MARINETTE — On Sept. 20, 1944, almost two years after he joined the Army, John “Jack” Anderson sat in a war-torn building playing the piano in Toulon, France.
“Some of the hammers and keys were broken, but we fixed it up and it plays perfect,” Anderson said in his diary.
His grandson, Jason Grom, recently brought his late grandfather’s World War II diaries to life in his book “A Soldier’s Song: The World War II Diary of Sergeant Jack Anderson.”
He chose the cover — a picture of his grandpa playing the piano in a dilapidated building they turned into their fort — to encapsulate the essence of his character.
“It’s called ‘A Soldier’s Song’ because of his connection to music,” Grom said. “He loved music.”
The author will be in Marinette on May 19 for a book signing at the Marinette County Historical Logging Museum from 2 to 3 p.m. The signing will occur after the museum’s community open house, from noon to 2 p.m.
Joan Pace, president of the Marinette County Historical Society, said her father was also in WWII.
“When I saw someone honoring a fellow soldier, I had to do what I could to help,” Pace said.
The book will serve as an essential reference document for generations to come. It will satisfy the craving for a first-hand account of what it was like to be in the war as it happened.
“It’s a documentary of the past for the future,” Pace said.
Grom, who grew up in Marinette but now lives in Minnesota, said he, his uncle and his mom compiled an electronic version of his grandpa’s diary before he died in 2009. The books were initially six small handheld pocket diaries, almost the size of a smartphone.
“He wrote every single day that he was there, which was about three years,” Grom said.
His time as an Army sergeant in the 451st Antiaircraft Artillery took him to North Africa, Italy, France, Belgium and Germany.
Grom recalled the time he spoke at his grandpa’s funeral — and didn’t choke up once. His nerves dissolved when thinking about his purpose, he said.
“I just felt this nudge from him,” Grom said. “He was helping me in some way, shape or form to spread the word about his message.”
The “aha” moment to take the diary public came last November and then came the stamp of approval from Annette Anderson, his grandma and Jack’s wife, who is almost 100 years old.
“I let my grandma read it, and she broke into tears, so I said, ‘This is probably the right path. I’m making an impact here,’” Grom said.
Grom went through everything with a fine-toothed comb to get the book published, including fact-checking hundreds of references to cities, movies, actors and military jargon to ensure that everything was as historically accurate as possible.
Sometimes, it was as simple as returning to the diary or asking his uncles, who served in the military. His grandfather kept referring to WAC, which took some research time. Then, a conclusion came. It was the Women’s Army Corps.
“They were at a pool, and my grandpa was trying to impress them,” Grom said.
Through this project, he decided to look through his grandpa’s memorabilia, which taught him a lot about the aspect of time in those days.
“I had hundreds of letters,” Grom said. “It’s not like they had text messaging or email.”
Some letters were written for Easter and weren’t delivered until May 25, six weeks later. Jack would write to his parents, and his parents would write to other parents, too.
“I definitely learned a lot from those letters,” Grom said. “That was their way to connect.”
He said the research changed his perspective on the war — it was sometimes monotonous or confusing.
“You’re an enlisted soldier,” Grom said. “You are being told what to do. You don’t have this view into the bigger picture. My grandfather vented in his diary — he led in a way to ensure they did the best they possibly could.”
He expressed respect for his grandfather and his ability to care for others.
“One of the last things I put in the book was a letter his good friend, Kip, wrote to him the year before he died,” Grom said. “The letter was saying how impactful my grandpa was to him. During the war, Kip’s dad died in Illinois. He didn’t get to experience burying him. You can tell how my grandfather treated him and what a great leader, friend and person he was.”
Some servicemen and women decided to share their stories after the war, and some did not.
“My dad would never talk about his service time,” Pace said. “I think he heard and saw things he never wanted to repeat again.”
Whether they chose to keep the stories to themselves or pass them on, the legacy from “The Greatest Generation” didn’t need to be heard — it was felt. Jack went on to raise a family in his hometown of Marinette and work at Scott Paper Company, now Kimberly-Clark. He sang in choirs, hosted parties and affected the lives of many others.
The more than 30 tributes at the back of the book discuss his love of music and family and his gift of keeping things positive — something echoed in his war diaries.
Grom urged people to get to know their family members who lived during this time.
“Ask them questions, listen to them,” Grom said. “Ask if they’re not your family members. Go to a local veterans home or nursing home. I’m sure they’d love to share.”
Jack will live on forever — the book is absolutely his voice, Grom said.
“I felt like I was with him.”
The book will be available at the museum this summer for $16 and is also available on Amazon for $14.99.
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