All Came Home: A World War II story told through the letters of Boat Group Commander, Joseph B. McDevitt; by Paul K. McDevitt

 Click on cover image to purchase a copy

Click on cover image to purchase a copy

MWSA Review
WWII Fast Attack Transports in the Pacific theater

I have read many novels and nonfiction books dealing with the Pacific war against Japan. They mostly dealt with combat ships, airplanes, and ground troops. But how did the troops and required supplies get to the island beaches? Where did the landing crafts come from? How were so many men and supplies delivered to the correct beach so quickly? Who moved the Army and Marines from island to island and then returned them to the U.S.? The answer is: Fast Attack Transports.

All Came Home is a story of life in America in the late 1930s and 1940s. A nation mired in the great depression where people struggled to survive — a land that young Americans in the 21st Century can hardly imagine. It is part of one page of the story of the Greatest Generation, the men and women, military and civilian, who through determination and sacrifice won World War II and turned America into a mighty nation, a superpower. 

One such young man was Joe McDevitt. While this is Joe’s story, compiled by his son through copies of personal letters, newspaper articles, and official documents, it is also his family’s story and the story of his ship, one of the ships that helped win the Pacific naval war, the USS Leon (APA 48), the “Lucky Leon” and her crew who all came back. 
I highly recommend this book and will retain my copy for my grandchildren when they are old enough to understand.
Reviewed by Lee Boyland

Author's Synopsis
"All Came Home" is a true story of junior reserve officer Joe McDevitt during WWII, as told through letters mailed home to his family. This is a quintessential American story about a youngster of German and Irish ancestry striving to achieve the American dream. Then comes WWII, and Joe postpones his driving personal ambition in order to enlist in the Navy. He joins the Pacific Amphibious Forces where men wage war on the open water in small boats. Could the Navy really make a warrior out of him… someone who thinks of nothing else but the sea and the war? A romance flourishes, and, like many of his peers, Joe must choose: marry now, and leave a young war bride behind, or wait to wed his true love when, and if, he returns? At war, he endures one bloody assault after another: ground-shaking bombardments, thundering artillery and mortar barrages, and the conviction that chance alone determines who lives and who dies. One way or another, all came home…