Jim Potter's Blog, page 10

Medical Support of the Fifth Division in World War II-Part 2

http://jimpotterauthor.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Medical-Support-of-the-5th-Div.-in-WWII-part2.mp3Medical Support of the Fifth Division in World War II (Part 2)By Harold L. Potter (1998); Presented to the Sojourners group, near Hot Springs, Arkansas.Edited and audio recording by Jim PotterHarold L. Potter, 1st Lt., Fifth Inf. Div., Third army, medical department supervisor of evacuation of combat casualties in the European theater. Overseas March 1944, serving in Normandy, northern France, Ardennes, and Rhineland campaigns, battle of Metz, Third army’s crossing of Rhine, the battles of Bulge and Ruhr pocket, and action in Germany, Austria, and Czechoslovakia. Formerly with 35th Div. Was Pvt., in medical detachment, 130th F. A. when it mobilized in Hutchinson, Dec. 1940. With 35th Division at Camp Robinson, AR, and in CA. To Europe from Camp Grant, IL, with hospital train, serving as a combat medic in ETO in five campaigns. In service five years, Dec. 23, 1940 to Dec. 8, 1945. Army Medical Service Corps officer insignia lapel pin

The Fifth Division had a very distinguished combat record during World War I. The Red Diamond Division of WWI was remembered by many civilians of Luxembourg. General Pershing once said that the crossing of the Meuse River in France by the Fifth Division in WWI was one of the most brilliant military feats in the history of the American army.

(Above paragraph is end of Part 1)

The Division had been activated on October 24, 1939, at Fort McClennan, Alabama. It consisted of the 2nd, 10th, and 11th Infantry Regiments, four Field Artillery battalions, 7th Combat Engineer Battalion, 5th Medical Battalion, 5th Signal Battalion, Tank Destroyer (TD) Battalions, and Companies from various services.

The story of the Medical Services in Combat can be gleaned from the experiences of the Fifth Infantry Division in WWII. The Division moved to Fort Benjamin Harrison in May 1940, and to Fort Custer, Michigan, in December 1940. Personnel took part in the Tennessee maneuvers in the fall of 1941, then started being deployed overseas to Iceland in September 1941 and early 1942.

In WWII, the Red Diamond Division again established an outstanding record as part of General Patton’s Third Army by its relentless pounding of the enemy in the ten months drive across France and Luxembourg into Germany and Czechoslovakia. A total of 25 rivers were crossed by the Division in this drive.

General George Patton, 1945. By Robert F. Cranston, Lee Elkins, & Harry Warnecke, color carbon print from National Portrait Gallery. Public Domain.

The 3rd Army was actually a secret army at the beginning. You did not see it listed in the newspapers at first. It seemed like that was the way General Patton liked to operate. We know that he liked to surprise the enemy. When the Third Army formed early in July, there was nothing in the papers for at least three weeks. It could only be kept quiet so long before it came out and the units were disclosed. The first action was about July 10, 1944.

We crossed the first of our 25 rivers in July in Normandy.

I should say something about our organization at this time. The principal fighting unit was considered the Division. Each regiment in the 5th Division represented a Combat Team (CT) and since there were three Regiments in the Division, there were three Combat Teams fighting separately. Each Regiment was also supported by Division units of other branches. Since there were three batteries of 105 mm howitzers in the Field Artillery, each Combat Team had a battery of Artillery. Similarly, each Combat Team included Combat Engineers, Medical, Tank, and Ordnance. Other branches, including Reconnaissance Troop, Quartermaster (QM), Military Police (MP), and Signal Corps, had only one company in the Division so they were not able to divide up and furnish personnel to each Combat Team.   

As a 2nd Lt., at the start, my primary duty was an Ambulance Platoon leader with responsibilities to evacuate one Combat Team, and my secondary duty was as Liaison between my Battalion Commander, who was a medical officer, and the Commanding Officer of the Combat Team, who was the Commanding Officer (CO) of the Regiment. My duties as liaison were primarily being available to receive moving orders and to be ready to have a spot to set up our Collecting Station and the rest of our company. If possible, we would take over a building where the company soldiers could lay their wire for electricity in the station. If we could not arrange a building, we had to improvise and sometimes set up tents.

As the Ambulance Platoon leader, I had to constantly set up shuttle systems whereby when one ambulance left for the Clearing Station, another would move up and take his place down the line, etc. The number of vehicles in the shuttle on any given day would depend upon the severity of the fighting and potential for causalities. This was because one of the principal rules in parking the vehicles was to make certain that they were spread out so that one shell could not hit more than one vehicle.

