A few years ago, Arnie Pritchard inherited the World War II army footlocker of his father, Anton (Tony) Pritchard. It turned out to contain hundreds of letters and other family papers from Tony’s service in the Army and in the United Nations’ refugee program in postwar Europe.
From these letters Arnie has created a story. “This Business of Fighting”, focused on Tony’s time in the front lines in Europe. It portrays a young man dealing with everything from raw fear to his role as a leader, to his exposure to a world both wider and more brutal than he had known.
From a small part of these letters Arnie has created a story about his father's time in the European theater in 1944-45. This is street-level history, from the viewpoint not of the high command or of grand strategy, but of someone in the front lines, with little grasp of the big picture, trying to survive and get the job done - and trying to keep his humanity in the midst of danger, chaos, and cruelty.
Arnie has a Ph.D. in history from Yale and has been a storyteller for years; this project combines the virtues of both fields. Arnie is the author of a book on aspects of Elizabethan England published by the University of North Carolina Press.