"Somehow, through all the separations and disasters, my mother persevered. She never left my father's side, not through any of it. I always wondered and marveled at her spirit. How did she do it? Perhaps she explained it herself before she married my father in a July 7, 1944 letter to him: 'Remember though what I told you at the station dear - you make me strong.' And somehow, deep inside, even as a young girl, before she even knew my father, maybe she knew what was coming." - From the book. You Make Me Strong is an interpretive collection of letters written by Virginia R. "Jinny" Thornton and her husband retired Navy Captain John W. "Johnny" Thornton. The letters begin with the young couple's 1944 courtship and extend through the anguish of two of the family's three wars. It is a companion volume for Captain Thornton's Korean War autobiography Believed to be Alive. Decades later, and writing from his own unique perspective, their son Jay reflects on what it all meant not only to his parents but also to him. You Make Me Strong is the touching tribute of a son, now grown old, for the goodness of two courageous souls who gave him life, faith and hope.
About the Author: About the Author John W. "Jay" Thornton, Jr. worked for 33 years in local government. He was city clerk and assistant to the city manager in Pensacola, Florida from 1972 to 1978 and assistant to the county manager, Henrico County, Virginia from 1978 until his retirement from public service in 2005. He enlisted in the US Army Reserve in October 1970 and served in various units in Florida and Virginia until his retirement in 1992. Shortly after the terror attacks of September 11, 2001, he volunteered for active duty. From May 2006 to April 2007, he served one year at Fort Bragg, North Carolina followed by a year in Iraq during The Surge from 2007 to 2008. He was released from active duty in April 2008 and retired a second time the following month. In October 2010, he returned to Iraq for another one year tour, this time as a senior governance specialist with the United States Department of State. He authored or coauthored several magazine articles on local government, Army training and one book, Believed to be Alive. The book recounts the experiences of his father, Navy Captain John W. Thornton, as a pilot and prisoner during the Korean War from 1950 to 1953. The Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania awarded the book a George Washington Honor Medal in 1983. Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he has lived in the South most of his life and currently resides in Henrico County, Virginia, near Richmond. He is married to the former Arlie Terry. They have two adult children, Dawn and Drew, and five grandchildren.