My duty as liaison officer proved to be very interesting because I had access to the map room in the 11th Infantry Regimental Command Post (CP) where I could watch the development of the war on the battle map. Since the 11th Infantry was more or less leading the way, their maps were about as full of current information as possible. For both of my duties, I was assigned a jeep and driver. We traveled all over the Division’s area every day unless the Infantry was crossing another river.

Before going further, I should summarize how the Medical Service was set up in Combat. When a Combat casualty was started down the evacuation chain, each doctor either sent the casualty further or stopped his evacuation progress after treatment. In the meantime, he was receiving treatment according to his injury. The Division personnel were responsible for the first two echelons of evacuation.

General Patton talks to wounded soldiers for evacuation. National Archives & Records Administration. Public Domain.

The first echelon was performed by Division personnel through the Collection Station. Depending on his condition and the mobility of the Medical personnel, he would be prepared to go much further back for quick treatment and then return to his unit for duty. If he was sent further back, he would be transported by Collection Station ambulances to the Clearing Station. If he was evacuated further, he would normally go by Clearing Company or Army ambulances to hospitals in the Communication Zone or back to the Zone of the Interior (Z.I.).

Field hospitals, mobile surgical hospitals, evacuation hospitals and numbered station hospitals were all located to the rear of the Combat Zone. Militarily speaking, mobility depended upon the type of hospital and the local conditions. Many casualties who were seriously injured were prepared for evacuation by train or ship to the Zone of the Interior.

You will note that I am not attempting to go into treatment of casualties because this has changed considerably since 1945. One thing we were still learning at the end of World War II, was how to use Sulfa drugs in treating contaminated gunshot wounds. Sulfa was still new, and doctors were still experimenting with it at that time.

– TO BE CONTINUED –

Harold L. Potter was born near Rolla, Kansas, in 1920, the son of Clarence and Cleo Crandall Potter. He lived in the center of the Dust Bowl in the 1930s and moved to Hutchinson with his family in 1934. Potter graduated from Hutchinson Junior College prior to his military service, and earned a BSBA degree from Washington University, St. Louis, in 1947. He was a U.S. Army veteran of World War II. He entered active duty as a private in December 1940 and transferred to the reserves after the end of World War II. He was discharged as a major in 1964. While stationed in Illinois at Mayo General Hospital in 1943, “Hal” met Nell Armstrong of Galesburg. She was a civilian employee in medical supply. Hal and Nell married in July 1945 after Victory in Europe (VE Day), prior to Lt. Potter being trained for the Pacific theater, including the invasion of Japan. 

Happy writing and reading,

 

 

 

The post Medical Support of the Fifth Division in World War II-Part 2 appeared first on Sandhenge Publications.

Medical Support of the Fifth Division in World War II-Part 1

http://jimpotterauthor.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Medical-Support-of-the-5th-Div.-in-WWII-p1-blog.mp3Medical Support of the Fifth Division in World War II (Part 1)By Harold L. Potter (1998); Presented to the Sojourners group, near Hot Springs, Arkansas.Edited and audio recording by Jim PotterHarold L. Potter, 1st Lt., Fifth Inf. Div., Third army, medical department supervisor of evacuation of combat casualties in the European theater. Overseas March 1944, serving in Normandy, northern France, Ardennes, and Rhineland campaigns, battle of Metz, Third army’s crossing of Rhine, the battles of Bulge and Ruhr pocket, and action in Germany, Austria, and Czechoslovakia. Formerly with 35th Div. Was Pvt., in medical detachment, 130th F. A. when it mobilized in Hutchinson, Dec. 1940. With 35th Division at Camp Robinson, AR, and in CA. To Europe from Camp Grant, IL, with hospital train, serving as a combat medic in ETO in five campaigns. In service five years, Dec. 23, 1940 to Dec. 8, 1945. Army Medical Service Corps officer insignia lapel pin

My military experience started on August 25, 1938, when I joined the Medical Detachment of the 130th Field Artillery Regiment of the 35th Division of the Kansas National Guard. In those days, we normally had one weekender per month in the sand hills north of Hutchinson, plus our usual weekly Monday night at the armory in Hutchinson. Our Division entered federal service on December 23, 1940, and went to Camp Robinson, Arkansas, for our one year’s training.

Many of you will remember the hit song, “Goodbye Dear, I’ll be Back in a Year.” In my case, that became five years before I was released to the Reserves where I was fairly active until I was retired in 1964 with 25 years of service.

In 1942, the organization of the infantry divisions was changed from “square” divisions to “triangular” divisions. At the end of that year, I was recommended for Officer Candidate School (OCS). At the time, I was young and full of “piss and vinegar,” as they used to say, and had experience as a Drill Instructor (DI). After graduation, I found myself a Second “Looey” and assigned to “Tent City” in Camp Grant near Rockford, Illinois, in April of 1943.

