Joy Neal Kidney's Blog, page 64

Five Surprising Things about Author Steve Snyder

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Steve Snyder’s surprising answers:

1. Classmate of Lew Alcindor (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) in college at UCLA, and we were both born in April 1947.2. Went on a two month road trip around the U.S. and Canada in 1970 after graduating from college.3. Selected Outstanding Trainee in my Army Advanced Individual Training Class at Fort Knox, Kentucky in 1972.4. I am a member of the International Palm Society and my yard in Seal Beach, California is a botanical garden with 75 species of palm trees growing in the ground with many tropical plants such as hibiscus, plumeria, anthuriums, heliconia, crotons, etc.5. I sat next to OJ Simpson on a 6 hour flight from Baltimore to Los Angeles during which I asked him if he killed Nicole and Ronald Goldman.—–

Steve graduated from UCLA with a B.A. degree in Economics and has lived in Seal Beach, California since 1972. After 36 years in national sales and sales management, he retired from Vision Service Plan (VSP) in 2009.

Soon after retirement, Steve began his quest to learn about the World War II experiences of his father, pilot Howard Snyder, and his crew of the B-17, Susan Ruth, named after his older sister. It became his passion, and after 4 1/2 years of dedicated research, resulted in his book, SHOT DOWN which has received over 20 national book awards.

One result of his new career as a World War II historian is that he is a member of numerous World War II organizations and Past President of the 306th Bomb Group Historical Association.

Shot Down:

The True Story of Pilot Howard Snyder and the Crew of the B-17 Susan Ruth

B-17 pilot Howard Snyder was shot down in February of 1944 on the French/Belgium border. Two members of the crew of 10 were killed in the plane, some rescued and in hiding, some captured. The author not only did research to learn what happened to his father, but also the rest of the crew. He contacted a German man who was one of the pilots who shot down the Susan Ruth (which was named for the Lt. Snyder’s daughter).

Howard Snyder was part of the 369th Bomb Squadron, 306th Bomb Group, 8th Air Force, stationed in England. I learned about their living conditions there, and also an explanation of the amazing combat formations for the hundreds of bombers sent on each mission.

Snyder was kept hidden by brave Belgians. Paul Delahaye was a child in Belgium when the Nazis overran that nation. He was 13 when the Americans forced out the Germans and he met the Americans who freed them. He made it his mission to make sure the Americans are never forgotten, building memorials and starting museums. Howard Snyder kept in touch with his rescuers and even visited there, also meeting Paul Delahaye.

Shot Down is remarkable and complete history of one WWII bomber and her crew.

A 14-minute video of the author’s pilot father attending the 50th Anniversary of the Liberation of Belgium.

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O J Simpson’s answer: “He said no he didn’t.  It was Nicole’s drug friends that did it. During the flight he took his shoes off and had trouble putting them back on when we were landing. I thought of saying, just like the gloves, eh OJ? But didn’t… “

Clabe Wilson’s Model T Truck

Delbert and Donald Wilson drove their dad’s Model T Truck to Des Moines in January 1934 to talk to the Navy Recruitment Office about joining the Navy. Yes, it was snowing. Grandmother Goff’s Dexter house is in the distance.

Donald and Delbert Wilson, January 18, 1934. “Just arrived home to Dexter from Des Moines where they were looking after navy business.” They also brought their younger brothers a sled.

The next month, the brothers left for Norfolk, Virginia, to serve four years in the U.S. Navy. The truck wasn’t mentioned in letters to them from the folks until August 1, when their dad Clabe writes, “The kids and I got the old ‘Struggle Buggy’ out of the shed Mon. for the first time since you boys left.”

Six months, and the family had done everything on foot. Clabe had a government job of keeping the town pump oiled, but he could walk to work.

“We went out to look for wood and wound up in Dale City. Stopped and saw Uncle Alberts–they are getting old fast. The country over there [rural Guthrie County] is all burned up. The worst I ever saw. We saw teams [of horses] all along the road hauling water from the river. The cattle have eaten the brush just as high as they can reach.”

