The Chief Master Sergeant and His Welsh Bride

The Chief Master Sergeant and His Welsh Bride written by husband and wife, James J. Marshall and Bronwen Gen’e Marshall, answers the question, “Why were the men and women who lived through the Depression and World War II, called the Greatest Generation?”

Born in America’s heartland, Jimmy Marshall enlisted in the U.S. Army and was assigned to the Medical Corps. He was sent to Swansea, Wales, in preparation for the Allied amphibious landing on the beaches of Normandy, France. At the Mackworth Hotel in Swansea, he met raven-haired, seventeen-year-old, Bronwen (Gen’e) Davis, who worked as a metallurgist in a munitions factory. After just three dates, Jimmy proposed to Gen’e, but he was shipped out in the dead of night, and did not return from the battlefield for fourteen months.

Jimmy and Gen’e were finally married and the young couple settled in Canton, Ohio. Jimmy struggled to find meaningful work and and decided to re-enlist in the military. He spent the next 20 years in the Air Force moving from one base to another. His last tour of duty at the age of 51 was Da Nang, South Vietnam. Returning to civilian life in Riverside, California, he became a postman, until his retirement. Against tremendous obstacles and long separations, Bronwen and Chief Master Sergeant James J. Marshall raised six children and forged a life devoted to family, faith, and service to country.