"From Midland to Mindanao" summary
When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor in December 1941, the citizens both men and women of the United States found their plans drastically altered. Many citizens responded by joining the armed forces, going to work to make munitions, or as in the case of fresh-faced high-school graduate and Texas A&M student and aspiring cartoonist, James W. Mims, being drafted into the Army. Appointed to the Reserve Officers program, Mims saw America as he traveled from base to base, learning to soldier, before crossing the Pacific to help liberate the Philippine Islands as an intelligence officer specializing in photo interpretation.
Mims s story, told through letters and cartoons sent home, details his prewar days at Texas A&M and then follows him through basic and other specialized training as he found himself far from home and facing an uncertain future. Then, from bases in New Guinea to Mindanao, Mims matured into manhood amid some of the most massive and violent tableaus of World War II."