The General and His Daughter: The War Time Letters of General James M. Gavin to his Daughter Barbara

Acknowledgments

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ★ a c k n o w l e d g m e n t s ★ ........................................................... This book would never have been written without the war stories, kind words, and encouragement of the World War II veterans of the 82nd Airborne , my dad’s ‘‘boys.’’ It began as ‘‘You ought to put those letters in a book’’ and progressed to ‘‘When is your book coming out?’’ Here it is, my brothers. I am particularly indebted to Gayle Wurst and Starlyn Jorgensen. Gayle, the niece of a 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment veteran who served under my father, has been our agent and gentle editor. She sent the letters manuscript to Fordham University Press, where the director, Bob Oppedisano , and his team recognized its value and used their many talents to turn the manuscript into this handsome volume. Starlyn is another daughter of the 82nd Airborne, whose father fought with the 456th Parachute Field Artillery Battalion. A most knowledgeable historian of the Division, she has transcribed the letters and expertly described the battles and the context of the war into which my Dad’s letters fit. Gerard M. Devlin, paratrooper veteran of the Korean and Vietnam wars, author and friend of my father, has contributed immeasurably with his introduction, as has Dr. Rufus Broadaway, who was my father’s junior aide-de-camp as they jumped into Holland and is now a physician of great renown. I also want to thank Colonel Edwin Sayre, General Richard Seitz, General James Johnson, General Ed Thomas, General James Lindsay, General Wayne Downing, Phil Nordyke, Ed Ruggero, and James Megellas for generously endorsing this book. Finally I would like to thank my husband, Clancy Fauntleroy, for his patience as I labored to find the right words to describe my memories and for his skill as our photographic producer. —Barbara Gavin Fauntleroy ...