Mildred O’Connell, captain in the Army Nurse Corps, in the mid 1940s. (Photo courtesy of Ken Molnar)

On Aug. 9, 1945, at 3:47 a.m., Bock’s Car lifted off from the largest airfield in the world. On board the B-29 Superfortress was a one-of-a-kind, refrigerator-sized, 10,000 pound cylinder. Contained within its armored steel, ballistic casing was America’s ultimate fury.

Seven and one-quarter hours after takeoff from Tinian Island, 30,000 feet above Nagasaki, “Fat Man” was released from the fore on bomb bay. With a force of 22 kilotons of TNT, at 11:02 a.m. it exploded 1,650 feet above the steep slopes of the city.

Five days later, Emperor Hirohito informed his Japanese subjects that the war was over. As cheers went up around the world, Captain Mildred O’Connell, Army Nurse Corps, took pen in hand and expressed her elation to a man she had not seen, or talked to, in nearly two and one-half years.

August 15, 1945, Mantova, Italy

Martin Dear!

So- this is V.J. Day! The war is over – it’s really over! This is the day we’ve been waiting for Martin! This is it! We’ve always had to say – you and I – we’ve always had to plan – first by saying – “after the war.” We’ve waited so long Martin, we’ve been separated so very long – but honey – this is it! The war – the time – the separation – nothing has succeeded in parting us! Now we can have our chance for happiness – Gosh it’s almost 4 ½ years since we’ve met, fallen in love & all the while we’ve had to wait – and say – and hope – for “after the war” – I went to church last night to thank God for keeping you safe for me, for not having spoiled our life, our dreams & our hopes – as so many people have had theirs spoiled – perhaps, just because they didn’t trust – and have faith!

All the months – these years – haven’t changed me Martin Dear. I loved you long ago – my love has changed only in that it’s now deeper and more understanding than it was four years ago. I’ve loved you every minute my dearest, I’ve never had any doubts of my love for you – it was just something that’s been there all this time – sturdy and true & it’s carried me through everything. God knows Martin dear, that I’ve never been untrue to you in thought, word and deed. I couldn’t be, because I knew you were mine – I’d be your wife and the mother of your children someday!

I hope that day is soon my dearest … Soon I’ll be home my darling – I’ll be with you for always –

All my love in my heart to my future husband. Your Milly

Mildred O’Connell (Molnar) first set eyes on her man at Michigan’s Fort Custer the day she was sworn into the army – exactly nine months before Pearl Harbor. They soon began dating, and before long, the tendrils of love became deeply intertwined. They wanted to stay together; be together. But a year after they met, they were split apart. New assignments. Hundreds of miles apart. Thus began the letters – the letters of love and longing; and hopes that they would soon be together again.

During the first year of separation they were able to spend time together on a fleeting handful of occasions. Just enough to refuel the flames of passion. But then, secret, sealed orders suddenly whisked the twenty-six year old nurse away to battle. Some 5,000 miles across the Atlantic to the scorching sands of the northern Sahara Desert. Smoke was still rising from the blackened shells of Allied and Axis tanks alike – in the wake of Montgomery and Patton’s seven month assault against the Italians, and the formidable German Panzer Corps of the notorious “desert Fox.”

In early June of 1943, while her fledgling pilot was being pinned with gleaming new silver wings in Texas, she penned her first letter from a remote hillside in Algeria. A desolate field camp for newly arrived nurses. Craggy, windswept

“dysentery hill” was overrun with goats; food was scarce; and softball-sized rocks were unforgiving lumps in her earthen mattress.

During the ensuing six-month stint in North Africa, while broiling inside 130-degree heavy canvas triage centers and makeshift field hospitals – she treated countless casualties pouring in from brutal battles raging 400 miles to the Northeast, in Italy. While sawing off the tattered remains of arms and legs; stitching gaping wounds; and shooting fountains of morphine to stifle screams of agony – she silently wept, prayed, and gently held the hands of dying men as they gasped their last ragged breaths.

