As Ever Joe: Story of a Quiet Hero

As Ever Joe features the letters and photos of an American soldier and Bronze Star recipient. The story of this quiet hero begins nineteen days after Pearl Harbor, as Joe ships out of New Orleans to "hell knows where" and ends in July of 1945 in Luzon, Philippine Islands with "Daddy doesn't live here any more." Joe's letters chronicle the four-year journey of the 158th Regimental Combat Team known as the Bushmasters. Joe's engaging voice-driven style delivers a poignant view of a man struggling to retain his humanity in the midst of a long, bloody, war. The reader is offered a first-hand view of the Bushmasters' journey through the Pacific Theatre. It is also a culture capsule of the war years, as Joe writes of movies, music, Chicago sports teams, horse races, card playing, beer drinking, and the loneliness of being so far from home for so long.