The next time we hear anything about the truck is that September, also from Clabe, “I suppose Mom told you about the Ford. The kids and I were out in the shed one day and they said, ‘Why don’t you take the top off–it looks too high.’ I just picked up the hammer and knocked it off. You ought to have heard them laugh. We cut down the seat and cut off half of the wind shield. It looks like a sports roadster.”

That “Model T roadster” is on the cover of Leora’s Dexter Stories: The Scarcity Years of the Great Depression, where Junior is on the hood, looking down at their pet squirrel Rusty on the fender.

Here’s another photo taken the same day:

Dale is in the driver’s seat. Junior is on the hood. Danny is looking at Rusty, who is hard to see on the corner of the windscreen. October 1934, Dexter, Iowa

Clabe sold the roadster before January 1935, when Leora needed surgery for the chunk of needle embedded in her hand. They had to catch rides with neighbors, and even the doctor once.

The summer of 1935, Clabe felt well enough to tackle fieldwork and was desperate to find a job. He trudged and hitch-hiked deeper into Dallas County, eventually finding a man who would hire him.

That story is in Chapter 31 in Leora’s Dexter Stories. A relative of the Peitzman family, who is also a historian and preservationist, formerly with the State Historical Society of Iowa and the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs, wrote an endorsement for the book.

Clabe Wilson didn’t own another vehicle until after they moved to Minburn in 1939.

The Birth of Doris Laurayne Wilson, August 30, 1918

While three of my uncles
served with the 88th in France,
I was born on their popcorn farm
in Baker Township
midst the hills of Guthrie County
the scorching, fly-pestering
August of 1918, with rumors
of influenza all around.

The ether-soaked cloth
was at the ready
for my mother
to ease the bearing down,
Grandmother's offering
when our babies were born.

Doc Thomas wondered
how my mother knew
I'd be a girl, but
after Delbert and Donald,
maybe our family needed one.

"Can we take her for a ride
in our wagon?" they begged,
bumping against the birthing bed.

Grandmother, still laughing,
shooed them outside
with bread and jam.

Five Surprising Things about Author Kayleen Reusser

Kayleen’s surprising answers:

1.   She grew up with a love for horses, took riding lessons and has ridden horses in 13 states, including Alaska.

2.   She interviewed an Indiana Supreme Court Justice for a magazine story on genealogy.

3.   For many years she focused on travel writing during which she saw her first rodeo in Billings, Montana – and was thrilled!

4.   She has not watched American TV/movies for more than a decade, preferring to view British and other European/ Australian shows and learn their cultures. Anyone else know what the bonnet on a car is?

5.   She will soon celebrate her 41st wedding anniversary to the best man on earth and undoubtedly the only one who could ever live with her.

Kayleen Reusser has written professionally for 30 years. She has contributed several stories for Chicken Soup series, written for magazines and newspapers and penned 16 non-fiction books for middle grades.

Ten years ago, her writing took a turn when she interviewed a WWII veteran.

Inspired by her interview with the Marine who fought bravely in the Pacific from 1941-1945 and her desire to better support the military (Reusser is the proud wife and mother of Air Force airmen) and build a higher level of patriotism among Americans, she changed her focus. Today, she devotes her writing and speaking to the 260 WWII vets she has interviewed and other aspects of the war. She has written nine books about WWII.

In 2017, Reusser and her husband completed a 10-day WWII Tour of Europe. Since then, she has spoken to thousands of people about the brave vets she has met who fought in Omaha Beach, the Battle of the Bulge, Paris, Hitler’s retreat called Eagle’s Nest, Dachau, and more. Beginning in 2020, she expanded her reach with zoom talks around the US. She posts regularly to her blog and sends out a monthly newsletter.

Panther Corner

Perry, Iowa, was a destination town during the 1950s, fun to shop in, and easier to drive to than Des Moines. Grandma Leora, who lived in Guthrie Center in those days, used to enjoy shopping there, too.

