Greg Kudray

Echos Through Time Greg Kudray

Glen's 270 warm and humorous WW II letters home to Ma reveal a gruff fun-loving character still shining through the many lives he touched. Glen inspired army buddies craving a laugh, a motherless 12 year old girl, his 67 year old Native American outdoorswoman mother, and generations of kids instinctively drawn to this gentle giant. His 20,000-mile Pacific War odyssey from the small cabin on Tawas Lake in northern Michigan is the backdrop for army hijinks, playful teasing, and dreams of the northwoods he loved. Glen's letters tell this story, along with the historical context of his WW II travels and later tales of his life. The conclusion is from those who knew him. Ma, or Minnie, raised six children on a small farm in the early decades of Michigan's 20th century. Her husband, Walter, died shortly after the birth of their last child. Minnie trapped muskrat, ran a guide service, fed pet squirrels, and made the newspapers for the big pike she speared through the ice. She hunted deer well into her 70's. Glen arrived in Fort Lewis, Washington for basic training in 1942, and then prepared for the North African campaign at the US Army Desert Training Center in the Mohave Desert of California. Shifting priorities sent him to Kauai, Hawaii for jungle training and the Pacific Island battleground. Glen supported the war in New Guinea, the Dutch West Indies, the Philippines, and, finally, occupied Japan. Life-long bachelor Glen lived on Tawas Lake where he caught fish, hunted deer, and befriended young children, including the author. When he passed, the author found his letters home to Ma neatly tied with twine in the far reaches of the attic along with boxes of historical photographs, which form the basis for a companion DVD of the same name.