Synopsis
In the early 1940s, the graduated brothers of the Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity at the University of Pennsylvania found themselves separated and dispatched across the globe to fight in World War II. One young graduate, Henry Pope, was kept home, ineligible for service. So he set out to keep the group united by collecting letters from the 73 dispersed alumni, circulating them among the brotherhood through a mimeographed newsletter. Now these letters have been compiled in Brothers in War: 1943–1945. The compilation outlines the life of war for these brave men. Some played baseball in the Central Pacific. Others ran Italian railroads. One survived 35 combat missions over Germany. Another became a father, and also a casualty in Okinawa. Some lived to tell their stories; the rest will continue to live on in the compilation of these letters. Letters between soldiers and parents or loved ones have commonly been collected or published. But original WWII letters between friends are rare. This book is unique because it is NOT a collection of memories over 60 years old, which may be tempered by time and subsequent life experience. This powerful narrative takes the reader back to 1943–1945, to the point in time when these letters were written. The historical significance of Brothers in War is its frank depiction of the feelings of these men during wartime.
About the Author
HENRY A. POPE grew up in the Red Bank area of New Jersey, graduated from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School in 1943 and is a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity. Due to an operation that removed one of his kidneys, Mr. Pope was unable to serve in World War II. His service to his country is represented by this book. After working for National Credit Office, a subsidiary of Dun & Bradstreet, as a financial analyst for over a decade after graduation, he continued his career in finance with General Electric for twenty five years before retiring in 1981. Mr. Pope currently lives in Little Silver, NJ. He has been married to wife Elaine for over fifty years and has two children and six grandchildren. BRETT R. DANKO is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and is a member of the Pennsylvania Delta Chapter of Sigma Phi Epsilon at the University of Pennsylvania. He currently serves as the Alumni board President of the SigEp chapter at Penn. Mr. Danko is a fee only Certified Financial Planner™ serving a small group of clients, lecturing college students on personal finance and offering educational courses to individuals studying to become Certified Financial Planners.™ J. STUART FREEMAN, JR. began as an editor at the Herald Tribune in Paris in 1959, and spent over 40 years as a medical editor on Washington Square in Philadelphia. That background, plus a college major in history and his recollection of WWII newsreels, made the task of editing over 1500 pages of letters and V-mails not only a pleasure but a task of historic importance. These excerpts may be read for years to come, and are a window into the real time of real men in a very real war.
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