Above and Beyond: Radio Silence by William Wright, The Back Story
Death slaps your face, how hard depends on circumstances. AW.W. II veteran raised me, a quiet man with strong moral values and work ethicwho demanded excellence, not just of himself but of me. To put my upbringing ina Reader’s Digest format, let’s say my father did raise me up. Writing his warstory helped me understand the man’s hardened approach to life and why he cutvery few any slack.
Above and Beyond: radio silence unfolds from a youngman’s perspective. A boy loses his mother to consumption during the Depression.His hardened father shows little sympathy while struggling with his own demonsand burdened with raising five children. When the war comes, many of myfather’s generation had very little to lose, except their lives.
Our book is about the inner battle in a time of outrageousworld events and conflict. Written as a work of creative nonfiction, we pagedthrough flight records, war memorabilia, reflected on verbal anecdotes sharedby the veteran in his later years, and did vast amounts of research. Ourresearch focused on life near the bases where he served as well as the eventsof war. We immersed ourselves as best we could in the story. There wereemotional times during the writing, times of guilt and shame for not appreciatingmore fully the experiences endured by a boy as he develops into a man. A manwho struggled to turn me into a man while protecting me from the abuse heendured and never sharing his stories of deprivation. We must remember,cherish, and understand the Greatest Generation. What made these men and women?Why did they view the world so differently? Our book shares not just thethreats and violence of war, but the hearts of those living under thecircumstances.
Our mission in writing this story is to honor all veteranswho served in the history of our nation, whether in war or peace. We supportveterans’ organizations; we didn’t write this work to cash in on the sufferingand sacrifice of others. My editor/spouse is a 9-year veteran of the U.S.A.F.We give away copies and have donated our total proceeds to organizations suchas the Veterans Breakfast Club, where we took part in book signings. Above and Beyond: radio silence is now available at the library of the National World War II Museum in New Orleans. Colonel Mark C Vlahos (U.S.A.F.-Ret.) andauthor of Leading the Way to Victory gave the book advanced praise. Yoursupport will help veterans.
