Women's Work -a little girl's story

The painting on the right is my mom, Beth Ann, at about the age of four posing for a Christmas card photo from the Philippines in 1941 where her father, Stanley Holmes, had just been stationed. Soon after this photo was taken the Japanese invaded and she and her mother returned to Connecticut and never saw her father again. They lived with family for over three years before they learned his fate at the end of the war. It must have been a life of uncertainty, but she only described it as a time when she was surrounded by love. Many years later after attending college, graduate school, and raising a family, she learned of her father's bravery and strength during those three years. The apple didn't fall far from the tree.

Text written by a fellow West Point grad helps fill in the gaps.

For over 3 years there was no word about her father.