Author: Lindsey Alexander

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December Veteran Story

When an unstoppable grade school girl found out her friend, a World War II veteran, hadn’t received his medals for his service, heads were bound to roll. Talking to Leanna’s mother and Mr. Mowbray, the veteran, it became clear to me how serious this student was, how true a friend and how fiery a spark plug.

Read this inspiring story of how one girl’s perseverance led to a quiet man receiving his due 67 years late.

Her quest began during a school project to record veterans’ stories for the Library of Congress. Listen to his war stories here.

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More on writer’s block and the battle for clarity

Again, another accurate description of writer’s block. Get up nerve, punch the page, tie your shoe, go home. Suck blood from scabs (What? Who said that?), replace bandages, rinse, repeat.

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September Veteran Story

September Veteran Story

Talking with Eugene Prieto about his quest to find out the truth about his uncle Roaul, who was KIA in World War 2. Roaul died when Eugene was just a boy. It shook him. Rather than accepting the terms of this tragedy, Eugene has pushed as far as Congress to get his uncle the peace in afterlife he feels he deserves. Click on the link above to read the story.

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How to know what you want to write about

 

calvin and hobbes writing

Sportswriter and Southerner extraordinaire Tommy Tomlinson shared the four questions he uses to help writers figure out what they want to write about in a great post.

For the descriptions of how to answer the questions, visit his post. But for a quick preview, here’s the skinny:

1. What do you know about?

2. What do you care about?

3. What are you curious about?

4. What scares you?

Ay yi yi. Short but big questions, no?

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Feature: Small Ohio town pays tribute to its lost son

A vet at the American Legion, post 70 in Ohio, started this story by sending a link to a Wikipedia article about Pfc. Melvin Newlin, a young man who was KIA during Vietnam and posthumously received the Medal of Honor.

I was able to talk to one of his sisters, a brother, a former reporter, and a few townspeople who shared his story. Everyone from Wellsville seemed to know his story.

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Newlin’s story is in some ways remarkable, but it doesn’t seem so to those that knew him. As his brother Joe said, “It wasn’t difficult for me to believe. I knew what he’d do. I knew what he was like.”

Click here to read his full story, one of valor, tragedy, and community.

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Feature: The Mishaps and Adventures of the Lucht Bros.

Last week, I had the opportunity to speak to the Lucht brothers. Hailing from small-town Wisconsin, the three of them served aboard the USS F.M. Robinson together during the 1950s.

They shared a lot of colorful anecdotes, and Herbert, the middle brother, even saved a man’s life.

Click here to read how these three brothers developed a closer bond than most as they ventured into military life, Cuba and a few scrapes.

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What I’m Reading Now: Civil War Love Letters

The lost art of letter-writing, the Civil War sesquicentennial, and an RSS feed: the messages from James, a Union soldier, to his Dear Molly are being posted on the 150th anniversary of their writing at the Missouri History Museum. If you know me, you know I’m a sucker for that era in history, a good teary-eyed love story, and (you guessed it) the written word.

Spending the past month working with the words of U.S. vets, how they talk about their spouses and families, has given me more insight (though, safe at home, my understanding only scratches the surface) into how difficult war-torn romance must-be, not to mention war-torn family life.

James is a moralist in the cause, as well as a lover of “boquets” of flowers (he mentions them throughout correspondence).

My favorite of the letters I’ve read thus far: March 22nd, 1863. It talks about conscription, Lincoln’s promise to shoot deserters (which Lincoln did not feel easy about making good on), and some sourly-expressed jealousy on the part of Miss Molly’s many beaus.

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The love story of a WW2 POW and his Rosie the Riveter wife


Yesterday, I got the chance to speak with Ed Fowler, who survived the Dust Bowl, the Great Depression, Normandy, and Nazi work camps as a POW. His wife grew up in a log cabin during the Depression with her mother and six younger siblings. She worked as a Rosie the Riveter, building C-47s during the war, and wrote him letters every night he was missing.

Long live the human spirit.

Read Ed’s full story here: http://www.legion.org/mytimeinuniform?id=863