Beyond the Shadow of War (45 page)

In Memory of Joan Van Spyker

As I began my research for this book, I remembered a dear friend in Florida who had come to America as a war bride. Over the past few months, I enjoyed many long hours on the phone with Joan, loving every moment as she reminisced in her beautiful English accent. Much of Joan’s story wove its way into the characters of my war brides in my book.

Joan was just thirteen years old when the war started in the skies over England in 1940. She told of walking along a road one day and seeing a bomber drop out of the clouds and coming toward her. She ducked into some nearby hedges and watched as a Messerschmitt strafed the middle of the road she’d been walking. She remembered wearing those tin pith helmets and hearing the shrapnel “ping” against it. Can you imagine.

In 1944, she was working in the offices of a Spitfire factory. After work, U.S. Army troop trucks would stop by offering the girls a ride to dances with American soldiers. One night, Joan noticed a handsome guy playing saxophone in the band. When they took a break, she walked right up and introduced herself. His name was Joe Solerno, an Italian-American from Long Island, New York. Joe helped arrange music for the Glenn Miller Band. Joan and her very own GI Joe fell in love and married when she was just seventeen. With strict rationing still enforced, Joe’s army buddies stole ingredients to make them a wedding cake. Then, after a lengthy wait with thousands of other war brides, Joan and their baby daughter came to the United States on the
Queen Mary
in March of 1946. Just before dawn on the morning they pulled into New York Harbor, she joined the others on deck to see the Statue of Liberty, bathed in brilliant spotlights to welcome them. Almost 70 years later, she still remembered the tremendous wave of emotion of that unforgettable moment.

Joe survived the war, but was killed when a tree fell on him back in the States. She remarried a wonderful man named Howard Shedd, but not long after, she was widowed for the second time. A few years later she was introduced to a recent widower named Bernie Van Spyker. She thought he was “too loud and too coarse!” He thought she was “too old, too tall, and too uppity!” Regardless, they started seeing each other and one day, while on her lunch hour, he took her to the beach and surprised her by serving communion. She still didn’t realize he was courting her. They married on “1.1.81” and had 34 wonderful years together.

Last August (2015), Joan enjoyed a fabulous tea party given in honor of her 90th birthday. But her health was declining, and by November, she was more than ready to meet her Lord and Savior face to face. In those last days, our mutual friend Judy Gussler was able to tell her I’m dedicating my book to her. Judy snapped a picture of Joan giving me a “thumbs up” at the news. I only wish I’d finished the book in time for her to read it.

Joan passed quietly into the presence of God on November 23, 2015. And as she did, I have no doubt whatsoever that she heard Him say, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.”

Joan Van Spyker

Discussion Questions

1. What was the main theme of this book?

2. On the day of her wedding, Anya woke from a vivid, recurring nightmare. How is this opening scene indicative of the struggles Anya faces as she begins her post-war life?

3. Why do you suppose English girls were so smitten with American soldiers? What other factors might have influenced the attraction? Would you have had the courage to marry a soldier from another country at such a young age and move to a distant land so different from your own?

4. Once he was back home, Danny had an awkward response from a neighbor who asserted her anti-war position. If you had been in Danny’s shoes, would you have said something or walked away? As a Christian, what would be the appropriate response? [*This actually happened to my father when he returned from the war. He was so angry, he walked away rather than say something he’d regret. He took great pleasure in reading Danny’s response!]

5. At school, Danny had several encounters with Beverly, his former college sweetheart. How should he have handled those encounters? What lessons did he learn?

6. In my research, I learned how often war-time marriages were destroyed by infidelity. Then, as now, some would say it’s just “human nature.” As Christians, we know it’s much more than that. Is there any way to end the epidemic of infidelity in a world that accepts it as the norm?

7. Unless you’re an avid baseball fan, you probably skimmed through those chapters surrounding the 1945 World Series. Still, most Americans know that Chicago Cubs fans are a loyal bunch. What is it about sports that captures the hearts of so many?

8. When Sophie was attacked behind the pub, Anya’s training as a Resistance fighter immediately kicked into action as she fought off the brute and almost killed him. But the realization of her ingrained reaction rocked her to the core. How does someone set aside those instincts after years of war?

9. When Danny returned from the war, he had several heart-to-heart talks with his father. For the first time, he began to understand his dad. How has the past shaped Frank’s life? How has he changed since the opening chapter in
Of Windmills & War?

10. Like Frank, Gigi Williams also came from an abusive home. Anya was shocked to learn how much her friend had suffered, but it helped her understand Gigi in a whole new way. Is it possible to help someone overcome the life-wounds like those of Danny’s father or Anya’s friend Gigi?

