Dear Jane, Love, John

Book Purpose and Significance

The book is intended primarily to be family history for the next several generations of Minervas. It also contributes to the canon of personal diaries of the Korean War. It presents an aspect of war and army life that families back home would not have considered.

Life in the Army

Being in the armed service for his country, a young man had to rearrange his daily life in the framework of the circumstances the US Army presented. He was living with other men like himself, in close quarters, moving frequently.

There was also in this case a peta puppy dog for company. His room and meals, of various qualities, would be supplied, but he had to arrange for his laundry, housekeeping, and, mainly, recreational activities of some kind for those many hours when his services were not being required by the command that otherwise would be empty and subject to massive stretches of boredom.