Letters from the CBI: A Soldier's Journey through the Forgotten Theater of World War II

Letters from the CBI: A Soldier's Journey through the Forgotten Theater of World War II

An old shoebox sat near a pile of photos on the kitchen table. Inside, beneath a layer of dust, lay hundreds of letters lovingly tied up in bundles. Robert Forster and his siblings, tasked with cleaning our their parents' home after their passing, immediately knew these must be the letters their dad, Lieutenant Louis "Jack" Forster, had sent to their mom, Gloria, while deployed to the China-Burma-India Theater in World War II. These letters detail a soldier's journey to the far reaches of the globe where few Americans had fought. They convey his suffering, sacrifice, and dedication in the face of danger, when all he wanted was to return home to marry his sweetheart. His journey was unique, as were his contributions to history in this forgotten theater of World War II. Letters from the CBI not only tells a love story between a soldier in the throes of danger far from home and his future wife, it also reveals a son who discovers a new, intimate side of his father. A heartfelt and honest tribute to a soldier's struggle to maintain connection and closeness with the world he leaves behind for war, its hopeful message will withstand the test of time. "While serving as an orderly in a Civil War army hospital, Walt Whitman discovered what he called the 'real war.' This was the war experience by ordinary soldiers, whose struggles, conditions, and heroic actions constituted what he regarded as the 'interior history' of the war, which, he predicted, would 'never get into the books.' Until recently, that has been true, as was so for virtually all wars, thereby leaving us with little understanding of the most personal dimensions of warfare. Fortunately, Robert Forster's very well-crafted book, featuring his father's letters sent home to small town Wisconsin from World War II Burma, takes us down into the details of the GIs' 'real war.' It's a fascinating read that responds to Whitman's lament by fully humanizing, with admiration and affection, that war experienced by the boys who fought the good fight for us all." -Kerry A. Trask, author of Fire Within: A Civil War Narrative from Wisconsin and Black Hawk: The Battle for the Heart of America "This moving, richly detailed, and well-written book explores the powerful sense of linkage between generations of families-that amazing sense of someone long gone who still comes to life in your mind and heart and is with you decades later, hugging or holding you. You can feel it. "More than seventy years after WWII, the author read hundreds of letters his father sent . . . during the war. [Forster] reflects on the war world his father lived in versus the one he wished he was in. He comes to realize that reflection is the key to understanding many things in life; you can philosophize about things and put them in perspective, even though it's sometimes painful. I highly recommend this book, especially if you are struggling to understand and make sense of something important in your life happening now or in the past. It's a must-read." -Bruce K. Berger, PhD, author of Brothers Bound "Hauntingly nostalgic. The lost art of letters sets a stage of history, romance, and longing, not just for home and true love but for clarity as well. A must-read for anyone with questions of the same." -Nathan Aguinaga, master sergeant, US Army (Retired), and six-book author at Koehler Books Louis J. Forster was a lieutenant in the US Army Signal Corps assigned to work in the China-Burma-India Theater during World War II. Editing and context of Lt. Forster's letters was provided by Robert L. Forster, his son and the author of Mariantonia: The Lifetime Journey of a Peace Corps Volunteer. Robert graduated from the University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire, with degrees in business and sociology, after which he served for two years as a Peace Corps volunteer in Honduras, Central America. He spent forty years working with a nonprofit assisting migrant and seasonal farmworkers in Wisconsin.