11. The war shattered Anya’s faith. But gradually, she began to connect the dots between her mother-in-law’s prayers and the many obstacles in her path that were inexplicably overcome. Has God used the prayers of a friend or family member to draw you to Him? Have your own prayers made an “inexplicable” difference in someone else’s life?

12. We’ve all known “unique” folks like Cosmos. They can be annoying at times, but harmless. Some are invasive, causing you to duck when you see them coming. Others are more troubling. How do you handle these “irregular” people? [*On a side note, Cosmos’s character was based on a peculiar fellow who came to Dad’s 390th Bomb Group reunions year after year. The first time I met him, I started taking notes.]

13. What part of the story did you like best?

14. What was the most insightful part of the story?

15. Was there a scene that brought tears to your eyes?

16. What was the funniest scene?

17. What did you learn that you didn’t know before?

Resources

Barrett, Duncan and Calvi, Nuala.
GI Brides: The Wartime Girls Who Crossed the Atlantic for Love.
New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2014.

Billington, Charles N.
Wrigley Field’s Last World Series: The Wartime Chicago Cubs and the Pennant of 1945.
Chicago, IL: Lake Claremont Press, 2005.

Childers, Thomas.
Soldier From the War Returning: The Greatest Generation’s Troubled Homecoming from World War II.
New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2009.

Kaplan, Phillip, and Smith, Rex Alan.
One Last Look: A Sentimental Journey to the Eighth Air Force Heavy Bomber Bases of World War II in England.
New York: Artabras Publishers, 1983.

The Story of the 390th Bombardment Group (H).
Paducah, KY: Turner Publishing Company, 1947.

Virden, Jenel.
Good-bye, Piccadilly: British War Brides in America.
Champaign, IL: University of Illinois Press, 1996.

Waller, Maureen.
London 1945: Life in the Debris of War.
New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2004.

World War II Stories: 390
th
Bombardment Group (H) of the Eighth Air Force.
Tucson, AZ: 390
th
Memorial Museum Foundation, Inc., 2008.

WWII: Time-Life Books History of the Second World War.
New York: Prentice Hall Press for Time-Life Books, Inc., 1989.

Online Resources

Aldeburgh Museum Online. Retrieved from:
http://www.aldeburghmuseumonline.co.uk/

American War Bride Experience: Foreign Born GI Brides of World War II. Retrieved from:
http://uswarbrides.com/

Bert Wilson, Announcer, Chicago Cubs 1944-1945. Retrieved from:

http://www.bertwilsonchicagocubs.com/

The Billy Goat Curse:
The World-Famous Billy Goat Tavern.
Retrieved from:
http://www.billygoattavern.com/legend/curse/

Buckingham Palace: History of London. Retrieved from the History Channel:

http://www.history.co.uk/study-topics/history-of-london/buckingham-palace

Information Britain: The History of Aldeburgh. Retrieved from:

http://www.information-britain.co.uk/history/town/Aldeburgh6/

Kershaw, Sarah. Band of Sisters, New York Times, 6 July, 2008. Retrieved from:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/06/nyregion/thecity/06brid.html?pagewanted=print&_r=0

London Can Take It. Documentary narrated by Quentin Reynolds, October, 1940. [Video file] Retrieved from:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLgfSDtHFt8

London to Tidworth 1946. [Video file] Retrieved from:

http://www.britishpathe.com/video/london-to-tidworth

Queen Mary War Brides, as told by June Allen, September 22, 2014. [Video file.] Retrieved from:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2m8QtCSlEi8

The Rainbow Corner Red Cross Club in London, 1945. Retrieved from:

http://www.303rdbga.com/pp-rainbowcorner.html

Saving an Icon: The St. Paul’s Watch and a Flawed Hero. Retrieved from Blitzwalkers:

http://blitzwalkers.blogspot.com/2011/03/saving-icon-st-pauls-watch-and-flawed.html

St. Paul’s Cathedral History Timeline. Retrieved from:

https://www.stpauls.co.uk/history-collections/history/cathedral-history-timeline

The 1945 World Series by Baseball Almanac. Retrieved from:

http://www.baseball-almanac.com/ws/yr1945ws.shtml

War and the Abbey, 1939-1945. Westminster Abbey. Retrieved from:

http://www.westminster-abbey.org/our-history/war-damage

Women and War: War Brides. Retrieved from PortCities Southampton:
http://www.plimsoll.org/SeaPeople/womenandthesea/womenandwar/warbrides.asp

WWII in Colour: The Battle of Britain and the Blitz Over London, April 16, 2010. [Video file]:

Retrieved from:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euRlmTHpSCI

WW2 People’s War: An Archive of World War Two. Stories contributed by the Ipswich Museum. Retrieved from:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/user/54/u901854.shtml

WW2: The Blitz Hits London. History of London. Retrieved from the History Channel:

http://www.history.co.uk/study-topics/history-of-london/ww2-the-blitz-hits-london