Wonderful WWII novel "Flying Time" reviewed

As a child growing up in the 1950s and ‘60s, I was surrounded and raised by adults who represented the Greatest Generation, and many of the movies and programs I watched on TV in those days were made before and during the war. Life seemed so intense and meaningful then, yet simpler and more romantic. Later, as an adult, I sometimes found myself wishing I had been born a generation earlier so I could have experienced the 1940s first-hand. Now, after reading Donna Esposito’s delightful 2016 novel Flying Time, I can say I have had a little taste of that feeling. Donna, who shares that wistful feeling of nostalgia for the ‘40s, has brought the war years to life in a clever time-travel story that allows the reader to participate in jitterbugging at USO dances, writing heartfelt letters to sweethearts, sharing a swell piece of pie at the local diner, and go where the action is in the south Pacific. She has re-created that long-ago world that decisively and miraculously changed the course of history for the better in a few years, and it was hard to put down. I can highly recommend the book to anyone else who shares that wistful what if feeling of having missed the most important five years in modern history. You can order it from Amazon at:

https://www.amazon.com/Flying-Time-Novel-Donna-Esposito/dp/1533467544/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1521037208&sr=1-3&keywords=Flying+Time

Thank you New York State Military Museum!

   Yesterday I had the privelege and honor to speak to a very lively and interesting audience at the New York State Military Museum in Saratoga Springs. There were over 50 people in attendance including 4 WWII veterans! Tom Smith and Tom Lemme of the 4th Marine Division, and Leo Muller, a US Navy Veteran of the Pacific theater were there. Major Ernest Bebernitz (ret) of the President of the NYS Capital District chapter of Military Officers of America Association was also in attendance and has invited me to speak to his organization next year! Spectrum News carried a brief interview of me before the talk on the evening news, so the Military Museum did a great job of PR for me which is greatly appreciated- I still have a lot of books to sell and people to educate about the history and lessons of World War II!

           Some of the audience at the New York State military Museum

Iwo Jima talk this Saturday!!

If you are looking for something interesting to do this Saturday February 17th, I am giving a PowerPoint talk followed by a book signing at the New York State Military Museum in Saratoga Springs at 2 PM. I will be reading from my third book, We Were There; World War II Stories from the Adirondacks' Greatest Generation. I am pleased to add that two living survivors of the invasion of Iwo Jima, Dr. Tom Smith and Tom Lemme will be there, and would be happy to answer questions from the audience. Dr. Smith will also be selling and signing his self-published memoir Marine 419322 after the talk. The museum is at 61 Lake Avenue in downtown Saratoga Springs in the old armory. Look for the genuine Sherman tank and Civil War Mortar in front of the building! Be there!!! 

                                          Dr Thomas Smith

Boyd Smith Lives again!

One of my favorite patient portraits, which I featured in my first Book All in a Day's Work, was that of Boyd Smith. Some time ago, a Vermont artist named Lisa Walker asked my permission to paint Boyd's portrait. Now she has sent me the result, which won "Best in Show" at the Vermont State Fair! She is now looking for any of Boyd's relatives, so I am posting it here with her email:

Hi Dr. Way,
  If you recall, I asked you if I could paint your photo of Boyd Smith a couple years ago. Well, I finished it and entered it in an art show at the Vermont State Fair, and it won Best in Show. I thought yo might like to see a photo of the finished product. I was also wondering if you could give me any more information about Boyd. Many people who see the painting ask me about who he is and I have to admit I really don't know. Does he have any family that might be interested in this portrait? Anyhow, thank you for giving me permission to paint this.

More great feedback on "We Were There"!

 I just receive the kindest email from Dr Robert Flynn, which I want to share with anyone who is interested in my third book, "We Were There":

Dear Dan.      My name is Bob Flynn.  I am a physician, a psychiatrist, in Clifton Park NY and I recently found your book We Were There in an antique shop in Warrensberg.  I found it very, very engaging. I was born in May of 1941 and in some sense was there too, though stateside and as a very young child. I do have some earliest memories that reflect the war through the eyes of a three and four years old boy. Two of my father's brothers were POWs captured in the battle of the Bulge just before Christmas of 1944. Another of my father's brothers lived in my family's home after he retired from the Army in 1946 and at times was a surrogate father for me and my siblings. He was a Captain who was an adjutant to Gen. Omar Bradley at some point in the war. I only know this because he took me and my brother to a reunion of the 28th Infantry Division at Indiantown Gap, PA. There the Gen. spotted my uncle , made a fuss about him and was introduced to my brother and me, maybe about 1951.
 
In any case your book made me regret once more that I never had those uncles tell me more about what they went through. Sadly the last of those men died in 1989 with most of their stories untold. Your book however made me feel that I knew their experiences better.  I could not put some of those stories down. Because of that I want an eighty-some year old friend to read your book and I don't want to give my copy up, (so I am buying another copy for him).

Dr Robert Flynn MD

Clifton Park NY