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His World War II Letters Home
National Geographic Society
May 2013
On Sale: May 7, 2013
352 pages ISBN: 1426210191 EAN: 9781426210198 Kindle: B008EDMX5A Hardcover / e-Book
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Non-Fiction Memoir
A giant in American journalism in the vanguard of "The
Greatest Generation" reveals his World War II experiences in
this National Geographic book. Walter Cronkite, an obscure
23-year-old United Press wire service reporter, married
Betsy Maxwell on March 30, 1940, following a four-year
courtship. She proved to be the love of his life, and their
marriage lasted happily until her death in 2005. But before
Walter and Betsy Cronkite celebrated their second
anniversary, he became a credentialed war correspondent,
preparing to leave her behind to go overseas. The couple
spent months apart in the summer and fall of 1942, as
Cronkite sailed on convoys to England and North Africa
across the submarine-infested waters of the North Atlantic.
After a brief December leave in New York City spent with his
young wife, Cronkite left again on assignment for England.
This time, the two would not be reunited until the end of
the war in Europe. Cronkite would console himself during
their absence by writing her long, detailed letters --
sometimes five in a week -- describing his experiences as a
war correspondent, his observations of life in wartime
Europe, and his longing for her. Betsy Cronkite carefully saved the letters, copying many to
circulate among family and friends. More than a hundred of
Cronkite's letters from 1943-45 (plus a few earlier letters)
survive. They reveal surprising and little known facts about
this storied public figure in the vanguard of "The Greatest
Generation" and a giant in American journalism, and about
his World War II experiences. They chronicle both a great
love story and a great war story, as told by the reporter
who would go on to become anchorman for the CBS Evening
News, with a reputation as "the most trusted man in America." Illustrated with heartwarming photos of Walter and Betsy
Cronkite during the war from the family collection, the book
is edited by Cronkite's grandson, CBS associate producer
Walter Cronkite IV, and esteemed historian Maurice Isserman,
the Publius Virgilius Rogers Professor of History at
Hamilton College.
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