944
CHAPTER 34: NORMANDY
CHAPTER 35: STE.-MARIE-DU-MONT, BOUTTEVILLE, THE FIRST EIGHTEEN DAYS
CHAPTER 36: PONT L’ABBÉ
CHAPTER 37: LA CAMBE
CHAPTER 38: MARIGNY AND BRÉCEY
CHAPTER 39: SOMEWHERE IN FRANCE
CHAPTER 40: ST. LOUIS, BERTIE’S LETTERS IMAGINED
CHAPTER 41: NORMANDY, THE BATTLE FOR MEMORY, THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY
CHAPTER 42: HELD FOR GREATER THINGS
CHAPTER 43: AFTER THE LIBERATION
HOLLAND: September 28, 1944 to March 1, 1945
CHAPTER 44: THE BIG PUSH IS UNDERWAY
CHAPTER 45: THE LANDSCAPE, THE PORTRAIT, AND THE TUNNELS
CHAPTER 46: ANYTHING FOR A LAUGH
CHAPTER 47: NANCY DREW AND THE HARDY BOY, THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY
CHAPTER 48: A PICTURE A KID SHOULDN’T SEE
GERMANY: March 2, 1945 to July 7, 1945
CHAPTER 49: DEEP IN THE HEART OF GERMANY
CHAPTER 50: WITNESSING
CHAPTER 51: THE FRAGRANCE OF ROSES
CHAPTER 52: THE JOURNEY BACK
CHAPTER 53: THE FINAL FIELD, THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY
CHAPTER 54: RESTORATION
EPILOGUE: LEAVING US