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A Bright and Blinding Sun, a Story from WWII by Marcus Brotherton

A Bright and Blinding Sun

by Marcus Brotherton

The Book

Joe Johnson Jr. ran away from home at the age of 12, hopping a freight train at the height of the Great Depression. He managed to talk his way into the U.S. Army two years later. Seeking freedom and adventure, he was sent to the Philippines.

Adrift in spirit, Joe visited a teenage prostitute, and they became unlikely, smitten allies. Yet when the Japanese attacked on December 8, 1941, their hopes of being together had to wait.

Joe and his fellow soldiers fought for four brutal months in Bataan and Corregidor, until they were forced to surrender. The boy endured years of horror as a prisoner of war, only dreaming about seeing again the girl he’d come to love.

This lyrically written and deeply encouraging saga will remind you that every life can be lifted, forgiveness is the patron of restoration, and redemption is available to all.

The Author

Marcus Brotherton is a New York Times bestselling author and coauthor dedicated to writing books that inspire heroics, promote empathy, and encourage noble living. Four of Marcus’ books are New York Times bestsellers, five are national bestsellers, four have been optioned for movies, two have received Booklist Starred Reviews, and one is an international bestseller. His books have also appeared on USA Today, Publisher’s Weekly, Wall Street Journal, and ECPA bestseller lists. Born in British Columbia, Marcus earned a bachelor’s degree from Multnomah University in Portland, Oregon, and a master’s degree from Biola University in Los Angeles, where he graduated with high honors. He lives with his wife and their three children in the Pacific Northwest.

My Thoughts

What a powerful story, masterfully woven, about a too-young soldier who ends up in the Philippines nine months before WWII arrived. Joe spent five months fighting the Japanese on Bataan and Corregidor, 3 1/2 gruesome years as a POW. Bookending this important part of history is Joe’s relationship with a too-young prostitute, whom he manages to rescue, and how Joe eventually recognizes God’s work even during devastating months. A compelling redemption story. Highly recommended.

I’m always drawn to the backmatter of a book, whether nonfiction or historical nonfiction, where you learn the details about how the author discovered and utilized sources. The writing in A Bright and Blazing Sun is so well woven. It was a delight to learn that Joe Johnson, with only a 7th grade education, had written two versions of his memoirs, one in third person. Marcus Brotherton said that Joe wrote with lyricism, with “fresh twists on words and phrasing,” and that he came to appreciate Joe Johnson as a warrior-poet.

—–

I didn’t realize that two books I’d featured three other books with Marcus Brotherton’s fingerprints on them. He contributed substance and line edits to Adam Makos’s A Higher Call: An Incredible True Story of Combat and chivalry in the War-Torn Skies of World War II.

Gary Beikirch (1947-2021) and Marcus Brotherton in 2019

Marcus Brotherton also wrote Blaze of Light, about Gary Beikirch, a Green Beret Medic in Vietnam and recipient of the Medal of Honor.

Gary Sinise’s Grateful American was written with Brotherton’s expertise. What a rich legacy!

Also Marcus was a writing partner on Adam Makos’s incredibly poignant Korean War story, Devotion, which I read and reviewed (Amazon, Goodreads, and BookBub). All of these books are so compelling.

Please check out Marcus Brotherton’s website. What a legacy of significant stories!

Chad Elliott: Iowa’s Renaissance Man

I’d planned to post this for National Poetry Month, but Chad Elliott has a Kickstarter campaign right now for a wonderful space in Jefferson, Iowa, for his own art studio. He’s offering several paintings, etc., as fundraisers for it. Please check it out! 

Chad Elliott, Musician

Midwest singer-songwriter Chad Elliott blends folk roots, swampy blues and soulful writing to deliver an original Americana sound. His live performances have been honed over a decade of being on the road performing more than 200 shows each year. Elliott is lauded as “Iowa’s Renaissance Man” by Culture Buzz Magazine. He has penned more than 1,500 songs in his career while also cultivating his skills as a painter, sculptor, illustrator and author.

Chad Elliott, Poet

Chad Allen Elliott’s path to poetry began with a love of music. He has performed original songs across the U.S. for over 20-years, winning several awards for composition including the Woody Guthrie Songwriting Award in 2009. Early in his career, he learned some verses do not need musical embellishment. They stand alone in their own cadence. Since that time, Elliott has penned nearly 2,000 songs and released 22 albums.

