Blogs → Today at Mary's Farm →
What There Was Not to Tell
My Own War Story
by Edie Clark
About ten years ago, I began the process of writing "What There Was Not to Tell," a book based on letters my parents exchanged during World War II. There were more than 2,000 letters and it took me a whole year just to read and organize the letters. These were not the usual letters of war, exchanges of love and longing, though there was some of that. Instead, these were about a man named Tom, who my mother had decided to marry instead of my father. My mother and father had known each other since childhood and it had always been my father's intention to marry my mother. My mother, however, liked to play the field. One summer while on vacation with her parents in the Adirondacks, my mother met a man named Tom. Tom fell for my mother rather hard and then came war. He asked my mother to marry him but she could not make up her mind between him and my father. Tom was the swashbuckler; my father was quiet and steady.
Both my father and Tom joined the Air Corps, which is the early name of the Air Force. Tom trained to be a pilot and my father, an engineer, helped plan and build the air fields. My father was sent first, to North Africa, where he slept in a tent beside the air field and wrote sad letters home to my mother. Tom remained stateside, taking little training planes up into the air and landing them, then writing about his experiences to my mother. One day in 1941, Tom called my mother to tell her he was being sent into the South Pacific. She was not home and so he left a message, saying he was leaving. On the way over, he wrote to her: "How can I do any good in this war if I can't be sure of your love?" She wrote back, telling him she would marry him and mailed it off. Tom was shot down and killed before the letter could reach him. It, and other letters she had written to him at that time, was returned to my mother, stamped "deceased." My mother's heart was completely broken and for months she withdrew from life, writing to my father only to tell him of Tom's death then ceasing to write at all. He wrote and wrote, hoping to encourage her to write back. In her silence, my mother came to the decision to join the American Red Cross, in hopes of being sent to New Guinea, where Tom's plane had gone down. She hoped perhaps to visit his grave, or to find him. She felt there had been a mistake, maybe he wasn't dead, just missing, or maybe even his serial number had been confused with someone else's. She simply couldn't accept the news of his death.
My mother ended up joining the Marines, among the first women to serve. She was sent to Miramar in San Diego where she worked a desk job, processing soldiers coming in and out of the South Pacific. Daily she greeted soldiers returning, missing a leg or an arm, blind or with head injuries, the typical and tragic result of a bloody war. After six months she wrote home to her parents, "You needn't worry anymore. I no longer want to go over. I've seen enough from here."
My parents died within two months of each other after nearly 50 years of marriage. When my sister and I opened our mother's wallet, we discovered a photo of a young man we did not recognize. At the funeral, we asked a few relatives who identified him as Tom. She never forgot him and she hoped we never would either. His parents became our third set of grandparents, Grandma and Grandpa Platt, we called them. Tom had been their only son and they died in the 1950s, clearly, even to me at that very young age, broken-hearted.
Reader Comments
Comment from K Lech on September 28, 2009
Oh, Edie! I'd give my eye teeth to read your book!! The little bit you menitoned here was just bait to read the entire story. I get so sick of publishing houses wanting to get the "big one." It makes me wonder how many wonderful stories we haven't been able to read due to the greed these companies have.
Comment from Alice Wagner on September 30, 2009
My heart jumped when I saw the title of your blog, "What There Was Not To Tell," because ... I had just checked your website (www.edieclark.com) within the past few days to see if by any chance your book is being published. I was hoping your blog was going to announce that. There are so many things to be weary of these days, and what you just described to us about the publishers, gets on the Weary-Of List. Hopefully something changes and we'll be seeing that announcement from you soon. Your fans need an Edie-Fix more than ever since Yankee comes only every other month. Mrs. Alice Wagner in Wisconsin
Comment from Mel Allen on September 30, 2009
I've been Edie's editor for many years, and I have been lucky enough to read a draft of this book. I hope and trust someone will realize that Edie's legions of readers alone would lead to a word of mouth swell that would translate into a successful book by any standards. Her readers are the most loyal I know.
Comment from Jennifer Willford on September 30, 2009
Edie, I also was looking forward to hearing the news of the publication of this book, which appears to be a blending of a slice of history along with a particular romance. "The Place He Made" has long stuck with me as a wonderful, but complex, story of love between two people as well as reconciliation of past hurts. I read a lot of books, enjoy some, but few continue to mull around in my mind as often as this one did. My best wishes to you for a successful end to your publication journey of this next book.
Comment from annie Gloss on October 1, 2009
oh, edie. my heart skipped a beat as i read thinking i was about to hear there was a publisher at hand. i have waited far too many years to read this book! this publishing revolution is very scary. i remember when norton published books that were important reading to a smaller number of readers. no longer true. so many kinds of books which i have always loved, the memoirs, journals, poetry books, etc., are being shunned. it is very disconcerting to the writers and the readers. i continue to hope that good news is just around the corner. your editor is right...your readers would be grabbing it off the shelves. such a nice comment from him, by the way.
thank you for posting this and for sharing more about this remarkable story with us. it is such a rich and compelling story. i am convinced you will meet with success and am glad you continue to pursue this. best wishes always.
Comment from Heather Atwell on October 2, 2009
As I read this post, I too was greatly anticipating to learn when the book would be published. I hope that day comes soon.
Comment from Tinky Weisblat on October 2, 2009
I know it will happen for your book, Edie. Believe me, I know how discouraging it is. I keep hoping that publishers (and TV producers and all those information and story powerbrokers) will figure out that their model doesn't work. In the meantime, thanks for sharing your thoughts here and in Yankee.......
Comment from Sandy Earle on October 5, 2009
Edie, I've been a fan of yours for so many years. I'm always eager to open Yankee to see what you've written. I used to cut out your article each month and save them in a notebook so I was happy to see them in your book, "The View from Mary's Farm". I loved reading, "The Place He Made" and am looking forward to reading your new book. Please don't give up - your loyal fans are waiting!
Comment from Angela Bird on October 14, 2009
Forge on, Mary. Good things come to those who wait! I, too, am anxiously waiting. The excerpt here has me wanting to read more.
Comment from Angela Bird on October 14, 2009
oops - I meant "Edie"! Since I've been reading Mary's Farm all this time, I slipped up!
Registered users can add comments.
Registration is free, and just takes a moment.
Login or Register.