One day in 1995, I received a phone call from Jacob Zylberman. A veteran I interviewed had given him a copy of my book "Tanks for the Memories" and suggested he contact me for advice on publishing his own book. Writing the book had been the focus of his life for more than a decade, and he was determined to see it printed.

    As I read "Reflections of a Troubled Journey," I often was moved to tears, and sometimes found myself laughing. When the book came out the following year, he held the first copy as if it were a new baby. Everybody at the YMHA in Union, New Jersey, wanted a copy.

    But there were things I didn't tell Jacob about self-publishing. I didn't tell him nobody would review it. I didn't tell him bookstores wouldn't carry it. I had experienced these things, but hoped that in his case things would be different.

    Jacob has agreed to serialize his book on the Internet. I hope that you will find it to be as powerful a story as I found it to be. It is available from amazon.com, as well as from the Bookstore of the World War II Oral History web site.