On this Veterans Day I’m thinking about my family members who served in the armed forces during WWII. My father left Pearl Harbor a month before the bombing and served on a ship in the Pacific. All three of my brothers served in the military: National Guard, Air Force, Navy.

My Uncle Bud (Robert Leroy Bush) was awarded a Purple Heart after being wounded

My Uncle Bud 

in the Battle of the Bulge and was captured by the enemy and held in a prison camp until American forces liberated the camp at the end of the war. My husband Harry’s father, stepfather, and two grandfathers served in the Marines during WWII. 

Currently I’m writing a new novel set during WWII and looking back to the First World War. Florence, the protagonist in my novel Sheltering Angel, reappears as the main character after losing her eighteen-year-old son Wells in the grueling battle at Belleau Wood, France in 1918. The novel titled Sheltering Angel at Belleau Wood, is under contract with Black Rose Writing for release in February 2026.

I was inspired to write the novel after reading letters from Florence’s oldest son Jack, sent home when he was a lieutenant serving in the U.S. Army in France. Years later, her son Thayer typed and bound the letters for the Cumings family. To give a flavor of the novel, below is an excerpt from one of Jack’s letters sent to his mother (whom he called Muz) on April 21, 1918.

When I arrived at the front, I found ten of our men had been sent to the trenches as runners, liaison agents between various posts. The next day I was sent with ten more runners and we found ourselves in the middle of an attack. Our truck was nearly hit by shells. The truck was too big a target, so we left it and walked the rest of the way. Twice we were under gas and had to put on our masks in a half-mile field where artillery fire was underway. That is where the fun started. As we sprinted across the field, shells burst all around us and we fell on our bellies every five yards to avoid shrapnel. It is quite an experience listening to the shriek of an approaching shell and not knowing where it is going. On the way back I stopped the truck at a broken down ambulance, transferred two wounded men to our truck and rushed them to a hospital. So you see, once in a while we get away from Headquarters, see a bit of the front and take our chances.

I am very well, surviving the end of a month of intense, cold rain and heavy clouds which finally let up a bit. Give my love to everyone, but most of all for you, dear Muz. Affectionately, Jack.

Lt. Jack Cumings, Florence Cumings Swain,, Thayer Cumings

Happy Veterans Day

and thank you to all who served.