Haney writes personal WWII book
ENVISION Magazine, 2004

"Among America's 183,000 World War II war orphans, I am among those fortunate enough to have strong memories of my father. And I am doubly blessed because my mother kept those memories alive by always talking about him."

History professor Richard Haney has written a book close to his heart.

"When is Daddy Coming Home? An American Family during World War II" is set to be published by the Wisconsin State Historical Society in October 2004.

The book is based on more than 200 letters that Haney's mother received from his father, who served in the Army's 17th Airborne Division and was killed in service. The family of three lived in Janesville.

Haney describes the nine-chapter book as a combination of social history, military history and biography. "It was a labor of love," Haney said. "For years my mom encouraged me to do something with the letters, to reconstruct our story. Last January I read the first draft out loud to her; she gave it a rave review, followed by some helpful suggestions." Haney's mother died unexpectedly a month later, but the draft was ready to submit for publication.

Written from a first person perspective, the book addresses a major subject, World War II, at a grass-roots and personal level.

"I would always ask, 'When is daddy coming home?' I can still remember when the telegram came," Haney recalls, referring to the message informing them of the death of his father. The letters were written between February of 1944 until March of 1945. They arrived bearing news from places like the Battle of the Bulge, where the senior Haney was wounded, to an airdrop over the Rhine River. Yet the tone of the letters revealed a man "secure in himself, but who missed home very much." Haney said his parents used a code system at times in order to escape censors.

At UW-Whitewater, Haney teaches "Recent America Since 1945" and "America in Depression, Prosperity and World War II 1919- 1945" as well as courses in Wisconsin history and American military history. He received his undergraduate degree from UW‑Whitewater and his master's and doctorate degrees from UW-Madison.

"Months after dad was killed, the Army returned his personal effects to mom . . . they included photographs of mom and me with his bloody fingerprints on them."

– Jane Provorse