May 2023: Keeping the Lights on for Ike was announced as the Hoffer Book Award Legacy Fiction Winner for 2023 as well as a finalist for their Da Vinci award for outstanding cover art.
Most people don’t realize that during the war in Europe in the 1940s, it took an average of six support soldiers to make the work of four combat soldiers possible. Most of what’s available in the literature tends toward combat narratives, and yet the support soldiers had complex and unique experiences as well. This book is based on personal correspondence, and it is primarily a memoir that creates a picture of the day-to-day realities of an individual soldier told in his own words [as much as he could tell under the wartime rules of censorship, that is] as well as giving insight into what it was actually like to be an American soldier during WWII. It explores the experiences of a non-combat Army utilities engineer working in a combat zone during the war in Europe and takes the protagonist from basic training through various overseas assignments—in this case to England, North Africa, and Italy as a support soldier under Eisenhower and his successors at Allied Force Headquarters. It also includes some reflections about his life after returning to Oregon when the war was over.
Sunbury Press, © 2019
Reviews
“The solidity of their love and trust in each other is what sustained both of them.”
5 Stars on Amazon: “This is an extraordinary biography that I actually read twice.” All Amazon reviews here.
5 Stars on Goodreads: “It’s one of the best books I’ve read this year.” All Goodreads reviews here.
Greenfield Recorder: “The focus on everyday life and on the relationship between Alec and Mary ends up being one of the book’s greatest assets.” Full Greenfield Recorder review here.
The Montague Reporter: “The book moves swiftly along, while at the same time capturing the frustration of their prolonged separation. The historical timeline provides just the right bit of historical context to these war years behind at the tail of the army. This is not the typical WWII combat book.”
Sunbury Press Reader Review: “This book made me feel almost like I was right there with Alec and Mary as they experienced that time of their lives. My parents, being the same age, also had a similar experience and I thought of them as I read every word.The author cleverly brought to life their story and for that I shall be forever grateful.” (5 stars)
Gallery
“I look at your picture quite often and see a person whom I can’t help but admire and love.”
Alec and Mary’s wedding photo, March 1940. 
Close-up of Alec in his day-to-day uniform. 
Alec mentioned that this image was one of his favorites because it captured something special about Mary that he had no words for. 
This is undoubtedly the photo that his French friends reacted to with their comment, “Still water runs deep.” 
Alec in his jeep in Algiers. 
Since Pete was an important part of their life together, this picture of Mary with Pete would also be among Alec’s most treasured ones. 
In Italy, Alec tries to retain his optimism about the progress of the war, but it’s not easy. 
Mary at their mailbox in their first house in Bremerton. On the back of the photo she wrote, “I painted the name on the box.” 
Alec’s first residence had a magnificent view of the Mediterranean. The boy with him might be the Melquiot boy or simply a street Arab, interested in what this GI might be up to. 
Alec was happy to receive this photo from his “luscious wif,” taken at her parents’ farm in rural Clackamas County, Oregon. 
The exterior of a self-censored V-mail letter. 
Mary’s 27th birthday was on November 18, 1942, and this cable with his birthday greetings was likely sent just before he left England on a boat for North Africa. 
Alec was promoted to Captain in August of 1945. 
Alec was awarded the bronze star for his work at AFHQ in September 1945. 
A view of the Vesuvius eruption from the hills near Naples, perhaps from a rooftop or balcony. 
Alec sent this postcard to Mary from the top of Jungfraujoch. 
Mary’s last letter to Alec in Italy was returned to her because he was already cleared to start the long journey home. 
Alec’s military ID card was punched “inactive” when he was relieved of duty, and Mary added the card to her wartime scrapbook. 
Though they never traveled the world as they had hoped during the war, Mom and Dad traveled to Mexico often in the years after the war. 
Dad bringing home the new baby (me), with a view of Oswego Lake in the background. 
Dad never talked much about the war, but he did let me put on his uniform jacket for this photo with my brother, Toby, likely taken in the late 1950s.
Rebecca Daniels 