With Hurricane Andrew bearing down on her Miami home in 1992, Kay Brigham scurried to protect her most precious possessions from the fury of the approaching storm. Among the few items she could possibly carry with her were those letters she had long treasured but never dared to read, the ones entrusted to her for posterity--the love letters of a father she hardly ever knew.

Kay had always been reluctant to read them, knowing she would grieve more deeply to learn the character of a man she had already lost as a child during World War II. At age seven, she only vaguely knew her Navy Commander father when his destroyer went down near a faraway placed called Salerno. The hurricane underscored how precious those letters were, yet she still dared not read and revisit her mother's anguish. Then, in 1995, inspired by the 50th Anniversary of the victory in Europe, Kay mustered the courage to open the seal. Though she encountered anticipated sadness, Kay uncovered a story of love and heroism so uplifting that it had to be shared with her family and the broader American family.

The letters Kay has compiled here are a virtual time capsule, capturing the human experience of a naval officer and his devoted wife, from their courtship during the Great Depression through the personal aftermath of that fateful day in October, 1943 when the U.S.S. Buck was torpedoed. Speaking for themselves, the letters of Jacqueline Coleman and M. J. "Mike" Klein portray how the power of love and faith sustained them during lengthy separation, through the most perilous times of war, and in surviving unspeakable loss. They illustrate so well the verse to which Jacqueline clung, "many waters cannot quench love" (Song of Songs 8:7).

Aside from their transcendent message, these historically valuable letters contribute to the growing body of research on the personal implications of World War II. Instead of surrendering them to the various academic archives which have sought these letters, Kay has chosen to preserve them here for a wider audience. Drawing from her own recollections, exhaustive research of declassified naval records, and amazing correspondence with the German submarine captain whose U-boat torpedoed the Buck, Kay provides both personal and historical context to the letters, making their reading all the more enriching and memorable.

Publisher: Editorial CLIE
Publication Date: March 20, 2001
Pages: 570
Illustrations: photographs
Binding: hardback with jacket
ISBN: 84-8267-189-8
Price: $30 plus Florida/Miami-Dade 7% sales tax (if applicable)
and shipping/handling cost

What They're Saying About The Book

"It made me realize how much has been sacrificed for us. It is truly an heirloom for the American family."

"The courage, the faith, the love brought tears to my eyes. The poem Jackie wrote, 'To One Missing In Action,' is the most remarkable example of faith and love I have ever seen. What a treasure!"

"It brought to life how heroic people were on the home front as well as the battlefront in World War II. You can feel the tension of battle in the actual Action Report of USS Buck's tracking of an enemy submarine."