SEEDS OF HOPE An Engineer's World War II Letters

While he served in the Army Corps of Engineers during World War II, William Sabel dutifully wrote home to his parents in Chicago every week. More than half a century later, five years' worth of correspondence is featured in Seeds of Hope: An Engineer's World War II Letters. Sabel was 25 years old, single, and living on a poultry farm in Marshall County, Indiana, when he was drafted into military service in April 1941. As an officer in the Army Corps of Engineers he traveled overseas in January 1943 and served in the South Pacific for three years. When he returned home in February 1946, Sabel discovered that his mother had saved all of his letters, totaling about 300, in a box. In the early 1990s, when he became interested in computers, Sabel decided to compile all of his letters chronologically, a process that took about 14 months. This book details his various experiences, ranging from his unit’s involvement in building hospitals and roads to interesting stories about crops such as watermelons and cucumbers for the hospital from seeds Sabel’s parents had sent from home. Seed’s of Hope: An Engineer’s World War II Letters is funny, provocative, enlightening, and just a plain good read providing a glimpse behind the scenes of the war in the Pacific.

William O. Sabel ran a poultry farm and worked as a carpenter until his retirement in 1984. He lives in West Lafayette, Indiana, where he continues to garden and indulges in his latest hobby, computers.