My Father William John Koch saw his first military action in the initial landing on Okinawa on April 1st 1945. It was both April Fools’ Day and Easter, 74 years ago. Little did anyone know that he had only 77 days to live.

My mother, Betty, saved his many letters home to his mother, his father, and to her. The letters are intimate, often misspelled and ungrammatical, occasionally angry or funny or scared.

My Father, Myself is based on these letters. It tells the story of the common man, a father worried about his babies and young wife. Bill was a soldier in the lower ranks whose life was grist for the war machine. The letters are supported with news clippings, magazine articles, and other sources of fact from the times. Kilroy drops by to add a bit of fancy.

I met my father in these letters; I hope you are as intrigued by his journey as I have been. I believe he knows how his little family grew and eventually prospered through some trying times to be the family who would earn his pride.

My Father, Myself is an 8x10 portable museum–a picture book to thumb through as much as it is a written history. Start where you wish, with subjects that interest you most. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed assembling it.