Rona Simmons

“And this is their story. One of boys becoming men and waking to the prospects of life. One of flight. Of breaking ties to the earth and gliding over the hills of western North Carolina and over cities with unfamiliar names, like Schweinfurt and Regensburg, and through skies thick with flak. Of touching the clouds, the moon, and the stars. One of enduring friendship, duty, and honor.”
― Rona Simmons, A Gathering of Men

“At day’s end, when released from their chores, they fastened earmuffs under their chins, stole their mothers’ scarves to wind around their necks, and boarded wheeled vehicles they had fashioned from crates and boxes. Without engines or wings, the contraptions were earthbound, but, as they bumped their way downhill, the summer air breezed past the boys’ sky-angled faces, and if they dared close their eyes, they swore the crates took flight.”
― Rona Simmons, A Gathering of Men

“It is for their descendants, the descendants of all Americans, and for readers everywhere that the veterans tell their stories and pass on their memories and their spirit. So, here, they kiss their wives and sweethearts goodbye, turn to brush a tear from their cheek, and rush to the enlistment center, eager, fearless, and very naive.”
― Rona Simmons, The Other Veterans of World War II: Stories from Behind the Front Lines

“Like their counterparts who served on the front lines, however, they too rushed to enlist on hearing of the attack on Pearl Harbor. They served just as proudly and proved every bit as instrumental in winning the war, whether they served in Europe, in North Africa, in the Pacific, or at home.
They, too, have stories to tell.”
― Rona Simmons, The Other Veterans of World War II: Stories from Behind the Front Lines