{"product_id":"the-journey-an-american-soldier-in-wwi-9781535607452","title":"The Journey: An American Soldier in WWI","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe rain had stopped but the damp air was unseasonably cold. German artillery lobbed stray shells into the vicinity as the massive movement to the jump-off trenches began. Single file, tens of thousands of troops slogged the two miles through mud and foliage, groping their way through the darkness, rookies and veterans alike. At 6:00 a.m. sharp, the attack battalions would go over the top. The day before, Private First Class Dick Bakker, Company E, 308th Infantry, penciled a message to the folks at home, \"I am near the front now and I expect to go within a few days. That may not sound very good to you but I have no fears \u0026amp; am ready to meet death at any time but I expect to be back.\" Mother Grace would hold these words close in the years to come. The battle would become legend. The heartbreak was eternal.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDick Bakker was drafted in May, 1918, and rushed into action after two months training. Dick wrote thirty-two letters home that chronicled his tour of duty from the Minnesota farmlands to deadly combat in the Argonne Forest. The Journey: An American Soldier in World War I commemorates Dick's journey amidst the turmoil that gripped the country during that hurried summer of 1918. The story delivers a unique personal insight into one family's struggle to cope with the tragedy of war.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eDecker, D. Kent:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - D. Kent Decker is a retired aerospace engineer with sixteen technical publications and fourteen research and development awards that led to six patents. He is now applying his research skills to non-fiction writing. The Journey became a compelling research project when the family of Mr. Decker's wife, Kathleen, found a box of letters stored in an attic from her uncle Dick.","brand":"Darwin K Decker","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50352227975442,"sku":"9781535607452","price":12.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_8dd333ee-77cb-4e80-9cc4-382386420ff1.jpg?v=1728273838","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/the-journey-an-american-soldier-in-wwi-9781535607452","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}