Grandma would ride the bus from Guthrie to Panther Corner along Highway 44 in Colfax Township. We waited for the bus in the shade of tall trees along the gravel road across from the Panther store and garage. Here’d come the bus with our precious grandma. Holding her pocketbook and small suitcase, she’d climb down the steps of the bus. We’d help carry her little bag back to the car. Perry is a short drive north from there (now Highway P-58).

The road to Perry is between the garage and the store, to the right in the photo.

After a day of shopping and lunch in a cafe, we’d take her home with us for a few days. Those made for special memories.

Grandma Leora always wore dresses until her daughters talked her into pants suits.Panther Store in the “olden days.”

These days, there’s only a memorial on that corner, but there are still plenty of people around who have fond memories of bustling Panther Corner.

Mom and my sister Gloria reading the storyboard for Panther Corner.

Lorraine American Cemetery, St. Avold, France

The history of the Lorraine American Cemetery, according to the official booklet about the cemetery and memorial, began with actions of the U.S. Third and Seventh Armies in NE France against Nazi Germany in late 1944. Thousands of men were lost during the Battle of the Bulge, along with the assault on the Siegfied Line.

“Most of those interred here gave their lives during the advance to the Rhine and the advance across Germany in the spring of 1945.”

A temporary American military cemetery was established in March 1945, about 1/2 mile south of the present cemetery.

 

The remains of Lt. Daniel W. Wilson, who was KIA in February of 1945, were finally located in Austria in late 1945. His parents were notified in January, 1946.

 

The next summer, an American Graves Registration team handled declarations from officials in the town where he was buried. His remains were disinterred and someone decided he would be temporarily buried in the cemetery above. His casualty records include checking all the facts, especially since the enemy had removed his ID tags, and noting the name of the chaplain who held the burial service.

A document from his 293 or casualty file shows that X-7341, BTB (believed to be) Lt. Daniel Wilson, was reburied at a new temporary American cemetery near St. Avold, France, September 9, 1946, at 1500 hours, in temporary plot KKKK, Row 3, Grave 64.

Permanent Burial

After his mother made the decision not to have his remains sent home to Iowa, Lt. Daniel S. Wilson, previously known as X-7341, was buried on December 21, 1948, for the third and final time at the new and permanent Lorraine American Cemetery–Plot D, Row 5, Grave 7.

Sisters Darlene and Doris at the grave of their younger brother, Danny Wilson. The Superintendent of Lorraine American Cemetery, Walter Gebhardt, in the foreground. October 1997.

General George C. Marshall wrote, in the June 1957 issue of The National Geographic Magazine, that “15,000,000 American men and women had answered the call to arms; of these, 360,810 died overseas. Most of them were buried near where they fell, in temporary graves on alien soil.” He said that more than half were “brought back to their homeland at the request of relatives.”

The remaining war casualties were left in the care of the American Battle Monuments Commission.

The permanent site of Lorraine covers more than 113 acres on the west edge of the Saar mining region. The cemetery and memorial had not yet been dedicated when Gen. Marshall wrote the 1957 article. The American cemetery in Europe with the largest number of graves, over 10,000, was finally dedicated in 1960.

October 1997

 

Five Surprising Things about Author William Ablan

William Ablan/Richard Muniz’ surprising list:

I did a 100-mile road march in Holland.

2. Put a bullet hole in the roof of my car (being stupid out of season).

3. Shared a beer with a real, live princess.

4. Met William Shatner and had a good conversation with him. I didn’t realize it was him until several minutes after I’d walked away.

5. Ran a marathon on a broken foot.

—–

This conversationalist with William Shatner is the author of The Lawman Series, including The Cross and the Badge and Against Flesh and Blood, stories “From the Case Files of Detective Will Diaz (Ret.)” The novels are based on stories from the author’s own compelling experiences from his years in law enforcement.

