ARCRA & ARCOA Webinar July 28, 2023

Luis Alberto Urrea is the author of the just released novel “Good Night, Irene,” based on his discovery of his mother’s experiences with the Red Cross Clubmobile Services in WWII.  Urrea, best known for “The Devil’s Highway,” creates a fictional story based on his family’s war hero, his mother.  He based the story on  his mother’s experiences and researching the Red Cross Clubmobile Services in WWII.

Urrea’s mother, Phyllis McLaughlin, was one of a team of three women traveling in a GMC truck fitted with a galley with huge electric coffee urns and a donut machine, a record player, and sometimes letters from home to be delivered to service men.  Urrea’s mother, Phyllis, joined the Red Cross Clubmobile Services in 1943, traveling with 250 Donut Dollies who accompanied General Patton and the troops after D-Day through France and Germany, and liberating the Buchenwald Concentration Camp.

Following his mother’s death, Urrea went through the Army footlocker contained Phyllis’ mementos from her service.  He spoke about traveling home with the footlocker in the car, like having his mother there with him.  Using the names, letters, and scrapbooks found in the foot locker, he researched her Red Cross experience, tracked down one of the Donut Dollies with whom she had served, and traveled to locations where his mother had served. The official records of the Red Cross Clubmobile Corps were destroyed in a fire in the 1970’s. 

In the novel, Urrea creates Irene and her Donut Dollie partner, Dorothy, who travel off to war and recreates the story of young women who traveled to the front, their dreams and experiences. The character Dorothy in Good Night, Irene is based on Jill Pitts Knappenberger, a member of ARCOA, who died December 2020.  Her obituary is in the June 2021 issue of the ARCOA newsletter  The Oversea'r.  Information is also included in this YouTube from June 11, 2013:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAwCMIiVdyA

In the webinar Luis Alberto Urrea talked about his mother and his challenge and joy researching the book, as there are few official records for the women in WWII and few of the “Greatest Generation” still with us.  One of the ARCRA members wrote after the webinar..."Thank you so much for the presentation yesterday. It was touching, informative, relatable and something I’m so glad I made time for. Urrea was so personal, something I don’t usually see in author presentations.  I plan to share the recording with friends."

Read about the book in The New York Times My Mother Returned from WWII a Changed Woman.

Read The New York Times review of the book.

Interested in meeting him in person,  check his upcoming book events.

You can listen to the audio as you would a podcast or watch a recording of the webinar:

audio  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nVId23ak3wqo4zysGVZGk1biVYkwdD8_/view?usp=sharing

video https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-UYk_51R_5eJ6sjcXx8SBywbGSrPdVRC/view?usp=sharing 

The program was co-sponsored by ARCRA and ARCOA.