About Me

My name is Melinda Gers. Born and raised in New Jersey, I now live in Georgia with my husband and two kids. I’m a self-proclaimed history nerd with a M.A. in American History and a strong interest in U.S. military history, World War II, and genealogy. After teaching middle school social studies for several years, I decided to utilize my love of history and transform it into a creative outlet. My passion for history has given me a drive for writing historical fiction, while the flow of ideas has provided a newfound energy within.

The vast majority of novels in WWII historical fiction, pertain to life in Occupied Europe, during the Blitz in England, or the depressing tragedy of the Holocaust. Those tenacious people were undoubtedly the most affected by the war, but those stories do not reflect upon an American’s experience. They do not convey how our grandparents, the greatest generation, died fighting for our country nor how those who survived, lived to tell almost no one about it, decades later.

My grandfather served during WWII in the 5th Army in North Africa and Italy. Unfortunately he passed away when I was only seven years old and was never able to ask him about his experience during the war. He was rarely heard speaking about his time in Army. My grandfather was wounded twice, receiving two purple hearts, as well as a bronze star, but those medals along with a scrapbook of photos were buried at the bottom of a cedar chest, untouched, forgotten.

We may feel as though our grandparents lived long, uneventful lives because they hardly talk about their youth, but I believe most merely kept them a secret, locked down deep, to avoid the hurt unearthing those memories would cause. Today, we consider the men and women who served during WWII heroes. I’m sure they would argue they were simply doing their duty, just doing what was right.

Despite my interest in American experiences, all of the stories from WWII deserve to be told before they’re completely lost and forgotten.