Bill's War

He survived the war, but the man they loved was slipping away.

When Bill returned home after flying night intruder missions in WWII, his fiancée and his family thought the danger had passed. He hadn't received a scratch in combat. But a different kind of battle was just beginning at home.

Lieutenant William C. Gump was a carefree young pilot whose promising future was suddenly upended by a diagnosis of "battle-induced schizophrenia." As Bill slipped into psychosis, his family and his young fiancée struggled to navigate a devastating reality that 1940s medicine could barely understand. Yet, decades of care from his family and the kindness of a small Kansas town brought a gentle redemption to a tragic story.

After his death, a shoebox of letters was found hidden in a closet. Inside were the vivid, articulate words Bill wrote before his illness took hold-restoring the voice of the man who had been lost for over seventy years.

Pieced together from these intimate wartime writings, Bill's War offers a raw look at the hidden costs of combat and the power of love to bring dignity to shattered lives.

Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: David P. Benedict
Published: 05/15/2026
ISBN: 9798995537700
Pages: 370
Weight: 1.09lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.82d