FOR THE DURATION is an understated story, without theatrical hyperbole, of two ordinary young Americans caught up in the greatest upheaval of their time and perhaps of any era. Forced by circumstances in 1941 into the great war in the Pacific . . finding himself at the start closer than most of his countrymen . . 24 year old Jake Pierce has little choice but to face responsibilities he never sought. At the same time, Sarah Willowood, a younger mixed race girl from Jake's past, faces the world and her own adult responsibilities alone as an eighteen year old orphan managing her inheritance: a small family farm in the Sierra foothills and the town's only grill/cafe style restaurant.Each faces their challenges. Sarah struggles alone, marginalized by her peers in the otherwise all white mountain community, while her work ethic, quality restaurant, and charm make her popular with the older generations and marginally accepted by her own. Jake's prewar adventures have placed him at the heart of Japanese aggression; and, with uncommon skills, the young American, a competent sailing vessel officer and flying boat pilot, is forced into a world of fire and death, at sea and in the air. His success and injuries result in him bringing the war back home to the mountains, his parents, and Sarah, a little over five years his junior.Bonds of friendship between several people are renewed and strengthened during Jake's stay of over a month. But, healed and retrained to fly a bigger airplane, the war's iconic Consolidated PBY Catalina flying boat, the young adventurer turned warrior must return to the cauldron of fire and the overwhelming, ubiquitous presence of death. Therein, Jake carries two gifts from another mixed race woman, perhaps in a way an older reflection of Sarah. Sunny Kathleen Jefferson, an early Twentieth Century heroine and philanthropist, has become a mentor to the young American man, sharing his skills, abilities, and interests as well has his concern for Sarah, though she's never met her. The strong, educated, wealthy half Navajo woman had been Jake's mentor during his years in Southeast Asia before the enemy's attacks, and she taught him to fight better with a knife and to hone his jungle skills, as she also encouraged him to return to Sarah, a quarter white, a quarter Navajo, and half Blackfoot.When he returns to the fray, the young warrior, now Chief Petty Officer Jake Pierce, USNR, carries 'Lola Sunny's' lessons and the gift of her ( formerly her Navajo mother's ) mysterious, exotic Himalayan fighting knife. The new chief, young for the rank, also carries a certain unique level of courage, one that knows fear and thus is all the more courageous. All the while, Sarah, back home in 'the States', exhibits her own unique courage over and over, even as she leaves the mountains for the war.FOR THE DURATION reiterates the age old truth that ordinary people are made extraordinary by extraordinary circumstances. Those 'ordinary' people may have possessed within them an out of the ordinary strength they never realized they had. But that may describe us all.Most of all perhaps, it was a time for necessary, hard decisions, ultimate sacrifice . . and of death all around . . when women took a greater role in society and young people really willingly, metaphorically agreed to remit to their country an amount of effort up to giving their own life.
About the Author: Robert Jackson was an educator before working in his first loves writing & art. These reflect his interest in the culture and history of America and his wife's homeland, the Philippines. The latter was once America's biggest and farthest colony. The couple lived in the Repúblika ng Pilipinás for several years during the Marcos era. He taught in public schools in Virginia & Texas and on elementary, secondary, and college levels in the Philippines. He coached college women's volleyball in the Islands as well. Robert Jackson's website contains paintings, drawings, cartoons, commentary, poetry, and more. He is a graduate of Mr. Jefferson's University, the University of Virginia. Though his stories contain mature themes and subject matter as well as realistic violence, they are devoid of blatant and gratuitous sexual and violent content. The novels and poetry of Robert Jackson tend to be set in historical periods, especially but not exclusively, 19th. and early 20th. Centuries.