A Soldier’s memories

For Bishop Ryan senior James Seifert, a class research project opened up a piece of his grandfather’s history that made grandfather and grandson published authors at the same time.
 
Last year, Bishop Ryan social studies teacher Robin McCurry tasked the juniors in her United States History class with picking a World War II-related topic and exploring it through a medium like poster artwork or a news article. James approached her, asking if he could use the actual tokens that his grandfather’s personal collection might contain.
 
James’ grandfather was Robert Cook (1925-2007), a 1943 St. Leo’s School graduate who later played a key role in the committee responsible for the planning and construction of Bishop Ryan, building on a lifetime of support for Catholic education in Minot. Bob served in the United States Army, and starting with his time in basic training, he began writing letters to multiple family members and friends, most often to his parents.
 
In 1944, he began a 21-month deployment in the South Pacific during World War II, and the letters home continued. Years later after retiring from the family plumbing business, Bob sat down, and in his own words, recorded all of his memories from his time serving overseas. Prompted by the collection of handwritten letters, memories that had been mailed across the ocean, he also chronicled the pictures and mementos he carried home, detailing the stories that went with each.
 
With guidance from his dad, Travis, James’ research for the class presentation unlocked a time capsule of letters, photos, documents and drawings from his grandfather’s time of service, including treasures like Bob’s draft card and discharge papers. As his research continued, the idea of combining everything into a bound and published book was born.
 
Together with editing help from Mrs. McCurry and Bishop Ryan English teacher Ashley Unruh, the book continued to take shape through the end of the school year. The editing process focused on remaining true to presenting the letters as Bob had written them, even down to preserving his spelling mistakes. The finished collection, Postmarked, Love Bob: A Firsthand Account from a World War II Soldier, is presented through Bob’s eyes and words, respectfully compiled through the work of his grandson, James.
 
This summer, the collection officially debuted as a published work and is now available online by searching “James Seifert” at amazon.com. In keeping with the love that Bob had for Bishop Ryan, the Cook and Seifert families have very generously decided that all royalties will go towards building the future of Bishop Ryan Catholic School.

—Submitted information