A native of the San Luis Valley in Southern Colorado, Rich was raised a cowboy. His sights were set on distant horizons, light years away in fact. He studied Astronomy at Adams State University, and in his senior year, began to suspect he was taking a degree in something he couldn’t get hired for.

He ended up working as a law enforcement officer for over twenty years. Somewhere in the middle of all this, events would dictate that he step out of his comfort zone. He enlisted in the United States Army as a Military Policeman. His experience as a civilian police officer proved invaluable in the Army as he worked undercover narcotics, plain clothes investigations, and VIP security. During this he deployed to the Persian Gulf for the Gulf War. After the Gulf War, he worked Emergency Management in the San Luis Valley.

Eventually he moved into the Information Technology field, and has worked in it for the past twenty years. He’s considered an expert in VMware, Security, and Auditing, and has written extensively on those subjects. He and his wife currently reside in Greeley, Colorado.

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Rich also has a website, where lately he’s been researching bad guys (and gals) and other fascinating stories from Colorado history. He also shares stories on Our American Stories and does his own podcasts.

Military New Testaments and a Great Grandmother’s Bible

The earliest Bible handed down in my family is Great Grandmother Laura Goff’s, next to a doily she made decades later.

Written on a black hard-to-read page inside is “Laura Goff, Key West, Minn.” Looks like she may have paid $1.35 for it. The Goff family moved to Minnesota with eight children 1903, and moved back to Iowa in 1905 with another baby.

Inside the old Bible are the military IDs for Laura Goff’s three sons (Jennings, Merl, and Wayne) who served in WWI, also the two who served in WWII (Rolla and Clarence).

Next is her daughter Leora’s note, “Mother read this Bible twice when she was with Clarence in Omaha.” (That would have been in the late 1930s.)

Under that is Laura’s signature and a notation that she joined the M.E. church at Dexter, Iowa, March 14, 1937, and was baptized there on March 28, 1937 (which was Easter Sunday) by Rev. J. H. Freedline. This is interesting because she’d moved to Omaha in 1935 and was living with her sons and two motherless grandchildren. She must have been visiting Leora’s family in Dexter when she joined the church (where she’d attended during the late 1920s and early 1930s) and was baptized.

This page is interesting because it notes that the Bible is a “Self-Pronouncing Edition” and was published by the American Branch of Oxford University Press.

“Translated out of the original tongues: and with the former translations diligently compared and revised, by his majesty’s special command.”

“Appointed to be read in churches,” it says.

 

 

World War I New Testament

The tobacco can wasn’t Clabe Wilson’s, but Prince Albert was his brand, noted in the old letters as his “P.A.” This was his pipe, and the WWI New Testament, probably one of Leora’s brother’s.

 

There’s no date in this one, but “The President’s Message” is by Woodrow Wilson, so would have been given to those who served in WWI. It probably belonged to one of Leora Wilson’s brothers.

The last paragraph reads, “When you have read the bible you will know that it is the World of God, because you will have found it the key to your own heart, your own happiness, and your own duty.”

This one plays a role in Chapter 30 of Leora’s Dexter Stories, when Clabe is comforted by verses about gossip.

 

World War II New Testaments

Claiborne Junior Wilson

Junior Wilson’s New Testament has pilot’s wings on it. The note is from President Franklin Roosevelt. “As Commander-in-Chief I take pleasure in commending the reading of the Bible to all who served in the armed forces of the United States. Throughout the centuries men of many faiths have found in the Sacred Book words of wisdom, counsel and inspiration. It’s a foundation of strength and now, as always, an aid in attaining the highest aspirations of the human soul.”

There are several clippings inside, along with this prayer in Leora’s handwriting.

 

 

 

Daniel S. Wilson

On September 26, 1945, a carton of Dan Wilson’s things arrived at the Wilson acreage south of Perry–sent from the Army Effects Bureau of the Kansas City Quartermaster Depot.

