Rebecca Brown's Interview with
Jack Sacco
Author of
Where the Birds Never Sing

Rebecca:
You must have grown up with your father's stories of his time in the European Theater of WWII, & seeing the photographs he had taken then. When did it occur to you, you could write a book about his experiences in the 92nd Signal Battalion?

Jack:
You're exactly right; I always thrilled at hearing those stories when I was a boy. & as an Italian in the American South -- which amounts to a being raised in a culture of storytellers within a culture of storytellers -- I likewise enjoyed telling my friends about my father's wartime experiences. Though I had been writing professionally for some time, it was at a dinner party in early 2001 that friends, seeing a photograph of my father & hearing me expound on his adventures, suggested that I write a book about it.

My sister, Rosa-Marie, who is a very good writer herself, had tossed around the idea of writing a family memoir of my father's experiences & had even done a good deal of early research regarding the 92nd Signal Battalion. So when I told her I wanted to write a book on the subject, she shared that research with me & I was on my way.

Rebecca:
For many of us children of WWII Veterans, it has been extraordinarily difficult to get our fathers, uncles & older brothers to talk of that time. Yes, they'll tell anecdotes about fun times in the PX or training camps, however, when it comes to relating their actual war experiences, more often than not, they remain silent. How did you draw out their stories?

Jack:
That's interesting because from the time I was a little boy, my father always talked openly with me about the war. In fact, I had always assumed that all WWII veterans talked openly about their experiences. It was relatively recently that I realized this wasn't the case.

My father did tell me that when he first returned home after the war, he didn't talk about it at all. He said that he didn't think people would ever be able to understand the magnitude of what he & his buddies had experienced. & I guess he had to wait for certain heartaches to heal.

When I asked him, just last month, why he talked so much about it to me as a young boy, he said it was because he knew I was interested. He said that I would not only ask him what he did in this or that battle, but I'd also continually ask how he felt about it all. That's what he really wanted to talk about -- what it was like & how it felt. So I never had any problem getting him to open up about any of his wartime experiences.

As far as the other guys in his battalion, they were extraordinarily open with me. Perhaps it was because they knew he was being open. Additionally, they understood that I was writing from a personal perspective, the perspective that is often lost or forgotten in books about World War II. For these guys, the war wasn't just about strategy or armaments -- it was very personal.

Rebecca:
How did meeting these Veterans & listening to their stories affect you?

Jack:
That was an incredible experience. I had, of course, heard these great stories about them for years, & had even met a couple of them over time. But the more I got to know them, talk with them & listen to their stories, the more I realized the profundity of what they had experienced. Little things seemed to stand out in ways I had not imagined.

For example, I realized that they were, for the most part, a very innocent group of guys. None of them had ever really been away from home. In my father's case, the first beach he ever saw was Omaha Beach at Normandy. None had ever really witnessed violence (movies were relatively bloodless back then & there was no TV news showing death & destruction on a nightly basis). Essentially, they were young & homesick & unsure of their fate from day to day.

& though they were part of the some of the most historic battles of the twentieth century, they told me -- to a man -- that it was at Dachau that they came to understand the true meaning of their mission.

So how did it affect me? It gave me great pride to be associated with them. It gave me a greater understanding of what it was like for these young boys-turned-soldiers who helped win World War II. & when I saw their enthusiasm for what I was writing, it helped me understand the importance of what I was doing in bringing their story to people around the country through the book.

Rebecca:
Was it your research into this story, that reunited the men of the 92nd, or had they held reunions before? How, what, when & where did you meet them?

Jack:
The 92nd Signal Battalion has been organizing annual reunions since the mid-1980s. My parents attended several of them in different cities around the country.

