HomeMy WebLinkAboutSix Years after D-Day
University of North Texas Press
P. o. Box 13856 - Denton, TX 76203 · 817/565-2142 -FAX 565.4590 -
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Contact: Frances B. Vick
Six Years After D-Day..
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Marie Bennett AIsmeyer 33
Introduction by Linda Grant De Pauw
In 1950, a young couple (both World War II
veterans-a WAVE and an airman-and both
with GI Bill journalism degrees from the
University of Texas) quit their jobs on a South
Texas weekly newspaper and embarked upon a
1,200-mile bicycle tour through Europe.
"Such a trip made no sense at all in 1950,"
writes Alsmeyer, "but it was a gloriously crazy,
senseless thing to do." Based on notes, diaries,
and letters, the book is more than a mere
travelogue, It chronicles the people and places of
post-war western Europe--including the citizens
of Vimoutiers, France, a town accidentally
bombed by Americans.
Linda De Pauw writes in the introduction:
"Memoirs must be produced before they can be
preserved, The World War II generation will not
be with us much longer, By giving us [this] book,
Alsmeyer provides inspiration and sets a
splendid example for all older women, not just
veterans this time, but every woman who has
lived long enough to have a sense of her own
history. . . . We can hope that many, many women
who enjoy reading this book will corne to the last
page and then dig out their own boxes of
memorabilia, recall the adventures of their lives
and tell their stories, and that younger readers
will seek out their older relatives and ask them to
remember what life was like for them fifty years
ago."
Bicycle enthusiasts, war historians,
sociologists, women's studies scholars, and
readers of travel narratives will all find
something of interest in this charmingly written
narrative.
MARIE BENNETT ALSMEYER served as a
pharmacist's mate in the Navy WAVES during
WWII, Her previous books are The Way of the
WAVES and Old WAVES Tales. LINDA GRANT DE
P AUW, professor of history at The George
Washington University, is editor and publisher of
MINERVA, Quarterly Report on Women and the
Military.
~
8y Marie Bennett Alsmeyer
Photl) by fI,m!. A/m;<:w~
ISBN 0-929398-82-3 paper $14.95
6x9, 176 pp. 20 photos, Map, Index
Distributed by University Consortium, Drawer C,
College Station, TX 77843.1-800..826-8911