It was called Tent City because several training battalions were formed every spring in the Medical Replacement Training Center. It was torn down in the fall because the winters were too cold for tent living and the training of “rooks.”

We managed to get in two 13-week training sessions that summer. For the first session, our training battalion was a trainload of fresh new rookies from the hills of North Carolina, then for the second session we had a similar sized group of brash rookies from Brooklyn by way of Camp Upton on Long Island. Another lieutenant and I had gone to Long Island and brought them back to Camp Grant by train. When our company officers divided up the subjects and prepared the training schedules, I was fortunate in receiving most of the tactical subjects which I particularly enjoyed. That would include field subjects, map reading, etc.

Our training was quite intense. We had what we called the “gestapo” officers from the 37th Battalion Headquarters popping in on us unannounced, but after training periods we were ready for combat and getting anxious to get overseas.

The Fifth Army (Red Diamond) Division shoulder patch Lt. Potter’s Combat Medic Badge and campaign ribbons

The training schedule was prepared each week. If a class was set up for one hour, we had to be sure that the class lasted exactly 50 minutes, then took a 10-minute break, remembering that the gestapo was checking on us. But this concentrated training paid off because we turned out some good soldiers. They weren’t quite as anxious to get into combat as we were, but they were ready.

The Fifth (Red Diamond) Division had a very distinguished combat record during World War I. The Red Diamond Division of WWI was remembered by many civilians of Luxembourg. General Pershing once said that the crossing of the Meuse River in France by the Fifth Division in WWI was one of the most brilliant military feats in the history of the American army.

– TO BE CONTINUED –

Harold L. Potter was born near Rolla, Kansas, in 1920, the son of Clarence and Cleo Crandall Potter. He lived in the center of the Dust Bowl in the 1930s and moved to Hutchinson with his family in 1934. Potter graduated from Hutchinson Junior College prior to his military service, and earned a BSBA degree from Washington University, St. Louis, in 1947. He was a U.S. Army veteran of World War II. He entered active duty as a private in December 1940 and transferred to the reserves after the end of World War II. He was discharged as a major in 1964. While stationed in Illinois at Mayo General Hospital in 1943, “Hal” met Nell Armstrong of Galesburg. She was a civilian employee in medical supply. Hal and Nell married in July 1945 after Victory in Europe (VE Day), prior to Lt. Potter being trained for the Pacific theater, including the invasion of Japan. 

Happy writing and reading,

 

 

 

The post Medical Support of the Fifth Division in World War II-Part 1 appeared first on Sandhenge Publications.

Book Release: “Deputy Jennings Meets the Amish”

http://jimpotterauthor.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Deputy-Jennings-Meets-the-Amish-C1-blog-1.mp3Front cover of “Deputy Jennings Meets the Amish.” I’m so pleased with this cover designed by Gina Laiso, Integrita Productions. I would have had a one-dimensional warning sign with a buggy & horse. Thankfully, Gina understood that Deputy Jennings is the main character in the story, & needed to be a big front & center.Book Release: Deputy Jennings Meets the Amish (a novella)Chapter 1: Deputy Jennings Meets Rosanna Yoder

“How can this be happening to me?” thought Rosanna.

 Earlier, Adam, her husband, had remarked, “We sure had a gully washer overnight!”

“How are my flowers?” she had asked, concerned about filling business orders prior to the upcoming holiday. 

“Those in bloom took a beating, but the others may come around with a break in the weather,” Adam had replied. He added, “The fierce storm has done more than damage your flowers; a corner of the garden has flowed into the ditch.

Adam had left for town on the tractor, pulling their horse trailer, taking pigs and chickens to the sale barn in Prairie Grove.

As soon as he departed, Rosanna got to work. She knew how to use a shovel and a wheelbarrow, and she had the muscles to prove it. After checking her flowers, Rosanna started collecting the garden’s rich topsoil from the county ditch. With each trip of heavy wet soil, she strained to control the wheelbarrow, especially when the wheel slid off the board path that she had laid down on the saturated ground.

On every wheelbarrow trip, Rosanna promised herself that she would plant additional grass to prevent damaging erosion from future gully washers. As she turned back towards the ditch, she saw a county patrol car slowing down with its turn signal blinking, indicating the vehicle was preparing to enter her driveway. The side of the vehicle identified it as a “K-9 Unit.” Rosanna ignored the driver but observed the dog in the rear seat, a German shepherd.

She touched her right cheek.