In Rumble & Flash, Elliott shares poems composed during his time on the road. These poems are steeped in archetypal themes like fatherhood, love, nature, and spirituality.

My thoughts: This is one of my favorite books of poetry. I especially like “The Rough Aesthetic of Men,” “One Harmful Thing,” “Refining Years,” and “Bur Oak.”

Chad Elliott, Artist

Elliott is a graduate of Graceland University in Lamoni, Iowa, with a bachelor of arts in ceramics and has since collected graduate credits from the University of Montana in Missoula.

At the Guthrie Grove Camp in Guthrie Center, Iowa, Elliott has created murals with youth. He has also created large murals for businesses including Shaky Tree Coffee and Farmers Trust & Savings Bank both in Spencer, Iowa. His recent mural work includes two 5 foot by 12 foot canvas paintings installed in 2012 in the newly renovated Spencer Community Theatre. He also completed a 16 foot by 40 foot landscape mural in 2013 on the side of Mohr Lumber in Coon Rapids, Iowa, to commemorate the town‘s sesquicentennial. In Pampa, Texas, Elliott installed a mural titled “This Land is Your Land” at the Woody Guthrie Folk Music Center.

Currently he completes commission work from Elliott Art Studio in his home in Lamoni, Iowa. This year, he will be painting a mural for his hometown of Guthrie Center, Iowa.

Please check out Chad’s Art Studio website.

Also his Music website

Letter from the Daughter of Alonzo Wilson of Coon Rapids, Iowa

Wilda Wilson Davis was a first cousin to Clabe Wilson. Her father, Alonzo, was a brother of Clabe’s father, Daniel Ross Wilson. Daniel’s twin brother didn’t survive.

—–

Keyes, California, Dec. 23, 1941

Dear Cousin [Wilda Wilson Davis to Rectha Wilson Kansgen, who was Clab Wilson’s sister],

Edna [Wilda’s sister] and I were in La Junta in ’20 or ’21 she taught there a year and we were in Cimarron one Sunday had no idea we had relatives there. . . .

You asked about the Wilsons. Well, I think we can proudly say Grandpa [Samuel] Wilson was Betsy Ross’s grandson, for [her] father’s name was Daniel Ross Wilson. I don’t suppose you remember Grandpa [Sam] or his sisters Aunt Betsy Ross (Wilson) Durlam. They lived near Glidden, Ia. Scotch, Irish descent.

Grandma [Emily] was Holland Dutch her name was Hyke, her father was a doctor, they both came from New York state and went back for a visit in the 80s – Grandpa & Grandma came to Iowa in 1854 from Joliet, Ill. when my father Lon Wilson (was born at Joliet) was 8 years old.

Grandpa [Sam Wilson] was a government agent to the Indians for some years and his headquarters was at Fort Omaha the city was just a village then. They crossed the river on the ice with water running to the hubs on one late winter with supplies from Marshalltown.

Uncle Dick Wilson learned to walk while they were on the reservation, he was born on Brushy Creek, their nearest white neighbors were 24 miles away at Panora, Iowa – I have heard my father & grandma tell some stirring tales to send prickles up your spine.

As Ever, Your Cousin Wilda

Leora Wilson with Wilda Wilson David, a cousin of Clabe Wilson’s. San Jose, California, March 18, 1969.Their children were first cousins of Clabe Wilson, who was born in 1888.

—–

I haven’t been able to find any relationship to Betsy Ross, even though the name Ross has been passed down through at least two branches of the family. How did this notion even get started?

I don’t think that Sam Wilson was an official Indian agent, but his background would certainly have made him useful to officials. Oh! Don’t you wish they’d written down some of those “stirring tales to send prickles up your spine”!

I believe that Alzono (Lon) Wilson’s land is now part of the Whiterock Conservancy in Coon Rapids, Iowa.

The Wilson burial plot is at Coon Rapids, Iowa, east side of the hilly cemetery, about halfway toward the north. The cemetery has many old Bur Oak trees. The Wilson farmland was just east of the cemetery.

Clabe Wilson used to ice skate up the river from Guthrie County to visit his widowed grandmother there.

