My Dearest Mother, You were probably worrying since I haven't written to you for quite some time and you probably guessed the reason why. I have been on the front lines for twenty-one days... R J Van Dress is just 16 when war breaks out in 1941. Now 90, R J's war memoir recalls the story of his time spent in a combat infantry machine gun squad in what is now known as one of the bloodiest battles of the Pacific and the last battle of WWII, the Battle for Okinawa. Using minimalist language R J Van Dress tells a gripping tale giving an honest, and at times, humorous account of his life as a soldier in the war in the Pacific. -Stephanie Pope, mythopoetry.com Author of "Like A Woman Falling: Selected Poems"