Rosanna remembered growing up with occasional brief visits from deputy sheriffs. Her mouth dry, she wet her lips and swallowed, praying that God’s will would include a safe Adam, one who hadn’t been in an accident. Then she considered her husband’s family in Pennsylvania. Had there been a death? Was the deputy here for a death notification? She almost laughed. Those days were over. Access to cell phones had changed their world.

*

The deputy was an extra-large man with a bald head and a ready smile. His grin revealed a lot. Rosanna figured he wasn’t the bearer of bad news.

The obese officer struggled to dislodge himself from his car. For a minute, it appeared the steering wheel and safety belt would prevent him from ever exiting his vehicle. Winded, he finally pulled himself out. The canine stared at her and lifted his nose toward the partially open side-window.

“Hello ma’am, I’m Deputy Tom Jennings with the Cottonwood County Sheriff’s Office.”

Rosanna bit her lip and replied, “Hello, sir, I’m Rosanna Yoder with the Old Order Amish.”

“Nice to meet you. Looks like you’ve got some work ahead of you,” said Jennings, observing the nearby mudslide.

Rosanna nodded but waited to learn why law enforcement was visiting her.

“I’m here because I’m responding to a 911 call,” said Jennings. “A county employee called the dispatcher and told her that there was a theft in progress, that someone was stealing dirt from this location.”

“I haven’t seen anyone stealing dirt around here,” replied Rosanna. “Did the dispatcher get a description of the vehicle?” she asked.

“The description was an attractive Amish woman wearing a dark-blue dress.”

“Oh!” exclaimed Rosanna. “Me? . . . but I’m not stealing anything,” she replied. “May I call my husband? He’s in town.”

“Yes, sure, but I still need to talk with you. I need more information for my report. Would you like to use my phone?”

*

Deputy Jennings got his phone out and gave it a command: “Call Miller’s Sale Barn, Prairie Grove, Kansas.”

A minute later, once her husband was on the phone, Jennings watched as Rosanna Yoder, an Amish woman wearing a dark-blue dress and a white head covering, both decorated with splashes of dried dirt, walked in her muddy tennis shoes towards the enclosed front porch. Jennings waited, already back in his SUV, working on his computerized report.

Rosanna’s call to Adam was brief. She explained that a deputy sheriff—polite enough—was questioning her about taking “dirt” out of the ditch. Adam told her there was nothing to worry about; her interaction with the sheriff would not be a problem; it was just a cultural misunderstanding.

“Adam,” Rosanna said, “. . . one more thing . . . he’s got a police dog with him. It’s in the rear seat of the car. It’s a German shepherd.”

“That’s all in the past,” Adam assured his wife.

Jennings had better things to do. He knew this was a waste of his time, but he also recognized he couldn’t ignore the call, especially from a county employee of the Road and Bridge Department. If the employee was concerned enough to contact the department, then there would most likely be a follow-up call inquiring about how the investigation was handled.

Jennings planned to get answers and return to the road. He didn’t want to make a federal case out of this assignment, but he also had to be conscientious about the work. He was trying to cover his big butt from any potential trouble from his psychotic supervisors. He wasn’t paranoid, but recently they’d been nitpicking his reports. The sergeants were on his case, and he didn’t want to lose his work assignment with his partner, Yackel Von Baerenzwinger, the department’s canine.

Miriam Miller Iwashige, Kansas; and Linda Byler, Pennsylvania, recommend this book. See their “blurbs” on the back cover. Design by Gina Laiso, Integrita Productions.

 

*

With one eye on the police car and the other on the sheriff, Rosanna explained: “The heavy rain caused erosion of our garden’s topsoil. I was just repairing the damage by collecting our soil.”

“Yes, I see that,” said Jennings, as he took additional photos with his cell phone. “I don’t see anything wrong with you recovering your dirt. I’m just recording information for my report.”

“I don’t understand why you’re making a report if there’s nothing wrong,” replied Rosanna.

Jennings smiled and nodded.

Rosanna waited. Despite this obese, uniformed deputy sheriff, wearing a holstered gun, and a military mustache, she wasn’t frightened or intimidated by him, simply confused. His dog was another matter.

“Sometimes we gather information that we don’t really think is necessary, but it’s collected because it might be important later,” he said.

Rosanna was listening. She was really trying to understand. “Did he just say that he was collecting information he didn’t need?” She waited for a better explanation.

Jennings tried again to make sense out of something that (he admitted) didn’t make sense. “As officers, we’re given discretion to make decisions on our own. If I’d been driving by and observed you collecting dirt out of your ditch, I would have smiled and waved as I drove by. But when the public calls in to report a potential problem, something they believe is suspicious, we need to investigate in case of a follow-up call.”

Rosanna still didn’t comprehend. She quickly deduced, “This was English, not Amish thinking. I have no choice but to cooperate. Who would call the Sheriff’s Office about me recovering God’s topsoil? Who would think this is suspicious? And when would mam and dat return with our children?”

