Miss You: The World War II Letters of Barbara Wooddall Taylor and Charles E. Taylor

Barbara Wooddall, 18, and 21-year-old Charles Taylor, Southerners, met on a blind date in 1941, and because he was a private in the Army they had to conduct their courtship mostly by mail. Married in '42, they became parents the following year. Charles served in Europe as an infantry lieutenant, was twice wounded and earned a battlefield promotion. This selection of their wartime letters preserves both sides of a timeless battle-front/home-front story, chronicling the difficulties and stresses created by the war on both partners. Barbara's letters to the battle front survived because Charles scribbled most of his answers on the back of her letters. The Taylors, now retired and living in Florida, were ``ordinary'' people, like countless other couples separated by war. Their correspondence will touch the hearts of readers. Litoff teaches history at Bryant College in Rhode Island; Smith teaches history at the University of Maine. Illustrations. (May)