I was invited to attend the one in Las Vegas in August of 2001, just about the time I began writing the book. Jim Hodges, the organizer of that reunion, wanted me to have the opportunity to meet the guys in person. It proved to be an incredible experience for me. Not only did I have the chance to meet the guys, but I was also given the opportunity to observe the dynamics within the group, as well as individual personalities & even speech patterns. I know from high school & college reunions that it's easy to revert back to one's youth when surrounded by the people from that time. So I watched as the elderly veterans of the 92nd once again transformed themselves into the boys who had become such close brothers during the war. I also witnessed the unmistakable affection, respect & gratitude they still hold for one another. These observations were invaluable to me as I began writing & helped bring the characters in the book to life.

Rebecca:
That you did! How did your interest in their stories affect these venerable Veterans?

Jack:
I think it gave them a newfound sense of pride in what they had accomplished. It also provided them an opportunity to speak openly about what they had experienced & witnessed during the war. When I began the book, I didn't know how they would respond to me delving into their personal memories from so long ago. But I was soon to learn that they embraced me & this work, not out of ego, but out of a desire to finally tell their story & in gratitude that someone was going to write it.

I told them that I wasn't interested in writing a “history book”, that I wanted, instead, to write a personal story of what it was really like for them, the ordinary soldiers, as they moved through the war. They liked that, & they responded with a great depth of emotion.

Rebecca:
What has been the response of the surviving members of the 92nd to your book?

Jack:
That's another interesting question because once I completed Where the Birds Never Sing, I held my breath wondering what they would think. After all, they had opened up their hearts to share their stories with me. & some of the stories were difficult ones to share. So I wanted to do a good job with it.

My father wept when he read it. He later told me that it was as if I had been there to witness it all. Reading it, he said, brought him back into that world he had left behind so many years ago.

Then I started receiving congratulations from the other members of the 92nd Signal Battalion. All related to me how much the book meant to them and their families. Each said it brought back many memories -- some humorous, some painful -- of their experiences. I hear that they have given copies of the book as gifts to their children & grandchildren, so that the younger generations can come to understand what they endured & accomplished during the war.

A couple of the principal characters in the book, including Paul Averitt & Jim Hodges (both of whom had been invaluable in helping me gather stories & information about the 92nd), died before the book was released. That was devastating, especially knowing how proud they were of the book. But I received a number of heartwarming letters from their families, telling me how much they cherish the stories told in Where the Birds Never Sing.

Rebecca:
How has your book been received by the wider, general readership?

Jack:
The response has been really outstanding on many levels. I understand that the book has been getting great reviews & word-of-mouth around the country. & I've been very pleased to hear that people enjoy the humor in the book. The main characters, after all, are a bunch of eighteen year-old boys a long way from home, so the opportunities for humor were pretty much endless. I was told by one reviewer that despite the ultimate seriousness of the subject, he would defy anyone to read this book & not laugh aloud in some parts.

I have been very pleasantly surprised to receive tons of letters from women who have embraced the book & who have even made it one of their book club selections. Many women have told me that they didn't think they would have enjoyed a book about World War II, but that once they started reading it, they became somewhat enamored with the story & the characters.

There has also been a surprising response from young people -- high school & college students & people in their 20s -- who can relate to a story of a group of eighteen year-olds sent off to defend our country in time of war. Likewise, children & grandchildren of WWII veterans from all branches of the military have told me that the book has finally allowed them to understand what it was like for their fathers & grandfathers during the war.

The response from the Jewish community has been incredible because here is an Italian-American Catholic from Alabama saying very clearly that he witnessed the atrocities of the Holocaust, that it was like nothing he could have ever imagined & that it was perhaps even more horrible than people realize.

Most gratifying to me are the growing number of people who tell me they were transported & inspired by the story of this humble farm boy who persevered through loneliness, war, desperation, tragedy & death, & who emerged triumphant. For people to finally know that story, to take that journey, feel that pain & truly understand that victory -- that is the greatest reward of all.

Rebecca:
Thank you, Jack, for being willing to give of your bountiful words. You have enriched & made a difference in my life, as I know you have in other people's by writing Where the Birds Never Sing - I hope it makes you go out & buy yourself a copy!

Do catch Jack Sacco's Guest Editorial

Rebecca Brown
(Published 02/08/04)