Agony in advent  Lessons from a father's war journal Those who
watched the The War, a documentary about World War II by Ken
Burns which aired on PBS this fall, could feel the horror of
battle with a foot soldier from Mobile, Alabama; understand the
pressure on a newspaper editor in Luverne, Minnesota, who worked
as if victory depended on him; and feel the anxiety of a mother
coping with the government’s rationing program.  Above all,
viewers sensed how, for soldier and civilian alike, the war
involved a lot of waiting—longing for a letter from a beloved
young man in harm’s way, gazing each day at a picture of a
faraway sweetheart, yearning for that great homecoming when the
war would finally be over.     This article is available to
subscribers only.