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The First Christmas After the War
The First Christmas After the War
The First Christmas After the War
Ebook324 pages5 hours

The First Christmas After the War

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

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The sequel to THE FIRST CHRISTMAS OF THE WAR and THANKSGIVING, 1942 is here.

Christmas season, 1945.

The terrible years of war are finally over and millions of American solders, sailors, and airmen will be reunited with their families just in time for this glorious holiday season. Among them are the grown children of Gerald and Irene Coleman.

Major Jonathan Coleman is on his way home after surviving many hazardous bombing missions over Europe and later in the Pacific. Anxiously awaiting Jonathan are not only his parents but also his fiancé Francine Donner, with Jonathan’s and Francine’s wedding planned for only days after Christmas.

Captain Joseph Coleman wasn’t as fortunate as his brother, having been shot down in late 1943 and then spending the rest of the war in German prisoner-of-war camps. But with the war now over, Joseph is also on his way home...accompanied by constant nightmares.

Private Thomas Coleman enlisted in the Marine Corps following his high school graduation in the spring of 1945, but the war ended before he could be sent to the Pacific. Home for Christmas furlough, Thomas wonders what next awaits him.

Charlene Coleman – better known to movie-goers as Carla Colburn, one of Hollywood’s newest wartime starlets – is also on her way home, preparing for yet another round of verbal sparring with her mother over Charlene’s burgeoning movie career. But Charlene has her own concerns about her movie prospects now that the war is over.

Join the Coleman family as the years of non-stop worrying and being apart from one another finally come to an end, and each one prepares for what lies ahead following:

The First Christmas After the War

LanguageEnglish
PublisherAlan Simon
Release dateJul 23, 2015
ISBN9780985754761
The First Christmas After the War
Author

Alan Simon

Alan Simon is a Senior Lecturer in the Information Systems Department at Arizona State University's WP Carey School of Business. He is also the Managing Principal of Thinking Helmet, Inc., a boutique consultancy specializing in enterprise business intelligence and data management architecture. Alan has authored or co-authored 29 technology and business books dating back to 1985. He has previously led national or global BI and data warehousing practices at several consultancies, and has provided enterprise data management architecture and roadmap services to more than 40 clients dating back to the early 1990s. From 1987-1992 Alan was a software developer and product manager with Digital Equipment Corporation's Database Systems Group, and earlier he was a United States Air Force Computer Systems Officer stationed at Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado. Alan received his Bachelor's Degree from Arizona State University and his Master's Degree from the University of Arizona, and is a native of Pittsburgh.

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Rating: 3.25 out of 5 stars
3.5/5

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  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This is the story of a working class Polish-American family right after Pearl Harbor in 1941. The Coleman family is still getting over the shock of the attack on our naval base in Hawaii and also anticipating with some trepidation the enlistment and/or drafting of their two eldest sons into the armed forces. They are also trying to cope with their teenage daughter & her dreams of wartime romance. Both parents are hard working and have few expectations out of the ordinary. Mrs. Coleman, once had dreams of adventure for herself, but now seems to just want a safe and secure future for her children. Mr. Coleman, is more realistic and capable of delivering sound advice. Their children, while they have rebellious thoughts at times, are models of rectitude compared to kids today.Nothing much happens in the two-week time the novel covers, but I felt myself drawn into this family & caring about what happened to them
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    he First Christmas of the War is the 1st book in a planned 4 part series based on the live of the Coleman family. This first book is set in the week before Christmas 1941, just shortly after the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the entry of the United States into World War II. It is a simple story of what I imagine was a typical family at a crucial part of US history. Gerald and Irene Coleman are the parents of 5 children and live in Pittsburgh. Gerald is a shoemaker and Irene is a homemaker. The five children are all going through emotions related to the war and the family situation. The two oldest boys will be leaving soon to go to war, the sixteen year old daughter is secretly engaged, and the youngest two are still finding their way and have issues of their own. This novel was a nice novel that was able to make me feel like i was in a different time. I liked all of the members in the family and look forward to reading the sequels. If you are interested in reading what life was like at the start of World War II and enjoy a good simple, moving story you should enjoy this book.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    The characters in this book are very one demensional. They seem to emote no feelings and were impossible to get to know. The pages had more demension than this book. The story has no transition as it moves along. One moment the characters are sitting at breakfast on Saturday morning and the next it is Sunday morning and the are in church. With no transition they are suddenly sitting at a relative's home, eating dinner. It could have been a great book, instead it was very dull.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Quick read. I found it very interesting. I liked the drama of the book.

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The First Christmas After the War - Alan Simon

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