V-Mail: 1017 Days

Let your mind go back to WWII and into the thoughts of a U.S. Army Air Corps man in England. For 1,017 days, Major Kenneth W. Root, Jr. headed up teams of the American soldier-mechanics who repaired B-24 planes for the pilots and crews that bombed enemy sites in occupied France, Germany and all of Europe. Root's teams were part of the 93rd Bombardment Group, 8th Air Force, from 1942 to 1945. His job was to keep his "babies" flying. For multiple months on end, Root also served in the...
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Let your mind go back to WWII and into the thoughts of a U.S. Army Air Corps man in England. For 1,017 days, Major Kenneth W. Root, Jr. headed up teams of the American soldier-mechanics who repaired B-24 planes for the pilots and crews that bombed enemy sites in occupied France, Germany and all of Europe. Root's teams were part of the 93rd Bombardment Group, 8th Air Force, from 1942 to 1945. His job was to keep his "babies" flying. For multiple months on end, Root also served in the Middle Eastern desert as the Americans and British fought German army and air forces, winning victory. He was the ranking Engineering Officer of "Ted's Travelling Circus," named for their commanding officer. Now consider that this same man had met and married the love of his life, Helen Slawson Root, just weeks before his mission and a 3-year separation began, totaling 1,017 days apart. V:Mail: 1,017 Days holds the nearly-daily letters of Major Root to his new wife, Helen Slawson Root. Since part of his job was censoring the letters of his own crew, he knew well what he could and couldn't say. Despite that restraint, his mail carries a clear sense of his days and his vision for the future with his bride. Reading the words of his letters is like stepping back into that time and place and experiencing war and the separation from his bride in the way this bronze-star WWII hero did. His son, editor James Root, also provides photographs showing how Major Root's post-war life reflected his wartime dreams.