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The last chapter of BattleFire! includes a photograph of Springfield, Kentucky’s 1942 football team. Under the picture of 28 fresh-faced boys in old-fashioned jerseys, Kentucky native Col. Arthur R. Kelly writes, “Five members of the team…fought at Iwo Jima.”
BattleFire! tells the harrowing and inspiring story of 12 such heroes, including two from that Springfield football squad. Like thousands of other young Kentuckians, these 12 faced the danger, deprivation, and horror of World War II with courage and determination.
Col. Kelly spent 10 years interviewing Kentucky veterans and crafting their stories to reflect both individual experience and historical context. The result is a fascinating and moving book that brings the past vividly to life and fills the reader with admiration for the “true grit” of Kentucky’s greatest generation.
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