Fighting Fascism in Europe: The World War II Letters of an American Veteran of the Spanish Civil War

Angebote / Angebote:

On his first day in basic training in 1942, Lawrence Cane wrote his wife, Grace, from Fort Dix, New Jersey. "I'm in the army now--really!" he wrote, complaining, "I don't have enough time to write a decent letter." Three years later, Capt. Lawrence Cane came home from World War II. He'd landed at Utah Beach on D-Day, helped liberate France and Belgium, and survived the Battle of the Bulge. He won a Silver Star for bravery. And he managed to write 300 letters home to Grace. They tell a different kind of war story--a unique portrait of courage in battle fueled by a life long passion for political justice. Cane's fight for freedom began in 1937, when he joined the Abraham Lincoln Brigade and was wounded fighting for democracy in Spain. At 30, he enlisted in the new war against fascism, and as an officer with the 238th Combat Engineer Battalion cleared mines, destroyed fortifications, and opened roads from Normandy to the Siegfried Line. Of the 400 American Spanish Civil War veterans in World War II, Cane was the only one to go ashore on D-Day. Home, Cane supported civil rights and peace causes until his death in 1976. Discovered in 1995 by his son David, his letters are classic accounts of war and unforgettable expressions of love for family. They are also the fiercely patriotic words of a left-wing, working class New York Jew (and one-time Communist Party member) who knew exactly why we fought: to create a better world by destroying all forms of fascism, one battle at a time. With an introduction by David Cane and much additional material, these letters expand the definition of American patriotism and add a new chapter to the history of "the greatest generation