Letters, Love and Longing: My Parents WWII Story
Letters, Love and Longing tells story of Rol and Virginia a young couple from East Tennessee caught up in the escalating events of WWII. It begins in 1938 when Virginia Vassey arrives to teach second grade in Alcoa, Tennessee, home of the Aluminum Company of America and meets Rol Jett on a blind date. Rol is funny, smart, handsome, and works at Jett Firestone, his family’s tire and automotive business in nearby Maryville. There’s an immediate attraction despite their age difference and their feelings continue to grow and deepen throughout a lengthy but sometimes shaking courtship.
By the end of 1941 they are finally engaged and are planning their March 1942 wedding. But the newly established Selective Service has different plans for Rol and other men between the ages 26-35. On February 27, 1942, he is inducted into the U.S Army at Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia and heads to basic training at Camp Shelby in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Like many couples whose plans are interrupted, they do get eventually married but without the fanfare of a large formal wedding. Over Thanksgiving Rol gets a rare 4-day pass home and they make a spontaneous decision to ‘tie the knot’ at her brother’s home in Rossville, Georgia. Two days later, he boards the train back to Camp Shelby and the newlyweds begin their married life much differently than what they had planned.
There are so many unknowns on the horizon for this young couple. They never expected Rol’s military service would take him 9000 miles away to the jungles of New Guinea. Nor did they realize that they would be separated for over 30 months. Yet in spite of the separation, distance, slow mail service and remote living conditions, their love grows. It grows exclusively through their faithful and prolific correspondence. With each of the more than 600 letters, Vmails and postcards sent and received, they love, support and sustain each other. These letters are their lifeline during many frightening, stressful and lonely months apart.
Fortunately, Virginia kept most of these letters throughout her long 99 years of life. They represented a deep personal connection to her early life with Rol, but unbeknownst to her they also provided the often forgotten home front story of so many families. These letters along with her diaries, scrapbooks and historical documents provide the framework and content for this story.
Rol Jett is not a war hero. He is just a regular GI, a Technical Sergeant in the 6th Army and the shop foreman of a minimum automotive maintenance company in the jungles of New Guinea. He is one of the 16.5 million Americans who answered the call to serve…often far from home and in remote and dangerous places. Like his fellow service members, he proudly and honorably fulfills this patriotic duty. On November 12, 1945 he sails from Nagoya, Japan to return home to his beloved wife and their hopeful future in Maryville, Tennessee.
Rol and Virginia’s story could be your parent’s story too. But like most members of that generation, they kept those stories to themselves. Do you know anything about your family’s WWII stories and what you might do to honor them and preserve their contributions? (Check out our new World War II Letters Home Project.) Every day as we lose more of these unsung heroes, we also lose important and irreplaceable pieces of our history. These families sacrificed too much for us to forget their efforts and unknowingly discard their letters, scrapbooks and war memorabilia. Letters, Love and Longing is a tribute to my parents. May it inspire you to honor your parent’s WWII legacy by sharing their story too.
Click Here to read an excerpt.
Publish date to be announced.