Happy writing and reading,

 

 

The post Book Release: “Deputy Jennings Meets the Amish” appeared first on Sandhenge Publications.

Upcoming Book Release: “Deputy Jennings Meets the Amish”

http://jimpotterauthor.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Deputy-Jennings-Meets-the-Amish-C1-blog.mp3Front cover of the soon-to-be-released novella, “Deputy Jennings Meets the Amish,” by Jim Potter. Book cover design by Gina Laiso, Integrita Productions.Upcoming Book Release: Deputy Jennings Meets the Amish (a novella)Chapter 1: Deputy Jennings Meets Rosanna Yoder

“How can this be happening to me?” thought Rosanna.

 Earlier, Adam, her husband, had remarked, “We sure had a gully washer overnight!”

“How are my flowers?” she had asked, concerned about filling business orders prior to the upcoming holiday. 

“Those in bloom took a beating, but the others may come around with a break in the weather,” Adam had replied. He added, “The fierce storm has done more than damage your flowers; a corner of the garden has flowed into the ditch.

Adam had left for town on the tractor, pulling their horse trailer, taking pigs and chickens to the sale barn in Prairie Grove.

As soon as he departed, Rosanna got to work. She knew how to use a shovel and a wheelbarrow, and she had the muscles to prove it. After checking her flowers, Rosanna started collecting the garden’s rich topsoil from the county ditch. With each trip of heavy wet soil, she strained to control the wheelbarrow, especially when the wheel slid off the board path that she had laid down on the saturated ground.

On every wheelbarrow trip, Rosanna promised herself that she would plant additional grass to prevent damaging erosion from future gully washers. As she turned back towards the ditch, she saw a county patrol car slowing down with its turn signal blinking, indicating the vehicle was preparing to enter her driveway. The side of the vehicle identified it as a “K-9 Unit.” Rosanna ignored the driver but observed the dog in the rear seat, a German shepherd.

She touched her right cheek.

Rosanna remembered growing up with occasional brief visits from deputy sheriffs. Her mouth dry, she wet her lips and swallowed, praying that God’s will would include a safe Adam, one who hadn’t been in an accident. Then she considered her husband’s family in Pennsylvania. Had there been a death? Was the deputy here for a death notification? She almost laughed. Those days were over. Access to cell phones had changed their world.

*

The deputy was an extra-large man with a bald head and a ready smile. His grin revealed a lot. Rosanna figured he wasn’t the bearer of bad news.

The obese officer struggled to dislodge himself from his car. For a minute, it appeared the steering wheel and safety belt would prevent him from ever exiting his vehicle. Winded, he finally pulled himself out. The canine stared at her and lifted his nose toward the partially open side-window.

“Hello ma’am, I’m Deputy Tom Jennings with the Cottonwood County Sheriff’s Office.”

Rosanna bit her lip and replied, “Hello, sir, I’m Rosanna Yoder with the Old Order Amish.”

“Nice to meet you. Looks like you’ve got some work ahead of you,” said Jennings, observing the nearby mudslide.

Rosanna nodded but waited to learn why law enforcement was visiting her.

“I’m here because I’m responding to a 911 call,” said Jennings. “A county employee called the dispatcher and told her that there was a theft in progress, that someone was stealing dirt from this location.”

“I haven’t seen anyone stealing dirt around here,” replied Rosanna. “Did the dispatcher get a description of the vehicle?” she asked.

“The description was an attractive Amish woman wearing a dark-blue dress.”

“Oh!” exclaimed Rosanna. “Me? . . . but I’m not stealing anything,” she replied. “May I call my husband? He’s in town.”

“Yes, sure, but I still need to talk with you. I need more information for my report. Would you like to use my phone?”

*

Deputy Jennings got his phone out and gave it a command: “Call Miller’s Sale Barn, Prairie Grove, Kansas.”

A minute later, once her husband was on the phone, Jennings watched as Rosanna Yoder, an Amish woman wearing a dark-blue dress and a white head covering, both decorated with splashes of dried dirt, walked in her muddy tennis shoes towards the enclosed front porch. Jennings waited, already back in his SUV, working on his computerized report.

Rosanna’s call to Adam was brief. She explained that a deputy sheriff—polite enough—was questioning her about taking “dirt” out of the ditch. Adam told her there was nothing to worry about; her interaction with the sheriff would not be a problem; it was just a cultural misunderstanding.

“Adam,” Rosanna said, “. . . one more thing . . . he’s got a police dog with him. It’s in the rear seat of the car. It’s a German shepherd.”

“That’s all in the past,” Adam assured his wife.

