R Korpan Lee

Focus on the Front R Korpan Lee

In 1942, when Steve Korpanty was stationed in Alabama, his mother met a "lovely girl" and encouraged her to write to her son. What followed was a romantic courtship unlike any other, and when they met two months later, Steve and Wanda admitted their love for one another. This love saw them through their many separations.

Steve's letters home from the Pacific Theater of Operations, lovingly annotated by a family member, are a brilliant example of the war experience of the "everyman." They serve as a fascinating snapshot into the emotional and physical toll of life as a Signal Corps Officer in the Philippines and Japan, as well as (the sometimes risqué) life on the homefront.

Warning: Contains evidence that members of "The Greatest Generation" were as human as the rest of us, complete with foibles, loves, grammatical errors, inside jokes and unrealized strengths. From flights with the Tuskegee Airmen to amphibious landings in Luzon; from the Battle of Manila and the liberation of the Santo Tomas Prison to the Occupation of Tokyo; from mundane mess schedules at the mysterious "Base X" to hair-raising gunfights; from scheming with the Filipinos to pitching woo at his wife... Steve's letters reveal an amazing slice of World War II in the Pacific. A must-read primary source for students of WWII social and military history.