Clabe signed for the box. I suppose they opened it, but did they sort through their son’s eighteen pairs of socks, five cotton undershirts, three khaki trousers, and other clothing?  If they had, they would have found Danny’s wrist watch, souvenirs of his R and R to Rome over Christmas, a fountain pen, other items including a small New Testament.

Yes, the war was over, but life just kept on and on. . . .

According to Leora’s notes, she churned butter every week. Two cows had calves. Clabe helped a neighbor with field work.

At some point, they would have thumbed through the Danny’s small New Testament.

They would have found the page with the American flag pictured in color.

I believe this legacy of faith in God, from Great Grandmother’s self-pronouncing Bible to the military New Testaments, helped Leora Wilson’s family get through the Great Depression and the terrible losses of WWII with hope, resilience, and determination.

Leora’s Letters: The Story of Love and Loss for an Iowa Family During World War II and Leora’s Dexter Stories: The Scarcity Years of the Great Depression have more stories about the Wilson family.

Military Service Members Related to Leora Wilson

Someone mentioned that Leora Wilson seemed to have several family members who’ve served in the armed forces, so I decided to see if I could come up with a list. Here’s what I found:

World War I

Three brothers: Merl, Wayne, and Jennings Goff–served in France with the 88th Division

World War II

Rolla Goff

 

Clarence (C.Z.) Goff, an earlier photo

 

Two brothers: Rolla and Clarence Goff.

I think Merl Goff also did war work.

Five sons Delbert, Donald, Dale, Daniel, and Junior

Delbert and Donald served in the U.S. Navy. Delbert’s service. Donald’s.

Dale, Danny, and Junior were pilots in the U.S. Army Air Force.

Dale Wilson, a B-25 copilot, was lost in combat off New Guinea. Danny Wilson, a P-38 pilot, was KIA in Austria. Junior Wilson’s P-40 exploded in training in Texas.

A nephew Merrill Goff, U.S. Marine, USS Pensacola

 

 

 

A son-in-law Warren Neal, U.S. Army Air Force pilot

 

 

 

 

 

Vietnam

Grandson Bob Scar, U.S. Marine pilot

 

 

 

 

 

Grandsons-in-law Guy Kidney (U.S. Air Force)  and Larry Willoughby (U.S. Navy)

 

Gulf War

Great Grandson Ken Scar, U.S. Army photojournalist, Afghanistan

Five Surprising Things about Author Robert Frohlich

Robert’s surprising answers:

1. Was found unconscious in the school restroom. (Inept gymnast.)2. Fixed a truck with baling wire and drove it home.3. Skied in the Bavarian Alps.4. Enjoyed a European vacation for $24.5. Was a gasoline thief and a hero at the same time.—–This heroic gasoline thief has written a compelling memoir.“Why am I still alive?” That question was in the back of his mind when in 1965, Robert Frohlich was headed out towards Arizona to look for a job after serving in the army for three years. Escaping a splintered family and a troubled past, his car broke down in Wisconsin.Through a series of events that involved finding life-long friends, stable work, and the love of his life, he never left, finally finding a place to stay after wandering for most of his life. However, that was not the first time God caused Robert’s life to change direction, nor will it be the last. By learning to trust in the Lord and let things come as they may, Robert has led a fulfilling life serving God, his family, and his community. Aimless Life, Awesome God is the story of Robert Frohlich, but it is also the story of anyone willing to let God redirect their lives according to His awesome plan.—–What an amazing life, an amazing story of God’s hand on one man, in spite of a broken childhood and even poor choices. I love stories that show God’s surprising nudges in a life through the decades, and the influence of that life on those around him.His website is full of uplifting stories. I hope he’ll share blog posts about some of those five things we don’t not know about him!Here’s a delightful one called “The Big Green Pickle.”Robert has also had two stories produced on Our American Stories. Wheels. Hmm, they seem to have a pretty strong theme through his life.Learning to Drive lasts a delightful 19 minutes.3, 2, 1, You’re It! is an 11-minute story.