Decorative pillow covers were a favorite choice of souvenirs among soldiers during World War II, and my grandmother received several from her two sons who served in the US military. This one came from the eldest of her three boys, (then) Cpl. James H. (“Hank”) Mills, who later became my father. The package was postmarked “Goldsboro, N.C.” In addition to providing technical training throughout the war, the base had a unit known as the Provisional Overseas Replacement Training Center, intended to prepare officers and enlisted men for overseas duty. Even as he sent his gift, he understood the probability that many months would pass before he saw any of his family again.

The sinking of the British troopship HMT Rohna by a German guided missile in the Mediterranean on November 26, 1943, led to the greatest loss of US lives in a single incident at sea in our nation’s history. The Rohna was overloaded with 2,193 American military personnel, on their way to the China-Burma-India theater to aid in defense against invasion by Imperial Japanese troops, when she came under aerial attack. The ship was hit by an early "smart bomb"—a Henschel Hs-293 radio-controlled, rocket-boosted glide bomb, launched from a Luftwaffe bomber—that caused catastrophic damage. The ship sank in 90 minutes. Lost were 1,015 GIs, in addition to 123 of the ship’s crew. Yet the sinking of the Rohna is generally overlooked by naval historians, and most people have never even heard of the tragedy.