Sydney M. Williams, Jr., joined the American army in early 1944 and served in the 10th Mountain Division in Italy until his release in late 1945. All during that time he exchanged letters with his beloved wife, Mary, and with other family members and friends waiting anxiously for news at home. In Dear Mary: Letters Home from the 10th Mountain Division, author Sydney M. Williams III uses the correspondence between his parents to show what the war was like both on the battlefield and on the home front. The letters included here are personal and often intimate, but the story they tell is universal.