The Wilson Connection to the White Rock Conservancy at Coon Rapids, Iowa

Heater House was center for hard work and good fun

“Editor’s Note – Another feature written by Liz Garst, this story centers on the “Heater House”, now known as the “River House“, located south and east of Coon Rapids beside the Raccoon River. Mrs. Henry (Clarice) Shirbroun, shared some of her memories about the Heater house. She moved there with her parents, Clarence and Agnes Heater, when she was 10 years old.

“Clarence and been farming north of town on rented land. He wanted a place of his own, so he bought what is now known as the Heater House and 80 acres. Then it was known as the Sam Wilson place. Sam had purchased it from his father, Lawn (Lloyd) Wilson. [I believe this was Alonzo (or Lon) Wilson, son of Carroll County pioneers Samuel and Emily Wilson.] Part of the deal was another 80 acres, one and one half miles northeast. . . . They moved onto the place in 1926.

“The Wilsons left many out buildings, including pig pens, chicken sheds, the barn, the outhouse, and an ice house. The screened porch wrapped the first floor of the frame house on a stone and cement foundation. The house didn’t have many windows. The stairs were enclosed, and the basement unfinished. A spring northeast of the house had been channeled to pass under the first floor kitchen. A dumb waiter ferried butter, milk and, occasionally, jello to the waters of the cool, running spring. Clarice said it wasn’t handy. Fighting the crank and the weight of the platform and food, it was hard not to spill the jello. Merle Shirbroun remembers exploring the spring by dumb waiter with his brother, Darrell. A tamer route was through a basement crawl door.

“The Wilsons had planted a large orchard north of the house. The varieties aren’t common today – bit Wolf Rivers and Greening apples, which tasted like a banana. There were also pears and plums. The road of that day ran parallel to, but west of today’s road. It cut much closer to the house, bending sharply to find the bridge. The river also divided the farm.”

Coon Rapids Enterprise, September 3, 1987

This 1875 map shows pioneer Samuel Wilson’s land just to the east of Coon Rapids.1887 Biographical and Historical Record of Green and Carroll Counties, Iowa, published while Sam Wilson was still living, names his living children, including Alonzo N. and Daniel. For some reason, this page shows up better on an earlier post.

Leora’s Dexter Stories: The Scarcity Years of the Great Depression – List of Chapters

“Easy read that gives a realistic picture of life in Central Iowa during the Great Depression. You will find yourself cheering for Clabe & Leora at every turn. A great read aloud for children & grandchildren that lends itself to countless teachable moments.” – S. D. Vannoy, Amazon Customer

The Wilson family slowly slides into unemployment and poverty. Leora must find ways to keep her dreams alive while making a haven for her flock of seven children in one run-down house after another.

I kept chapters short, in hopes that students will also enjoy reading these stories. I certainly wish I’d discovered a book like this one when I was a student!

Original watercolor by Tim Ross, an Audubon County, Iowa, native, now an agricultural meteorologist for RFD-TV, Nashville.  The original snapshot, on page 2 of Leora’s Dexter Stories, was taken in 1927 along Old Creamery Road, south of Dexter in Penn Township, Madison County, Iowa. I grew up less than a mile south of where this was taken.

Tim Ross’s website “Timbits.”

Here are the names of the chapters in Leora’s Dexter Stories: The Scarcity Years of the Great Depression:

Chapter 1--Danny’s Earache
Chapter 2--Mastoidectomy
Chapter 3--Penn Township
Chapter 4--Independence Day at Dexfield Park
Chapter 5--Acreage at the Edge of Dexter
Chapter 6--Clabe’s Stories
Chapter 7--The Cow Dries Up
Chapter 8--Whooping Cough
Chapter 9--Decoration Day
Chapter 10--Husky and the Pack of Dogs
Chapter 11--Paving of the Great White Way
Chapter 12--1930
Chapter 13--Grandpa’s Heart Attack
Chapter 14--Guilt and Consolation
Chapter 15--Clabe’s Surgery
Chapter 16--The Sheepshed
Chapter 17--Yet Another Move
Chapter 18--First High School Graduates
Chapter 19--Delbert to California
Chapter 20--Bonnie and Clyde
Chapter 21--A Biplane Ride Before School
Chapter 22--Delbert and Donald Join the Navy
Chapter 23--Running the Town Pump
Chapter 24--Machine Perm in Redfield
Chapter 25--Rusty the Pet Squirrel (Rusty is on the cover of the book)
Chapter 26--The Panama Canal
Chapter 27--A Suspicion Before Christmas
Chapter 28--The Imbedded Needle
Chapter 29--Goffs Move to Omaha
Chapter 30--Gossip
Chapter 31--Clabe Becomes a Hobo
Chapter 32--Spats
Chapter 33--The Canning Factory
Chapter 34--New Deal Jobs
Chapter 35--’Possum for Birthday Dinner
Chapter 35--Blizzards
Chapter 37--Basketball Tourney
Chapter 38--Pollywogs Become Shellbacks
Chapter 39--Another Dexter High School Diploma
Chapter 40--California Visitors
Chapter 41--American Institute of Business
Chapter 42--Discharged from the Navy
Chapter 43--California Jobs Fizzle
Chapter 44--Bounty for Starlings
Chapter 45--Dallas County Champs
Chapter 46--Minburn and More Graduates
Chapter 47--Leora
Afterword: How I Learned Everything 

Tonsillectomies, 1951

Tonsillectomies were evidently routine in the 1950s, at least for kids ages about ages 4 to 6. There were certainly several children listed in the hospital news the winter of 1950-51. From the January 4, 1951, Dexter Sentinel:

“Robert Gist of Earlham, Terry Byrne of Earlham, Luretta Lilly of Dexter, Phyllis Miller of Stuart, Joy and Jean Neal of Dexter, Susan Shepherd of Dexter, Bobby Harris of Casey and Bruce Lawson of Dexter underwent tonsillectomies at the clinic hospital this week.

“Admitted to the hospital this week were Mrs. Wilbur Addy of Dexter, Ester Harris of Menlo, Charles Sidebottom of Dexter and Arthur Hanson of Fontanelle.

“Ruth McLennan of Earlham underwent major surgery.

“A seven pound five ounce girl was born to Mrs. Harry Esten of Menlo January 1.

“A seven pound nice [sic] ounce son was born to Mrs. Wilbur Carter of Dexter December 29.

“An eight pound three ounce son was born to Mrs. John Shepherd of Dexter December 30.

“Dismissed from the clinic hospital this week were Bobby Harris of Casey, Jean and Joy Neal of Dexter, Lauretta Lillie of Dexter, Terry Byrne of Earlham, Robert Ohrt of Earlham and Susan Shepherd of Dexter.”

My sister, Gloria Jean, was called by her middle name until kindergarten, where there were more Jeans and Janes in the class. Mom asked her if she’d like to be called Gloria, She did.

First cousin Susan Shepherd was 5, Gloria 4, and I was 6 when we underwent tonsillectomies. I still remember the smell of ether, and getting to have ice cream when we got home.

Susan’s mother was Mrs. John Shepherd in the clipping. Susan’s baby brother was born while Susan was also in the hospital!

 

 

See this Blazing Star Quilt, from 1845, at the Iowa Quilt Museum

“Made 1845 Grandma Runkle & Eve”

This exquisite Blazing Star quilt is part of the “These ARE Your Grandmother’s Quilts” exhibit at the Iowa Quilt Museum in Winterset, Iowa, which runs from December 20, 2022-March 12, 2023.

Christiana (Mark) Runkel (1797-1881, buried at Lebonan, Pennsylvania

It was probably made by Christiana (Mark) Runkel, great great grandmother of Guy Kidney, and her sister Eve Mark in Pennsylvania. (The name has been spelled Runckel, Runkel, and Runkle.)

Nicholas (1716-1774) and Elizabeth Runckle were German immigrants in 1743, arriving aboard the Loyal Judith, settling in Berks County, Pennsylvania. 

Their son John Runckle married Maria Catharina.

John and Maria’s son John Runkel, who was baptized in 1779.

That John Runkel’s son Henry married Christiana Mark, who most likely made the quilt with her sister Eve Mark.  Christiana (Mark) Runkel is most likely the “Grandma Runkle” on the embroidered tag on the back.

This visually stunning treasure is exquisitely hand pieced, appliqued, and quilted. It was brought to Carroll County, Iowa, after the Civil War by veteran Amos Mark Runkel, son of John and Christiana.

