They Were Never Writing for History
James and Margaret Wiley were simply writing to each other.
He served during World War II aboard the USS Libra (AKA-12). She waited at home with their family.
Across thousands of miles, their letters carried the ordinary things that war threatened to take away love, family, humor, worry, hope, and plans for coming home.
They could not have known that, generations later, strangers would be reading their words.
Found in an Attic
A Box That Could Have Disappeared Forever
During the renovation of a house in New Jersey, Ademir Souza discovered a box filled with old correspondence.
When he asked the homeowner whether he could keep it, the answer was simple:
“For me, it’s trash. Do what you want.”
Inside were hundreds of letters.
What looked like an abandoned box was actually a record of a marriage, a family, and a generation living through World War II.
The letters were preserved, organized, and eventually became the foundation of Letters Across the Pacific.
History in their own handwriting.
These are not fictional letters created for a book.
They are original documents written during the World War II era.
Some crossed thousands of miles.
Some passed through military postal systems.
Some carried the marks of censorship and war.
And all carried something history books rarely preserve:
THE PRIVATE VOICES OF THE PEOPLE WHO LIVED IT.
From the Home Front to the Pacific
While Margaret experienced the uncertainty of waiting at home, James served aboard the USS Libra in the Pacific theater.
Their correspondence brings two worlds together: the war overseas and the family waiting at home.
Behind the military history were two people trying to preserve a marriage and a family across an ocean.
Letters Across the Pacific · Volume I
Hold the History in Your Hands
The first volume follows James and Margaret through courtship, marriage, family life, separation, war, the Pacific, Okinawa, peace and homecoming.
Selected original correspondence and historical photographs allow readers to encounter portions of the surviving archive for themselves.
“HUNDREDS OF LETTERS HAVE YET TO SPEAK.”
From an Attic to a Classroom
The letters traveled farther than anyone could have imagined.
Ademir Souza received assistance from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth community in cataloging and organizing the historical correspondence.
Years later, he returned with the published book and spoke with students about the discovery and preservation of the collection.
During that visit, one student’s reaction captured the extraordinary passage of time:
“ALMOST A CENTURY!”
Those words became part of the way Ademir now describes the collection.
Because although decades have passed, James and Margaret’s voices still feel remarkably close.