In 1940, Harold met Doris. During the early stages of their relationship and throughout the war, they wrote letters, well over a thousand. Over 500 of these letters survived the 80 years since they were sent. Lives on Hold introduces Harold and Doris in the context of their immigrant families and follows them growing up and through a long-distance relationship that includes separation, desperation, the military draft, World War II and deployment to China, including a report of his death and his shipmates broadcast by Tokyo Rose.
This is a love story in the world that existed from 1940-1946. Rarely, do we catch a glimpse of the day-to-day life of a regular Army Air Corps GI assigned to straighten out the food problems in China for his fellow soldiers. He finds good people trying to do their best with a lack of equipment, the overwhelming problem of the Black Market and a Chinese ally split in half. Attached to the 14th Air Corps (The Flying Tigers), he is in Kunming with a perspective on the country, its people and, of course, the Army. But most of all, he wants to get home to his love, Doris.