Pat Smith Hopper tells her father's story through his letters home. They are a gift to the family he treasured and the men and women with the character to fight for liberty. Letters home were signed - Always, Ian. "Not a man cheered. But we were all joyous." From a fragment of a letter home, these few words described the feelings of a U.S. soldier at the breakout of the Allies into the last great Po Valley campaign of WWII in Italy. Ian Morrison Smith's letters home told little of the battles. They reflect the heart, loneliness and character of one soldier during this epic war of freedom. Ian's journey starts in Australia to upstate New York. He tells of his time in Italy and the Po River Valley Campaign, being stationed finally in desolated Hiroshima after the bomb. Mrs. Hopper weaves the historical facts into her father's story, bringing them to life for the reader. Maps, timelines, photos, clippings from the time and narrative all combine to produce a unique telling of the story of World War II.