Working Mommy Journal

In They Called Him Marvin, A History of Love, War and Family, they were just kids, barely not teenagers, madly in love, desperate to be a family, but a war and a B29 got in their way.

About They Called Him Marvin, A History of Love, War and Family

They were just kids, barely not teenagers, madly in love, desperate to be a family, but a war and a B29 got in their way.

Three hundred ten days before Pearl Harbor, buck private Dean Sherman innocently went to church with a new friend in Salt Lake City. From that moment, the unsuspecting soldier travelled a remarkable, heroic path, falling in love, graduating from demanding training to become a B29 pilot, conceiving a son and entering the China, Burma and India theater of the WW2.

He chronicled his story with letters home to his bride Connie that he met on that fateful Sunday, blind to the fact that fifteen hundred seventy five days after their meeting, a Japanese swordsman would end his life.

His crew, a gaggle of Corporals that dubbed themselves the Corporalies, four officers and a tech Sargent, adventured their way across the globe. Flying the “Aluminum Trail” also called the Hump through the Himalayas, site of the most dangerous flying in the world. Landing in China to refuel and then fly on to to places like Manchuria, Rangoon or even the most southern parts of Japan to drop 500 pounders.

Each mission had it’s challenges, minus fifty degree weather in Mukden, or Japanese fighters firing away at them, a close encounter of the wrong kind, nearly missing a collision with another B29 while flying in clouds, seeing friends downed and lost because of “mechanicals,” the constant threat of running out of fuel and their greatest fear, engine fire.

Transferred to the Mariana Islands, he and his crew were shot down over Nagoya, Japan as part of Mission 174, captured and declared war criminals.
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Connie’s letters reveal life for a brand new mother whose husband is declared MIA. The agony for both of them, he in a Japanese prison, declared a war criminal, and she just not knowing why his letters stopped coming.

My Thoughts

They Called Him Marvin tells the story of a young couple, full of promise and love (with a little one on the way) and the horrors of war that kept them apart.

Like many young couples during this time period, their time together was short, full of passion and hope. You can feel how quickly the pair fall in love and how much they mean to each other. The story begins to be told in a series of letters as Dean heads off to war. We watch as their relationships grows together and how each of them grows as a person while the war separates them. Dean was always there for Connie, I loved his thoughtful letters and gifts sent in the mail to her as he travelled to new places and the way he was able to bring to life the places he was stationed at. You can feel him wanting to be there with her but at the same time wanting her not to worry about him, to be reassured he was okay and that he would soon be home. Connie’s letters were full of all the information that Dean needed to know about their growing child and to make him feel his connection to his home. These personal glimpses into their lives give such a different look at what life was like for individuals at this time. I felt myself get excited to read the next one – would it be from Connie or Dean? Would it be in order or not? And you can feel the anxiety begin to rise as Dean’s letters stop arriving.

While I knew some of the events that occurred during World War II in Japan, this book really helped to expand my knowledge. You not only see the story told through an American viewpoint but also from the Japanese civilians and how the war affected their people – especially the bombings. You feel the suffering and pain of both sides and it is hard to put into words how painful this is.

I loved how the story took not only a historical approach but also told the story from the human viewpoint and the devastating affects it has on them as people. I would strongly recommend this book to readers of all ages for the important lessons it holds.

You can purchase a copy of this book on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Indiebound.

Rating: 5/5

About the Author

I am, by my own admission, a reluctant writer. But there are stories that demand to to be told. When we hear them, we must pick up our pen, lest we forget and the stories be lost. Six years ago, in a quiet conversation with my friend Marvin, I learned the tragic story of his father, a WW2 B-29 Airplane Commander, shot down over Nagoya, Japan just months before the end of the war. The telling of the story that evening by this half orphan was so moving and full of emotion, it compelled me to ask if I could write the story. The result being They Called Him Marvin.

My life has been profoundly touched in so many ways by being part of documenting this sacred story. I pray that we never forget, as a people, the depth of sacrifice that was made by ordinary people like Marvin and his father and mother on our behalf.

The Giveaway!

Enter to win a signed copy of the book here.

Disclosure: I received a digital copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.