Local Author Talk: A Sailor's Song: Lost Love Letters of World War II by Larry Schnell

A story of love, letters, music, and the sea in World War II.

A trove of forgotten war letters in an attic. The authors and recipients have died. Their words of separation and war live on, artifacts of World War II, documented in A Sailor’s Song: Lost Love Letters of World War II.

A Coast Guard sailor and his wife, both former music teachers, maintained a marriage through war letters, communicating in secret code. Arthur Schnell was a musician who loved the slush of big bands as he played patriotic tunes of war. His wife, Florence, emerged independent as she forged her own musical career. Their letters document the little-known role of music in war as Art shipped out on the U.S.S. General A.W. Greely. He performed in military and dance bands on deck most days as the troop transport made three trips through the Indian and Pacific oceans. Music of the Greely Grenadiers, as the ship’s band was named, eased the anxiety of young troops heading to the Pacific war. For returning troops injured by the horrors of warfare, music was the only anodyne the military offered.

A Sailor’s Song is a unique view of World War II, based on war letters and music of the war era, the narrative is richly documented with historical records from the National Archives I and II, Navy and Coast Guard archives, and a personal collection.

A presentation by author Larry Schnell about war memorabilia, research, and writing.

A Sailor's Song: Lost Love Letters of World War II by Larry Schnell will be available for sale and signing.