Interesting reading for any World War II buff and it will bring back memories for all former infantryman, especially those of the 45th Division.

Chow time and Mail Call are the two most important events in the daily life of a soldier. This wartime saga of James E. Hildebrand is unique. From his induction at Ft. Dix, New Jersey, through his basic training at Camp Fannin, Texas, posting to Fort Meade, Maryland (including a bout with Scarlet Fever), to shipping overseas to Italy and finally being assigned to the 45th Infantry Division and seeing action in France--where he was wounded--and his return to Naples, Italy, he continually wrote home. All of this is documented in possibly the most complete collection of wartime letters (perhaps 800) from a soldier to his family. His father had served during World War I and the letters he wrote home had been saved. James spent many pleasant hours during his childhood sitting in the attic reading those letters which fueled his imagination. He asked his family to save these letters as possibly his children might find them interesting.

This high school graduate from an upper-middle class New Jersey family is suddenly thrown into an ethnic, economic and educational mix that is new, and often confusing. His family's anti-Roosevelt attitude is obvious in his political opinions. "This valuable set of World War II letters reveals the coming-of-age of a fresh faced, 18 year-old soldier as he lived through the crucial event of his generation: the boredom of basic training, the pride at becoming an Expert Rifleman, the pranks played on tyrannical sergeants, the excitement of travelling to wartime Italy, the revulsion of seeing his first dead German soldier, the agony of losing his friends, the complex reactions to receiving his 'million dollar wound,' the admiration of cartoonist Bill Mauldin, the contempt for singer Frank Sinatra, the battle with combat fatigue, the personal blow of receiving a 'Dear John' letter from his girl, the horror at confronting hungry children at Caserta, Italy, and the joy of turning twenty-one on the ship that carried him back home to his family in New Jersey. All are here in tight, lean prose." (Ferenc M. Szasz, Professor of History, University of New Mexico)