Wait Until Sunset: Memories of a Distant Conflict

MWSA Review

In Robert E. Burtt's, Wait Until Sunset a biography, the reader is taken on a life-long expedition through the eyes of a military man during some of this country's most volatile years, and witness’s transformation and adaptation leading up to and in the aftermath of war. Choices, circumstances, and experiences which shape and mold our lives in plethora ways develop on these pages to depict the unexpected journey of Burtt's father-in-law, John J. Paquette through a changing world. 

Too often, the heroes of our nation come back from war to live unassuming lives, their valor as invisible to us as their scars. Medals awarded for honor and sacrifice abandoned on the topmost closet shelf or bottommost bureau drawer mingle and reminisce with dusty memories; the good ones rubbing elbows with the bad.

Robert E Burtt honors the life of at least one Distinguished Flying Cross Medal recipient by sharing Paquette's story in Wait Until Sunset. In the sunset of 1st Lt. John J. Paquette's life, we see how truly splendid his days had been.

Reviewed by: Sandra Linhart (2015)

Author's Summary

"One must wait until sunset to see how splendid the day has been." --Sophocles

In 1941, John Paquette decided to enlist in the U.S. Army to fulfill his one-year military obligation. He planned to enter college on a football scholarship afterwards. The Japanese had plans of their own and after December 7, 1941, John found that he was in the military for the duration. Like millions of other young men, his life had been disrupted, and his future plans put on hold. John entered the U.S. Army as a buck private.

Four years later, he had achieved the rank of 1st Lieutenant, and was rated as an exceptionally qualified U.S. Army Air Corps pilot. Trained to fly C-47 transport planes, John spent 18 months in the South Pacific and was involved in some of the most important campaigns of the war. After earning the Distinguished Flying Cross and over a dozen Air Medals for meritorious actions, he returned home, found work, raised a family, and lived an honorable life.

Like many veterans, he looked ahead to the future, and not behind to the past. It was only in recent years that he decided to survey his life and try to find meanings and patterns within it. This book is about John Paquette's memories of his service placed within the context of the times in which he lived. The Greeks believed that only at the end of a man's life could final judgments be made. Only at sunset could the day be evaluated. This is the story of one such life in war and peace, and a search for final meaning.