Women of the Heartland

July 7, 1937The Marco Polo Bridge Incident results in a prolonged war between China and Japan.The United States remained neutral. September 1, 1939Germany invades Poland leading Britain and France to declare war on Germany.The United States remained neutral. Over the next 15 months at least 35 nations were embroiled in the Second World War.The United States remained neutral. December 7, 1941 - The Day that will live in InfamyThe Imperial Japanese Navy launched a surprise attack on the U.S. base at Pearl Harbor, killing 2,403 Americans, wounding 1,143, and destroying 18 naval ships including five battleships. The following day the United State declared war on the Empire of Japan. Three days later, the US declared war on Germany and Italy. In Iowa, the Heartland of America, best friends Addie and Kate are embroiled in their own private wars. Kate's pilot husband has gone Missing in Action, and Addie's overbearing and controlling husband vents his rage on her. Somehow, these heroic Women of the Heartland must find a way to overcome the adversities of the war without, and the war within.

Distant thunder rolled as Mr. Olsen poured coffee for his customers, and comments crackled like popcorn. "Surrender?" "Unconditional, he said. Who woulda thought..." "Sure ain't lookin' good." "Sure hate to think of 'em bein' prisoners." "Ain't Howard Hannam's son over there?" "Yeah, and my brother's boy. Sure hope MacArthur keeps his promise to rescue them fellas." The news was grim in May 1942. The Philippines had fallen to the Imperial Japanese Army. Rommel is on the move in Northern Africa. The Russian Army is pushed back toward Stalingrad. In the sweltering jungles of Corregidor, PFC Stan Ford battles illness and injury as he and his comrades escape and evade a tenacious enemy. And in the Heartland, women mourn the loss of husbands, sons, and sweethearts. While everyone else seems to be doing something to support the troops, Twila Brunner feels lost, and useless. But when she sees a newspaper article about a Prisoner of War camp being built in neighboring Algona, Iowa, she believes she has finally discovered a way to give something for the Cause.

March 3, 1943 Bethnal Green, London's East End Shortly after a quarter past eight, a siren split the air. Marian Williams lifted her sleeping daughter from her bed and darted down the stairs. Her mother and father-in-law, off on air warden duty, had left the front door unlocked. She hugged her youngest child close. The blackout made the going difficult, but her husband's instructions echoed in her brain: "Whatever you do, get down inside the station fast as you can." She hoped for a spot near the canteen, with access to milk. Uneven light shone over the paved steps. Then she tripped. Her knee hit the concrete, then something bashed her left side. Someone cried out. Another blow scraped her arm on the landing floor. Where was her baby? She attempted to get up, but an even heavier weight slammed her face down. A crushing burden descended, then all went black. Riding in the backs of Army trucks across North Africa, throughout the Sicily campaign, up the boot of Italy, and northward through France into Germany, Dorothy Woebbeking served as a surgical nurse with the 11th Evacuation Hospital. During World War II, US Army nurses worked and slept in tents through horrific weather, endured enemy fire, and even the disdain of their own superior officers, who believed women had no place in war. But Dorothy and her comrades persevered, and their skills and upbeat attitude made a huge difference in the lives of thousands of wounded soldiers. Dorothy and Marian's stories converge on a simple, hand stitched handkerchief.

Late Winter, 1943The world is at war with no end in sightAddie Bledsoe and Kate Isaacs, best friends from Iowa, are embroiled in their own private battles. In England, Kate grieves the loss of her pilot husband even as she awaits the birth of their child. Addie makes the dangerous trek across the ocean to be with her friend in her hour of need, much to her abusive husband's ire.With Europe reeling under the heels of the Nazi Wehrmacht the two friends are once again called on separate journeys. Kate is recruited into Britain's Secret Operations Executive (SOE), resulting in a clandestine mission behind enemy lines in occupied France, while Addie wages a war of the heart in war-torn London.Somehow, these heroic Women of the Heartland must find a way to overcome the adversities of the war without, and the war within.