God's Umbrella:

Southwest New Mexico World War II Survivors

In the words of these men and women who served in World War II or were otherwise impacted by the war, God's Umbrella recounts the tragic, humorous and other memorable parts of their service during wartime.

Humorous, you ask? Most of these veterans were in their late teens or early 20s when they volunteered or were drafted into service. They played pranks, which created levity in lives that they perhaps could not otherwise have tolerated.

Some of those interviewed teared up with memories or would not talk about the painful parts, but they shared their words with the local readers of the newspaper, where they were first published.

Who were these soldiers, sailors, airmen, and those preparing to serve their country? Most were men, but several women are included in this book, telling their wartime memories of service as nurses or, in one case, as a young girl growing up in Poland and helping raise her two younger siblings after the Germans took their parents away. Some of the men end up as POWs and related the horrors of their existence, usually through tears; some would not talk about their days as a POW.

They were all survivors. Some were natives of southwest New Mexico and returned home after the war. Other veterans moved to the region after the war but called it home at the time of the interviews, which were held in the early to late-2000s, with a few in 2018 when the book was in progress.

Now, readers from other parts of the country and world will have an opportunity to read what 81 survivors of World War II had to say about their experiences. The photos, from their service days and when interviewed, provide a small sliver of history from the four counties of the southwestern-most corner of New Mexico.

This book recognizes the sacrifices veterans and their families have made in service to country to preserve our freedoms. May we never forget their selfless actions.

Mary Murphy