Guy Kidney at the grave of his great grandfather, Amos Mark Runkel, a Pennsylvania Civil War veteran, at the Veteran’s Administration Cemetery, Hot Springs, SD

After his first wife died in childbirth with their seventh child, Amos Mark Runkel (1836-1914) and his children came west to Carroll, Iowa. He remarried Margaretha Lange Daniels, a German immigrant and widow with six children, who ran a brewery in Carroll. Together, Amos and Margaretha had two daughters, including Guy’s grandmother, Teresa (Runkel) Walker.

Teresa Walker handed down the quilt to her youngest child, Carol, who is Guy’s mother, now age 99. Carol Walker Kidney Herman gave the heirloom quilt to Guy in 1992.

The Runkle Blazing Star Quilt has been shown at the 1983 Invitational Quilt Show at Iowa State University, in the Scheman Continuing Education Building art gallery, Ames, Iowa. Also at the 1993 Quilt Extravaganza IV at Hoyt Sherman Place in Des Moines.

Information from: Runkel Family Bible, now owned by Guy Kidney

Some Early Lineages of Berks County, Pa., by Beulah Hix Blair, 1959

The New “Leora Book” a topic on The Culture Buzz

John Busbee’s irrestible review of Leora’s Early Years: Guthrie County Roots is on page 5 of the Jan/Feb2023 issue of Iowa History Journal.

This week, on his weekly radio program, The Culture Buzz, he interviewed the owner and publisher of Iowa History Journal, Michael Swanger. Here are the compelling stories in the new issue.

Toward the end of the 14-minute interview, John and Michael included a few words about the newest “Leora book,” if you’d like to listen in.

John Busbee (left) is a creative projects developer, recipient of the 2014 Iowa Governor’s Award for Collaboration & Partnership in the Arts, produces The Culture Buzz weekly radio program since 2007, and is a regular contributor to Iowa History Journal and other publications.

He wrote the foreword to Leora’s Dexter Stories: The Scarcity Years of the Great Depression and has edited the last two books. He is an encourager extraordinaire, who’s interviewed me a couple of times on The Culture Buzz.

Journalist Michael Swanger (right) is the publisher and editor of Iowa History Journal. This is their 15th year of publication.

Christmas in Northern Minnesota, Early 1900s, a Blizzard and a Child With Pneumonia

Key West, in the SW corner and east of Grand Forks, ND, was less than 100 miles from the Canadian border.

The Goff family arrived in northern Minnesota in a blizzard the spring of 1903. When the mother, grandmother, and children got to Grand Forks, North Dakota on the train, they all had caught colds and were met by Grandpap Goff to take them by bobsled and bundled up with quilts the last thirteen miles. There was no school in winter, since the weather was too unpredictable and dangerous. 

“One Christmas while in Minnesota,” Leora Goff Wilson wrote in her memoirs, “we were invited to Bertie Burris’. They had been to our place for weekends a few times. It was a nice clear morning and we [Sherd, Laura, and nine children] all got into the bobsled with plenty of straw and comforters. Merl brought his sled (Christmas present for all) and tied it on behind and rode on it some ’til we noticed his nose was frozen white.

Helen and Ruby Burris, daughters of Estella and Burt Burris. Stell was a daughter of Dave Branson. This was taken in or around Polk County, MN, about 1903 (but soon moved back to Guthrie County, Iowa).

“We were over halfway to Burris’, 5 miles (Burns’ lived about 7 miles from us) when one of those sudden blizzards began. We finally got to Burris’ and the youngest of their two girls, Helen, about 2 years old, was sick with pneumonia. The hired man, who was Artie Walters from Iowa, had ridden a horse several miles to get a doctor to come out.

“We couldn’t turn back and go home in the storm – no phones to let us know. The turkey was in the oven roasting and, with what we brought with us, and all put together, we had a delicious Christmas dinner. As many of us as there were, including little ones, all were pretty quiet.

“The storm blew over by 3 or 4 p.m. and we left for home. The hired man was up all night, so he was asleep all day. We were a thankful family to get back home safely and Helen Burris was getting better fast.”

How amazing Leora remembered the details of this Christmas decades later. She was in her early teens when they lived in northern Minnesota. I’m thankful for all the memories she recorded.

Story from Leora’s Early Years: Guthrie County Roots