Jerry’s Last Mission (formerly titled, Of War and Weddings) is a moving and compelling true story of bitter wartime enemies who find peace through their children’s marriage. A shared destiny weaves its way into the lives of the Yellin and Yamakawa families as two former combatants end up healing the wounds of war and nurturing a legacy of freedom and understanding for the children of America and Japan. We experience Jerry Yellin’s remarkable life, from his childhood in New Jersey, to his enlistment into the Army on his 18th birthday two months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, to his war experiences as a fighter pilot who fought on Iwo Jima and who flew 19 dangerous very long range missions over Japan, to his struggles with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and the trepidation he encountered when later in his life his youngest son moves to Japan and wants to marry the daughter of a Japanese WWII pilot. We feel his joys, his loves, and his pains. We experience the process of healing as it occurs and are moved to discover that the legacy of these two fathers is an inheritance intended for us all. The book is available on Amazon.
