This collection of letters from across the United States written in each child's own hand, offers active duty soldiers and veterans and their families comfort, reassurance, and a delightful dose of humor.

During that time he saw his wife only twice on furlough, but still stayed in close contact with her through their intimate and dedicated exchange of letters.".

The 2016 winner of the Walt Whitman Award of the Academy of American Poets, selected by Carolyn Forché When I make the crossing, you must not be taken no matter what the current gives. When we reach the camp, there will be thousands like us. If I make it onto the plane, you must follow me to the roads and waiting pastures of America. We will not ride the water today on the shoulders of buffalo as we used to many years ago, nor will we forage for the sweetest mangoes. I am refugee. You are too. Cry, but do not weep. —from “Transmigration” Afterland is a powerful, essential collection of poetry that recounts with devastating detail the Hmong exodus from Laos and the fate of thousands of refugees seeking asylum. Mai Der Vang is telling the story of her own family, and by doing so, she also provides an essential history of the Hmong culture’s ongoing resilience in exile. Many of these poems are written in the voices of those fleeing unbearable violence after U.S. forces recruited Hmong fighters in Laos in the Secret War against communism, only to abandon them after that war went awry. That history is little known or understood, but the three hundred thousand Hmong now living in the United States are living proof of its aftermath. With poems of extraordinary force and grace, Afterland holds an original place in American poetry and lands with a sense of humanity saved, of outrage, of a deep tradition broken by war and ocean but still intact, remembered, and lived.

Before computers and the internet, letter writing was a labor of love. They could make you laugh or cry, holding untold mysteries within a quaint, many-times-over postmarked envelope. When the letter writer is a strapping lad of twenty-four who is blind in one eye and gets into the Army by faking the eye test, his letters home span the hysterically funny to the downright absurd. Meet Hal, Harold W. Yorke, Jr., a tall young man with coal black hair, a strikingly pale moustache, tanned complexion, and intelligent blue eyes that speak volumes. What started as a lark, turns into an interesting career in the Army spanning twenty years. The military took him all over the United States and to exotic locales like Korea and Puerto Rico. Hal’s journey of sepia-tinted World War II memories relates how he makes do with a not-so-handsome salary, yet his sharp mind and will to succeed has him fixing cars and planes, as well as just about anything broken that needs repairs during wartime. His letter home on how to score a cake from the base kitchen without getting caught is hilarious, while his letter about a terrifying fire will chill hearts. Presented by his daughter in this nostalgic compilation, each day in the military produced something new for Hal, and all those outpourings are captured as if on cellulose.

Winner of the 2021 Golden Scroll Awards for Memoir of the Year and Christian Market Book of the Year awarded by the Advanced Writers and Speakers Association FIRST PLACE WINNER IN THE MEMOIR CATEGORY OF THE 2022 SELAH AWARDS For five decades, comedian, actor, singer, dancer, and entertainer Bob Hope (1903–2003) traveled the world performing before American and Allied troops and putting on morale-boosting USO shows. Dear Bob . . . : Bob Hope’s Wartime Correspondence with the G.I.s of World War II tells the story of Hope’s remarkable service to the fighting men and women of World War II, collecting personal letters, postcards, packages, and more sent back and forth among Hope and the troops and their loved ones back home. Soldiers, nurses, wives, and parents shared their innermost thoughts, swapped jokes, and commiserated with the “G.I.s’ best friend” about war, sacrifice, lonely days, and worrisome, silent nights. The Entertainer of the Century performed for millions of soldiers in person, in films, and over the radio. He visited them in the hospitals and became not just a pal but their link to home. This unforgettable collection of letters and images, many of which remained in Hope’s personal files throughout his life and now reside at the Library of Congress, capture a personal side of both writer and recipient in a very special and often-emotional way. This volume heralds the voices of those servicemen and women whom Hope entertained and who, it is clear, delighted and inspired him.

Life with the Dominus promises to surround Katianna in exotic euphoria, but it also comes with a danger she's not sure she's strong enough to survive. Especially when being with Trenton Leos means submitting her life to Becoming His Slave.