On the Road Home: An American Story: A Memoir of Triumph and Tragedy on a Forgotten Frontier

The year was 1898 and army private Patrick Henry Frank was in New Orleans awaiting transport to Cuba to fight in the Spanish-American War. A change in orders and Private Frank was instead going to the Philippines. Admiral Dewey had stunningly defeated the Spanish navy at Manila Bay, but President McKinley wanted boots on the ground. Patrick Henry Frank's country was seeking its manifest destiny further west than America had ever moved.

Through a riveting narrative history, author John Russell Frank chronicles the events of his family's half-century on America's frontier in the Philippines-war, adventure, colonialism, the heartbreaking deaths of family members, businesses ravaged by WW II, and internment in brutal Japanese prison camps. It is an epic story about his family's triumph and tragedy in a strange land, a story of how they came to absorb and become a part of another culture. The narrative flows from a substantial amount of intimate archival material: historically rich letters, war diaries, photographs, memoirs, and oral and video histories from the family's experiences in the Philippines. He shares a way of life and a time-period unknown or forgotten by the present generation-pivotal years of America's past. In the process, the author discovers his own roots.

Author: Ph. D. John Russell Frank,John Russell Frank
Publisher: iUniverse
Published: 12/22/2009
Pages: 360
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.50lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.94d
ISBN: 9781440193767

About the Author
John Russell Frank graduated from the University of the South, received his M.A. from Furman University as an Angier Duke Fellow, and his Ph.D. from Georgia State University. He was formerly headmaster of various private schools before retiring. He and his wife, Peggy Ann, now live in Montreat, North Carolina.

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