Rona Simmons

A collection of thirty-six brush and ink line drawings from WWII veteran and commercial artist Jack Smith.Each of the stark, black and white line drawings reproduced in this book capture the essence of the war in the Pacific, the terrain, the ships, the men. All were drawn from iconic photographs captured by professional and amateur photographers and journalists who witnessed the fighting firsthand. Years after the war, but with the memories of his time in the U.S. Navy fresh, Jack rendered by hand the images that spoke to him most clearly

October 24, 1944, is not a day of national remembrance. Yet, more Americans serving in World War II perished on that day than on December 7, 1941, when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, or on June 6, 1944, when the Allies stormed the beaches of Normandy, or on any other single day of the war. In its telling of the events of October 24, No Average Day proceeds hour by hour and incident by incident. The book begins with Army Private First-Class Paul Miller’s pre-dawn demise in the Sendai #6B Japanese prisoner of war camp. It concludes with the death of Navy Seaman Second Class Wanza E. Matthews, moments before midnight, after the Japanese submarine I-56 attacked his ship off New Guinea. The sinking of the hellship Arisan Maru—a lesser-known tragedy of the war—bookends and weaves through the two-dozen selected other incidents. No Average Day eschews the conventional discourse of the war’s origins, its great battles, and the maneuvering of generals, admirals, and politicians. Instead, it directs its attention to ordinary individuals—clerks, radio operators, cooks, sailors, machinist mates, riflemen, and pilots and their air crews. These are men, perhaps a reader’s brother, father, or neighbor, who chose to serve their country and soon found themselves in a terrifying and otherworldly place. There, described in relatable terms, the men hunch their shoulders against the cold, wipe grit from their foreheads, or pen a letter home minutes before drawing their last breath. No Average Day reveals the vastness of the war as it reaches past the beaches in France and jungles in the South Pacific, to the villages, placid bays, and forested mountainsides across the globe where the war also raged.

Candor, North Carolina. The town barber brandishes a copy of the May 1927 Charlotte Observer-on the front page, Charles Lindbergh's Spirit of St. Louis on its cross-country flight. At the outskirts of town, best friends Lake, Roger, and Jim take turns hurling their wingless crate down a hill. Eyes closed, they imagine their future alongside Lindy.Pearl Harbor changes everything. The boys will have their chance to fly-not over North Carolina farm fields, but across Germany on bombing runs, facing a determined Luftwaffe. The odds of completing their tours of duty are slim.A Gathering of Men is the account of the boys who board their aircraft for the first time and the men they become in the blink of an eye. The terrors they witness and the pressure to go up again and again and again brings them to the breaking point. It is a moving tale, based on a true story, about shattered dreams and enduring friendship, duty, and honor.

The untold stories of troops serving miles away from front lines.For decades, the dramatic stories of World War II soldiers have been the stuff of memoirs, interviews, novels, documentaries, and feature films. Yet the men and women who served in less visible roles, never engaging in physical combat, have received scant attention.Convinced that their depiction as pencil pushers, grease monkeys, or cowards was far from the truth, Rona Simmons embarked on a quest to discover the real story from the noncombat veterans themselves. She sat across from 19 veterans or their children, read their letters and journals, looked at photos, and touched their mementos: pieces of shrapnel, a Japanese sword, a porcelain tea set, a pair of wooden shoes, a marquisette wedding gown.Compiling these veterans' stories, Simmons follows them as they report for service, complete their training, and often ship out to stations thousands of miles from home. She shares their dreams to see combat and disappointment at receiving noncombat positions, as well as their selflessness and yearning for home. Ultimately, Simmons finds the noncombat veterans had far more in common with the front line soldiers than differences.Simmons's extensive research gives us a more complete picture of the war effort, bringing long-overdue appreciation for the men and women whose everyday tasks, unexpected acts of sacrifice, and faith and humor contributed mightily to the ultimate outcome of World War II.