Book Review: In the ‘The Listeners,' Maggie Stiefvater approaches WWII with a distinct voice
Maggie Stiefvater has brought her magical prose with her to her first adult novel.
'The Listeners' takes place at a luxury hotel in West Virginia as World War II begins. In need of a place to store their foreign nationals — i.e. Axis diplomats and their families — the U.S. government takes over the Avallon Hotel, forcing its manager and her staff to scramble to balance hospitality and hedonism.
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CBS News
20 minutes ago
- CBS News
WWII pilot accounted for 82 years after being credited with saving airman's life in deadly crash
A World War II pilot who was remembered for helping fellow servicemembers survive the plane crash that killed him has been accounted for, military officials said this week. Army Air Forces 1st Lt. Charles W. McCook, 23, of Georgetown, Texas, was a member of the 22nd Bombardment Squadron (Medium), 341st Bombardment Group (Medium), 10th Air Force during World War II, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency said in a news release. Before joining the military, McCook had graduated from Southwestern University and came from a family of pilots, according to local newspaper clippings gathered by the DPAA. McCook, nicknamed "Woody," served in China and Burma, according to newspaper clippings. He was one of 20 officers and enlisted men credited for a mission that air-dropped supplies to Allied forces battling Japanese troops in northern Burma. During his service, McCook received the Air Medal and the Distinguished Flying Cross, according to newspaper clippings. On August 3, 1943, McCook was the armor-gunner on the B-25C "Mitchell," conducting a low-altitude bombing raid over Meiktila, Burma, the DPAA said. The raid was meant to target the Meiktila dam and nearby Japanese barracks, according to a newspaper clipping. 1st Lt. Charles W. McCook. Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency The aircraft crashed during the mission. McCook and three others aboard the plane died, but two men survived. One of the survivors, identified in newspaper clippings as Sgt. John Boyd, said the plane had been hit by an explosive gas shell while flying at a low altitude. McCook, who Boyd recalled "as the best in the business," was able to bring the damaged plane up to an altitude that allowed Boyd and the other surviving soldier to parachute from the craft before it crashed. Boyd said this action allowed him to survive. He and the other soldier were taken captive by Japanese forces, the DPAA said. Boyd spent two years as a prisoner in Rangoon before he was freed, according to newspaper clippings. McCook's remains were not recovered. He was eventually listed as missing in action. In 1947, after World War II ended, the American Grave Registration Service recovered four sets of remains from a common grave near a village in Burma, the DPAA said. A newspaper clipping describing 1st Lt. Charles W. McCook's heroic actions before the crash that took his life. Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency Locals said the four sets of remains, designated X-282A-D, were from an "American crash," the DPAA said. But the remains were not identified at the time. They were interred as "Unknowns" at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, or the Punchbowl, in Honolulu, Hawaii. McCook's name was listed on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in the Philippines. In January 2022, the DPAA disinterred all four sets of remains and taken to the agency's laboratory. Dental, anthropological and isotope analyses were conducted. Other military agencies used mitochondrial DNA analysis and genome sequencing data to help identify the remains. The processes allowed the DPAA to identify one of the sets of remains as belonging to McCook. Now that McCook has been accounted for, a rosette has been placed next to his name on the Walls of the Missing. He will be buried in his hometown in August 2025, the DPAA said.
Yahoo
20 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Trauma of Japanese American WWII incarceration lasted generations: study
[Source] A West Virginia University study has revealed that Japanese American women who were likely incarcerated in World War II detention camps as children gave birth to less healthy babies decades later, demonstrating how trauma from forced displacement can ripple across generations. Key findings The research, published in the Journal of Public Economics in February, found that Japanese American mothers born on the West Coast before 1946 gave birth to babies weighing 81 grams less on average than babies born to Japanese American mothers from Hawaii. The study documented one additional low birth weight baby per 100 births, equivalent to a 15% increase, among mothers who had been incarcerated. Using birth data from 1970 to 1988, researchers analyzed outcomes for women born between 1925 and 1956. Effects persisted even for Japanese American mothers born between 1947 and 1956 — a decade after camps closed — with babies 50 to 56 grams lighter. The research used Hawaii as a comparison group since only 1% of Japanese Americans there were incarcerated, compared to nearly complete imprisonment on the mainland West Coast. Trending on NextShark: Why this matters The research examined the effects of President Franklin Roosevelt's 1942 executive order that led to the forced evacuation of approximately 120,000 Japanese Americans to prison camps. Lead researcher Daniel Grossman emphasized the study's broader implications about intergenerational trauma. 'Forced migration uproots communities,' Grossman told WVU Today. 'The trauma, loss of assets and displacement have long-lasting effects … Decades after exposure to incarceration, the nutritional, psychological and economic deprivations incarcerees experienced still harm their offspring.' Trending on NextShark: The findings contribute to growing understanding of how historical injustices can affect multiple generations, potentially informing policies for current displaced populations worldwide. This story is part of The Rebel Yellow Newsletter — a bold weekly newsletter from the creators of NextShark, reclaiming our stories and celebrating Asian American voices. Trending on NextShark: Subscribe free to join the movement. If you love what we're building, consider becoming a paid member — your support helps us grow our team, investigate impactful stories, and uplift our community. Subscribe here now! Trending on NextShark: Download the NextShark App: Want to keep up to date on Asian American News? Download the NextShark App today!
News24
41 minutes ago
- News24
DA postpones fundraiser after accusations of turning Cape Town comedy festival into election money spinner
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