Dennis Whitehead

Shell Shock Dennis Whitehead

The true story of twin sisters, Dorothea and Gladys Cromwell, born into New York's Gilded Age, living lives of wealth and privilege. Amid the fervor of America's entry into the First World War, the sisters volunteered for service with the American Red Cross in France, a country they knew and loved. To French soldiers seeking refreshment and solace in the Red Cross canteen, the identical twins were known as anges jumeaux, the twin angels. Witnessing the non-stop horrors in the worst fighting in the war, the sisters were utterly exhaustion, both mentally and physically, when they boarded the SS La Lorraine for the return journey home. They had wished to continue their service to the people of France after the fighting stopped but were convinced to return to New York by their brother. A tragedy unfolded drawing a nation's attention to the heroic deeds women performed in wartime France and the trauma the war wrought upon their souls. What happened on that ship, on that frigid January 1919 evening, one-hundred years ago, is one of the great untold stories of World War I, and the impact that modern warfare had upon not just the men in the trenches, but upon its women and other non-combatants, as well as civilians, that remained unrecognized until the Vietnam War. Shell Shock is available in print and two versions of e-book - one compatible with Kindle Paperwhite devices and another suitable for graphics-capable devices.