". .

. we used to gather in a tent, always keeping an eye out for pythons, rats, or errant Chinese bandits with lend-lease Tommy guns, and talk about home.

More often than not one of the men would bring out a crumpled letter or a yellowed newspaper clipping telling about the nefarious activities of the stateside political rats, the pythons who squeezed graft from little merchants, the bandits who bled the citizens of their taxes - the men who controlled the machines. .

. "- Albert L.

Reeves, Jr. Louise and Albert is a vivid portrait of life, love, and World War II in 1945 through the letters of Louise (Glasner) Reeves and former United States Congressman and U.

S. Army Corps of Engineers Lieutenant Colonel Albert Reeves, Jr.

As Albert dealt with his challenges in the China-Burma-India theater during World War II, Louise dealt with the rationing challenges and fears of never seeing her husband again while running a household, raising their two children and expecting their third child. The book also chronicles the family's efforts to battle corruption in Kansas City and Albert's time in Congress, representing Missouri's 5th Congressional District.

The time after the war included many challenges for the U. S.

and Congressman Reeves - government debt, inflation, foreign aid, food and manufacturing shortages, and lingering government corruption. Corruption, before and after the war, involved election fraud to win seats for machine party candidates.

This corruption ended up tainting the Truman presidency. Included in the book is the dramatic history of the diplomacy, combat, and engineering activities to build the Ledo Road - one of the U.

S. Army Corps of Engineers' greatest achievements.

. .