Jennings had better things to do. He knew this was a waste of his time, but he also recognized he couldn’t ignore the call, especially from a county employee of the Road and Bridge Department. If the employee was concerned enough to contact the department, then there would most likely be a follow-up call inquiring about how the investigation was handled.

Jennings planned to get answers and return to the road. He didn’t want to make a federal case out of this assignment, but he also had to be conscientious about the work. He was trying to cover his big butt from any potential trouble from his psychotic supervisors. He wasn’t paranoid, but recently they’d been nitpicking his reports. The sergeants were on his case, and he didn’t want to lose his work assignment with his partner, Yackel Von Baerenzwinger, the department’s canine.

Miriam Miller Iwashige, Kansas; and Linda Byler, Pennsylvania, recommend this book. See their “blurbs” on the back cover. Design by Gina Laiso, Integrita Productions.

 

*

With one eye on the police car and the other on the sheriff, Rosanna explained: “The heavy rain caused erosion of our garden’s topsoil. I was just repairing the damage by collecting our soil.”

“Yes, I see that,” said Jennings, as he took additional photos with his cell phone. “I don’t see anything wrong with you recovering your dirt. I’m just recording information for my report.”

“I don’t understand why you’re making a report if there’s nothing wrong,” replied Rosanna.

Jennings smiled and nodded.

Rosanna waited. Despite this obese, uniformed deputy sheriff, wearing a holstered gun, and a military mustache, she wasn’t frightened or intimidated by him, simply confused. His dog was another matter.

“Sometimes we gather information that we don’t really think is necessary, but it’s collected because it might be important later,” he said.

Rosanna was listening. She was really trying to understand. “Did he just say that he was collecting information he didn’t need?” She waited for a better explanation.

Jennings tried again to make sense out of something that (he admitted) didn’t make sense. “As officers, we’re given discretion to make decisions on our own. If I’d been driving by and observed you collecting dirt out of your ditch, I would have smiled and waved as I drove by. But when the public calls in to report a potential problem, something they believe is suspicious, we need to investigate in case of a follow-up call.”

Rosanna still didn’t comprehend. She quickly deduced, “This was English, not Amish thinking. I have no choice but to cooperate. Who would call the Sheriff’s Office about me recovering God’s topsoil? Who would think this is suspicious? And when would mam and dat return with our children?”

Happy writing and reading,

 

 

 

The post Upcoming Book Release: “Deputy Jennings Meets the Amish” appeared first on Sandhenge Publications.

Congratulations to Author Shoshanna Aaliyah

http://jimpotterauthor.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Congratulations-Author-Shoshanna-Aaliyah.mp3Congratulations to Author Shoshanna AaliyahCongratulations, Shoshanna, on the recent release of your children’s book, Tobias’ Travels. You’re a first-class storyteller. We’ve never met face-to-face, but I’m the current president of District 6 of the Kansas Authors Club. Congratulations for being a published author. It’s a BIG deal! So many people talk about wanting to write a book, but so few accomplish it. Most people don’t understand; it’s work.Although we’ve never met face-to-face, I ran across you on the Chisolm Trail. Yes, I’m referring to your published essay, “In the Shadow of a Man of Kansas,” published in the short-story collection, Free Times Tales, published by Time Honored Productions.I really enjoy history and I especially like your creative, nonfiction, literary style in writing about Mr. Jesse Chisolm.Tobias’ Travels is an exceptional book. It’s been described as a little robin telling the story of traveling a long distance for the first time and receiving help along the way. I liked it because it’s a thoughtful book with a positive message for readers of all ages. The illustrations created by Raymond Burrows enhance the story.People have asked me what it takes to be a writer. I often mention talent, inspiration, and perseverance. You must have all three. Another factor is good timing, which is also referred to as good luck or a blessing.  I’m referring to your good timing of meeting Jared Vaughn, the founding father of Time Honored Publications, talented author, and mentor, who helps others be successful.Shoshanna, you deserve a lot of credit for being published at a young age; it’s inspirational, but I hope that others will read your literary work and understand that you deserve to be celebrated for your skill, not your age.If it’s your desire, I believe you have a fascinating future for telling more adventurous stories.On social platforms you’ll probably receive all kinds of congratulatory icons, but I’d like to suggest that people do more than “like” Tobias’ Travels.I purchased my copy of Free Times Tales and Tobias’ Travels at the Time Honored Productions website at TimeHonoredProductions.com. It’s the same website where I purchased Jared’s novels, The Longest Time and Another Time.Shoshanna, congratulations on being a new member of the Kansas Authors Club and for your success yesterday, today, and tomorrow.Please contact me when your next book is published. Until then, I’ll just have to wait.Happy writing and reading. 

