Document Created: 24 August 2007
Air & Space Power Journal Fall 2007
And Nothing Is Said: Wartime Letters, August 5, 1943–April 21, 1945 by Michael N. Ingrisano Jr. Sunflower University Press, 2002, 540 pages, $22.95 (softcover).
The title of Michael Ingrisano’s book—And Nothing Is Said—is misleading. In fact, he had a lot to say to his fiancée, Bettejeane Louise Hill, while he served with the Army Air Corps in the European theater during World War II. Between 5 August 1943 and 21 April 1945, “Mike” sent “Bette” 343 letters that recounted his daily routine (minus operational details), expounded on a variety of topics from books to a wife’s place in the workforce, and voiced hopes for their future together. The book collects these letters, discovered after Bette’s passing in 1985. Unfortunately, the other half of the conversation is missing since Bette’s letters to Mike never made it back from the war.
The Ingrisanos’ story resembles accounts told by many other members of their generation. A native of Brooklyn, New York, Mike graduated from high school in 1942 and then took a job with Sears, Roebuck, and Company until September of that same year, when he left to enlist in the Army Air Forces. Bette grew up in Kansas and attended a year of college in Kansas City before leaving to go to work. The two met while Mike was attending advanced radio/mechanic training in Kansas City. By the time he finished, he knew that Bette would play an important role in his life. But after parting in Kansas City, except for a brief visit before Mike left for Europe, they wouldn’t see each other again for almost two years. For the next 21 months, he flew as a C-47 crew member with the 316th Troop Carrier Group stationed in Egypt, North Africa, Sicily, Italy, and England, receiving an honorable discharge exactly three years after the date of his enlistment—a proven combat veteran with nine Battle Stars.
A touching account, And Nothing Is Said succeeds on one level but disappoints on another. The book does well in providing some insight into one early Airman’s war experiences. Though mission details, by necessity, are limited, the reader can still gather from Ingrisano’s letters a sense of the operational tempo and emotional toll that the dangerous flights had on crews. To provide some context, he inserts entries from the squadron’s war diary between the letters (both the diary excerpts and the letters are largely unedited). Although these entries fill in some detail, their abbreviated descriptions of events still deny the reader a complete picture.
Readers looking for a riveting account of an Airman’s journey through World War II should look elsewhere. Despite the wealth of material contained in Ingrisano’s trove of letters, the book fails to tell a story. As a lover of biographies, this reader is committed to the belief that everyone has a story to tell. Ingrisano obviously does, and one finds hints of it in both the introduction and epilogue. In between, however, the letters are too disjointed and full of personal sentiments to render a captivating narrative thread.
The book’s setting contains all the elements of a great tale—interesting characters, compelling action, and deep emotion—but they lie buried within the dense and personal love letters. The many nuggets—an allusion to a harrowing mission or a thoughtful description of a fellow Airman—make the reader wish Ingrisano had deviated from the book’s format to provide a fuller account of an event or a person. He adds a few lines of explanation in places, but, more often than not, intriguing references are brief and fleeting, while the letters repeat feelings of longing, declarations of love, and speculation about his and Bette’s future together. Certainly, these sentiments are reasonable, just, and the stuff that gave many service members the strength to make it through the war, but most are best left for private reflection—not publication.
Nonetheless, for those who enjoy the history of the World War II era, a number of the letters contain interesting observations on popular fiction, movies, and controversial social issues of the day. Ingrisano offers captivating “everyman” commentary on a culture and events that are now fixed in history but, for him, were part of an unfolding world: “Say, Honey, I meant to ask you about this Sinatra rage that we hear so much about” (p. 180). “We attended a formal review and Gen. ‘Ike’ Eisenhower decorated a few of the boys that are closely attached to us. He is a rather nice chap. He went thru the ranks and talked to a lot of the boys. . . . I saw Ike’s Scottie—he has 4 stars on his collar just like his boss” (p. 260). For this reader, observations such as these provide some of the most enjoyable moments in the book.
In the end, Mike and Bette have evolved into fuller characters, but the reader is still left with a sense of incompleteness. What did they finally do with the oft-mentioned bottle of Seagram’s whiskey that Bette lovingly kept safe until Mike’s return? What happened to “Harry,” Mike’s future brother-in-law and seemingly top-notch fellow who also served in the war? What was the rest of the story behind a teaser in the epilogue concerning a “black ball” from the University of Kansas? And Nothing Is Said provides an incomplete snapshot of what was surely a rich life, full of worthwhile stories. But they remain untold here, which is a shame. Perhaps some day Ingrisano will write a book about his life. If he does, it will be a pleasure to read.
Lt Col Kristine E. Blackwell, USAF
Air Force Fellow
Washington, DC
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