I’ve been trying to distribute a lifetime of old photos to my kids. I ran across this one sent to me by my cousin. I was overjoyed to receive it. Mine had been ruined in a cardboard box in a leaking basement. This is my father with the U.S. Army in Germany after WW II ended in May, 1945. He didn’t get to come home until October, 1945 because the ships were so crowded. I once asked my mother about…
As a writer, much of your time is spent alone without any feedback. I love it when I hear from a reader–especially when they have enjoyed the read. Recently I received this feedback from my WW II book Hard Times in the Heartland: “My dear friend – I could hardly put the book down. I love the discussion questions – they made me ponder as to how I would answer them. “You are such a thoughtful writer. I know your mother…
In reading over my dad’s letters written in May of 1945, 73 years ago, they showed that time proved to be extra-stressful. World War II had just ended with Germany, but not Japan. The battle-weary GIs longed to come home. A different rumor flew at least once a day. Would they be allowed to come home? Would they have to stay in Germany as part of the occupied forces? Would wives and children be allowed to join the GIs if…
I spent a lot of time at my grandparent’s home near Nevada, Mo during the turbulent years of WW II. Dad was first stationed in Fort Leavenworth, then Oregon. He spent a brief time in Waynesville before he shipped out for France, then Germany with the Army’s 70th Division. He arrived on the battlefield just after the Battle of the Bulge, 1944 at age 34. Since Mom held the position of store manager for the Edmiston’s Department Store in Fort…
The last stop in our journeys to follow my dad in the States during WW II was in Waynesville, MO. He was stationed at Fort Leonard Wood before the Army shipped the 70th Division to France. By then I was twenty months old and had already lived in Kansas, Oregon, and Missouri. My folks called this place “El Rancho.” We lived here with other couples because there was such a shortage of housing. Soon after this picture, Dad left to…
When U.S. soldiers came home from WW II they were not permitted to carry a lot of plunder. Very few stores were in operation by the time the men came home. I don’ t really know where Dad got this little purse. It was his gift to me from Germany. It’s only about three inches long. If only objects could talk! Do you have an object from your past that begs an explanation? To see my books visit http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B007F5H0H4
For the first few years, my dad was in and out of my life. The day after I was born, he received a notice from the draft board that he had been reclassified from 4A to 1A. He had already served three years in the Army during the 30s. After eight months the lottery draw of the draft board caught up with him in July of 1943. He was off to Fort Leavenworth for his physical on July 13 with…
I know this doesn’t look like a new baby, but it is. It’s my new fiction, based on fact which is out this month. So, do we call that “faction”? Hard Times in the Heartland the third in the series of The Late Sooner. It’s based on my dad’s letters to Mom and me during WW II and family stories. Like my other books, the facts are carefully researched and woven into this story. As a kid, I hated…
I know this doesn’t look like a new baby, but it is. It’s my new fiction, based on fact which is out this month. So, do we call that “faction”? Hard Times in the Heartland, the third in the series of The Late Sooner is based on my dad’s letters to Mom and me during WW II and family stories. Like my other books, the facts are carefully researched and woven into this story. As a kid, I hated history class because…