Robert Freese was twenty-five when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. A month later, he was drafted. Following a few months of training in the States, Robert shipped out to Australia with the 32nd Infantry Division, the first US Army unit to take the fight to the Japanese. After playing baseball for the division and training for battle, Robert was transported north to New Guinea with the rest of the 32nd Infantry Division. In November 1942, after enduring a grueling two month journey through an unforgiving jungle environment just to get into position to attack, MacArthur's forces engaged the Japanese at the Battle of Buna, now known as Bloody Buna. Robert was in the thick of the action, as the mission of his regiment was to take the two Japanese airfields central to the whole operation. The title Baseball, Battle, and a Bride: (An Okie in World War II) comes from Robert's quest to play professional baseball before World War II and his place on the 32nd Infantry Division's team, his role in the Battle of Buna and two amphibious operations, and his romance of Leona Nievar, which resulted in their wedding in November 1944 and, to date, sixty-five years of marriage.

The history of WWII’s most battle-tested US Army division and its crucial role in achieving Allied victory in the Pacific Red Arrow across the Pacific reveals the long-overdue story of the renowned Thirty-Second "Red Arrow" Infantry Division. Discover how this National Guard unit—which originated in Wisconsin and Michigan but soon evolved to include soldiers from California to New England—became one of the first US military units deployed overseas in World War II, eventually logging more combat hours than any other US Army division. Far more than a traditional battle narrative, Red Arrow across the Pacific offers a cultural history of the Red Arrow's wartime experience, from its mobilization in 1940, to its deployment across New Guinea, Australia, and the Philippines, to its postwar occupation of Japan. Drawing from letters, memoirs, and interviews, author Mark D. Van Ells lets the soldiers speak for themselves, describing in their own words the terror of combat, their impressions of foreign lands, the struggle to maintain their own humanity, and the many ways the war profoundly changed them. Nuanced and remarkably thorough, this book explores the dramatic evolution of the Thirty-Second Infantry Division and reveals how the story of the Red Arrow reflects the experience of the US military during World War II.

“Brosnan obviously knows his baseball, writes about it wittily, informally and with irony. He is a cynical, tough professional athlete and his book makes wonderful reading.”—New Yorker From the author of The Long Season—considered by many to be the greatest baseball book of all time—comes another classic sports memoir by legendary pitcher Jim Brosnan, which chronicles how his team, the Cincinnati Reds, went on to win the 1961 National League pennant. In Pennant Race, Brosnan—with his trademark wise-guy wit and plain-spoken practicality—once again offers a refreshingly candid alternative to hackneyed baseball mythologizing. Day by day, game by game, Brosnan reveals the real lives of professional ballplayers: their exhilaration and frustration, hope and despair, chronic worry over job security, playful camaraderie, world-weary cynicism, and boyish—if cautious—optimism. Although the Reds would ultimately lose the World Series to the Yankees, for Brosnan and his teammates, this was a winning season. Pennant Race vividly captures a remarkable year in the life of a ball club and the golden age of one of Major League Baseball’s most memorable eras.

The Seasons of Buffalo Baseball 1857-2020 is a collaborative efforts that draws from the 1985 book, The Seasons of Buffalo Baseball by Joseph M. Overfield. His son, Jim, updated and revised his dad's book into a richly illustrated, 400-page 8x10-inch book that updates the history of professional baseball in Buffalo through the 2020 season, which was cancelled for the Triple A Bisons because of the COVID-19 but includes a summary of the Toronto Blue Jays' home away from home in Buffalo during the summer because of the pandemic. That marked the return of major league baseball to Buffalo since the city had a franchise in the Federal League in 1905. Part One of the book is a year-by-year summary of each season from 1857 through 2020, complete with the team's manager, league, record, leading hitter, home run hitter and pitcher. Part Two is a collection of stories from Joe and Jim Overfield, Brian M. Frank and Michael J. Billoni, Assistant Editors of the book, along with Paul Langendorfer, Budd Bailey, Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News, Sal Maiorana of Rochester's Democrat and Chronicle and former WGRZ-TV sportscaster Jonah Javad, a sportscaster at WFAA-TV in Dallas, Texas. There are also cartoons illustrated by Mike "Ricig" Ricigliano and more than 200 black and white and color photos. The book honors the memory of Joe Overfield, the former historian of the Buffalo Bisons and a member of the Greater Buffalo and Buffalo Baseball Halls of Fame. It is also a tribute to the resilience of the City of Buffalo and that game that has been part of the city's fabric for more than 160 years. Among those who have written testimonials are John Thorn, official historian of Major League Baseball; Chris Berman, ESPN Sports Broadcaster; Bob Costas, multiple Emmy award-winning sports broadcaster; Ken Rosenthal, baseball writer for The Athletic and Fox Sports and Pete Weber, the Voice of the Nashville Preditors of the NHL and the former Voice of the Bisons and Greg Brown, the Voice of the Pittsburgh Pirates and the former Bisons broadcaster.

A World War II love story, narrated through a new bride’s dazzling array of vintage postcards, newspaper clippings, photographs, and more Lila Jerome has never been very lucky in love, and has always been more interested in studying architecture and, more recently, supporting the war bond effort on the home front. But in the fall of 1943, a chance spark with a boarder in her apartment sets Lila on a course that shakes up all of her ideas about romance. Lila is intoxicated by Perry Weld, the charismatic army engineer who’s about to ship out to the European front, and it isn’t long before she discovers that the feeling is mutual. After just a few weeks together, caught up in the dramatic spirit of the times and with Perry’s departure date fast approaching, the two decide to elope. In a stunning kaleidoscope of vibrant ephemera, Lila boldly attempts to redefine her life in America as she navigates the heartache and longing of a marriage separated by ocean and war. In her second scrapbook novel after the lauded Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt, Caroline Preston has once again pulled from her own extraordinary collection of vintage memorabilia, transporting us back to the lively, tumultuous 1940s and introducing us to an unforgettable, ambitious heroine who must learn to reconcile a wartime marriage with a newfound self-confidence.

On December 7, 1941, war came to Arroyo Grande when two local sailors were killed on the USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor. People from the small town were thrust into great circumstances and quickly answered the call for action. A local storekeeper's son won the Silver Star after he brought his flaming B-17 safely back to base. A valley farmworker served with the famed 442nd Regimental Combat Team, largely composed of soldiers of Japanese descent. Chinese guerrillas commanded by Mao Zedong--the future Chairman Mao--threw a birthday party for an Arroyo Grande soldier. At home, community groups like the Arroyo Grande Women's Club brought packed lunches for their Japanese American neighbors on the morning they were forced to leave for the internment camps. Local author Jim Gregory brings to life the sorrows and triumphs of a dramatic period in local history.