* * *

Meanwhile, after graduating from flight school in early June of 1943, her Martin (Molnar) eagerly consumed every censored word she sent from Africa; responding to every letter – tit for tat. Then, after four months of advanced flight training, with fresh orders tucked inside his breast pocket, and flight plans neatly mapped out on the navigator’s tiny console, with a rush of adrenaline he and his crew roared down the runway at Florida’s Morrison Field and lifted off in their spanking new C-47. Over the next 12 days, they flew a crisp, 12-leg, 12,000 mile route halfway around the planet. Their ultimate destination was the deadly skies of the CBI – the enigmatic China-Burma-India theater. There, Merrill’s Marauders were gearing up for their epic 700-mile march through the steamy, primitive, and bloody jungles of northern Burma – tasked with routing the deeply entrenched Japanese.*

Shortly after he touched down in Asia, she sailed across the Mediterranean to Naples. As Mt. Vesuvius spewed fiery plumes of magma, she promptly found herself on the receiving end of soldiers being slaughtered just a few miles north and west. Casualties of the interminable bloodbaths playing out at Anzio and Cassino.

* * *

While separated during the final three and one-half years of the war, they scribbled a few hundred pages in journals and diaries, and sent scores of notes to family and friends.

Between themselves, however, they exchanged over 4,000 pages of letters. Letters to bridge the gap; to fan the embers; to keep hope, and love alive – while fighting to survive the merciless misery of war.

Their letters were passionate with poetry and prose; determination and despair; faith and fear. Scribbled in bouts of longing, loneliness, and the chaotic fury of battle, their emotions flowed from the blood stained snows of Italy; the sizzling sands of Africa; the sweltering swamps of Burma, and the sub-zero skies high up in the Himalayas.

Through joy and sorrow they faithfully streamed their passions back and forth around the curve of the earth, penning their thoughts through fits of laughter and veils of tears – tears of joy; tears of sadness; tears of life; and tears of death.

But through every minute of their trials and tribulations, they held onto unwavering commitments . . . to each other; to their faith; to their country; and to the preservation of freedom.

* After 16 months in the CBI theater, where he flew an astonishing 250 unarmed, unescorted combat missions in C-47 cargo & troop carriers, Martin Molnar (a Detroit native) returned stateside as one of the more highly decorated pilots of WWII – humbly laden with 6 Air Medals and 4 Distinguished Flying Crosses.

Somehow, their hearts remained filled with hope. Steeled with a steadfast determination to win the war. Individually, and as one, the engaged couple was driven by a burning desire to reunite back on American soil and spend the rest of their lives together – hopefully in peace; quiet; and relative bliss.

* * *

When the thunder of bombs and big guns finally died away, and peace settled in around the globe, the cards and letters and journals were packed away – relegated to silent darkness; ignored and forgotten. After six decades of obscurity, however, the legacy of a brave young nurse and her bold young pilot slowly came back into the light of day. As bits and pieces of their amazing saga were painstakingly stitched together, they revealed the amazing story of two resilient young soldiers – and their remarkable five-year journey through the trials and tribulations of love – and war. Theirs was an odyssey that ultimately came full circle… Reveille to Taps.

The preceding is an excerpt from the soon to be released non-fiction book, “Revelations.” According to the author, Ken Molnar, son of the pilot and nurse – Revelations is the first volume in a ten-edition Love and War Anthology Series slated for sequential publication and release over the next five to seven years.

Revelations will be released to the general public in early November – in conjunction with Veteran’s Day; with nationwide sales in many “brick & mortar” retail outlets; as well as Amazon. Advance, limited-edition, and autographed Preview Press paperbacks and hard cover copies, however, are slated for release in early to mid-October. A number of Social Media sites promoting Revelations and the Love and War Anthology Series are slated for publication in September. Meanwhile, parties interested in early orders and/or more information can contact Molnar at loveandwarseries.com@gmail; or by “snail mail” at 2141 Plett Rd., #155; Cadillac, MI 49601.