 

 

The post Congratulations to Author Shoshanna Aaliyah appeared first on Sandhenge Publications.

Gravedigger’s Daughter: Vignettes from a Small Kansas Town

http://jimpotterauthor.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Gravediggers-Daughter.mp3Gravedigger’s Daughter: Vignettes from a Small Kansas Townby Cheryl UnruhBook ReviewGravedigger’s Daughter: Vignettes from a Small Kansas Town is Cheryl Unruh’s latest masterpiece, a memoir written in prose poetry that transported me to my childhood. I can smell the Folger’s coffee that gave Mom an extra spark. I too, grew up with bottle caps, firecrackers, collecting stamps, and reading wanted posters at the P. O.This memoir, dedicated to Cheryl’s father, Elgie Unruh of Pawnee Rock, is perfect. That means every word is precise.The walls at Great Bend hospital aren’t white; they’re “vanilla hallways.” Family members at the hospital aren’t nervous. Instead, “a hospital waiting room ages you overnight,” and cooking over a campfire wasn’t just fun for Cheryl; “we tasted adventure in every bite.”If you want adventure and delight without ever leaving your home tonight, read Gravedigger’s Daughter. It will improve your life.Jim Potter—author of Taking Back the Bullet: Trajectories of Self-Discovery Until next time, happy writing and reading. 

 

 

The post Gravedigger’s Daughter: Vignettes from a Small Kansas Town appeared first on Sandhenge Publications.

31 Days (Nights)

31 Days (Nights): Memoir of Living Black in America by Reginald D. Jarrell

Book Review

Can you tell a book by its cover? This is a question that author Reginald D. Jarrell addresses in his just published book, 31 Days (Nights): Memoir of Living Black in America (Blue Cedar Press, 2022).

The question is a theme in Jarrell’s memoir as he revisits his life as a Black man growing up in a country where the color of a person’s skin causes people, mostly Caucasian, to prejudge. Jarrell also makes it clear that the real issue has never been his color or his race, it’s been about “them,” those with a problem of accepting people as people.

Speaking in generalities, I’m curious what demographic will most warmly welcome 31 Days (Nights). Will people of color appreciate Jarrell’s personal experiences because they identify, having walked in his shoes? Will potential readers, targets of hate, see the book as an affirmation of surviving their own day-to-day struggles while encountering prejudice? Will people of color welcome the author’s memories? Or will they feel like they have their own painful, real-life stories, and prefer—for their own mental health—to avoid being reminded of past—even present—wrongs?  

I appreciate 31 Days (Nights) because, like any memoir, it’s personal. Jarrell’s stories are American history. In textbooks and on video, we can learn about racism and the Civil Rights Movement, but it takes true-life stories to give the world-wide racial picture a heartbeat in living color.

In today’s politically and culturally divided world, it’s clear that most people seek out others who support their worldview. I imagine people who support equal rights, especially racial equality, will welcome 31 Days (Nights) as a valuable example of the wrongs that need righted.

I also expect that those people who believe systemic and institutional racism doesn’t exist, or that it ever existed, won’t have the slightest interest in the read because it won’t support their belief system.

31 Days (Nights) isn’t for everyone, but I found it exceptionally well-done. It’s a reminder of how far we’ve come as a society, and unfortunately, how far we still have to go.

Jim Potter—author of Taking Back the bullet: Trajectories of Self-Discovery

Until next time, happy writing and reading.

 

 

 

The post 31 Days (Nights) appeared first on Sandhenge Publications.

I Care Too Much to Watch

http://jimpotterauthor.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/I-Care-Too-Much-to-Watch.mp3I Care Too Much to Watch

By Jim Potter

My friend told me he was going toend the calland watch the news.“Ukraine is being invaded,”he said.I was silent,knowing I would notwatch the news.I care,I hurt,but I can’t hurt enoughto help another.Out of my control,unable to copewith the deep,personal suffering.Instead,I help otherswhere and whenI can.

Until next time, happy writing and reading.

 

 

 

The post I Care Too Much to Watch appeared first on Sandhenge Publications.

Soul by Soul: Life Inside the Antebellum Slave Market

http://jimpotterauthor.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Soul-by-Soul-Take-2.mp3Soul by Soul: Life Inside the Antebellum Slave Market

I’ve just completed reading the best book ever about understanding slavery. Soul by Soul: Life Inside the Antebellum Slave Market (1999) isn’t a new book, but it’s a classic.

The author, Walter Johnson, brilliantly examines the slave market in New Orleans, the largest in North America during the nineteenth-century.

Through exhaustive research using primary resources, Johnson shares the words of enslaved Africans or descendants of Africans, and the buyers and sellers of slaves, to give an incredible picture of what it was like to be a person involved in the slave trade.

Johnson takes the reader into the slave pens of New Orleans and shows the reader how enslaved people prepared to be purchased. We learn the tricks of the trade used by the slave trader. We understand the thinking of the would-be buyer. We feel the dread of the slave preparing to be sold, but we also learn of the manipulative tactics used by Black people to shape the sale to suit themselves.

I always knew that slavery was brutal and inhumane, but Soul by Soul helped me better understand the institution of slavery by hearing the voices of the participants. Now, I recognize how the buyers of slaves weren’t just using forced labor to become wealthy; it was also about their egos and dreams of rising in the Southern hierarchy, the social ladder, at the expense of others. It was about their need to be somebody.

Ironically, the more the white slaveowner purchased slaves in order to become economically independent and praised socially, the greater he was forced to rely on his enslaved workforce. (There were free Blacks who owned Black slaves, but that’s another story.)

Another important lesson I learned from Soul by Soul, was how the enslaved people of color were constantly resisting as they fought to survive both personally and as a community. Often, the slave became the master.

Jim Potter—author of Taking Back the Bullet: Trajectories of Self-Discovery

Until next time, happy writing and reading.

 

 

 

The post Soul by Soul: Life Inside the Antebellum Slave Market appeared first on Sandhenge Publications.

The Antebellum “Persac Map” of 1858

http://jimpotterauthor.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Improved-recording-Persac-Map.mp3The Antebellum “Persac Map” of 1858Persac, Marie Adrien; Benjamin Moore Norman & J. H. Colton & Co. Norman’s chart of the lower Mississippi River. New Orleans, B. M. Norman, 1858. Map. https://www.loc.gov.item/78692178/. Courtesy of the Library of Congress.

Can you love history? Am I exaggerating when I say, I do? I especially enjoy learning about history and seeing how events connect with one another.

If you’re my age, you can remember traveling cross-country by automobile with your parents (or parent) on interstate highways. When we stopped for gasoline at service stations, we used the bathroom, and sometimes we’d pick up a free road map. How many of you still have a road map stuck away in a junk drawer or in your car’s glove box? Today, programmed cars give the directions or the occupants reach for their phone, not a folded map.

An example of a recent historical discovery of mine is the “Persac Map,” created by (Marie) Adrien Persac (1823-1873), a French-born painter, photographer, surveyor, lithographer, and inventor.

Bois de Fleche Plantation, Louisiana, 1861. Painting by Adrien Persac. Original in Louisiana State Museum; height 16.5″, width, 22.5″. Courtesy of Louisiana State Museum.

His map is incredible!

It’s titled, “Norman’s chart of the lower Mississippi River,” since it was published by Benjamin Moore Norman (1809-1860). An alternate title is, “From Natchez to New Orleans.”

The Persac map from 1858 has survived for 164 years. It’s not stored in a junk drawer. It’s in the Library of Congress.  

Antebellum America (period of time before the Civil War, 1815-1861), especially in Louisiana, was an era of poor roads. Instead of a developed highway system, rivers were used for transporting people and shipping cargo. Steamboats and flatboats were busy on the Mississippi River and crowded the port of New Orleans. There, and throughout the Deep South, cotton was king. It was sold and often sent to markets for the manufacturing of clothing on the Eastern coast of the United States and to Europe, especially England.

While researching the ancestors of Charles Collins, first sheriff of Reno County, Kansas, I learned that his grandfather had immigrated from Ireland to Louisiana prior to 1800. “Grandfather” Collins was able to establish a plantation near Baton Rouge (about 80 miles north of the Crescent City). He and his son grew cotton and sugar cane on the backs of an enslaved workforce of Black Africans and slaves of African descent.

When I studied the Persac map, my eyes followed the Mississippi River as it wound back and forth, and back again. I held my breath, searching for a plantation labeled with the name of Collins as its owner.

Unfortunately, I never found a Collins, but during my research I had discovered a masterful, colorful, priceless piece of art.

If you have a love of history or especially enjoy maps, be sure and click on the link below. In order to really appreciate the detail, enlarge the map. And, if you find a plantation labeled Collins, please contact me. We can celebrate together.

Click the following link so that you can enlarge the image: https://www.loc.gov/item/78692178/

[Note: The cotton plantations are in pink and blue; the sugar plantations in yellow and green. You’ll see that north of Baton Rouge the conditions were more favorable to cotton production, as opposed to plantations downriver toward New Orleans, where French Creoles and sugar cane predominated.]

Until next time, happy writing and reading.

 

 

 

The post The Antebellum “Persac Map” of 1858 appeared first on Sandhenge Publications.