If you are a new subscriber, welcome! I’m so glad we connected. Do you have a special family story to share? Let me know, and I’ll give you the details. For the month of September, I’m sharing one of my own family stories.
A kitchen table, a father, a daughter, and a cassette recorder. What’s so special about this? As a baby boomer, I’d always been fascinated with my father’s WWII stories he shared occasionally about the USS Denver, the light cruiser he was assigned to as a teenage gunner in the South Pacific. Fearing his firsthand accounts might perish in oblivion, I whipped out my dated cassette recorder on March 19, 1990, and corralled my father, Walter Troyan, to our kitchen table. I asked him to recount his WWII adventures, experiences, and battles so I could save his stories for our children. For the next two hours he spoke with vivid pride, and I tucked those tapes away, intending only to keep them as family keepsakes.
Fast forward thirty years, during the COVID lockdown, I replayed those recordings and realized they deserved a wider audience. Could I write a book? Preserve my father’s recollections for others to read outside of the family?
Google and other search engines became my friends. I had a big puzzle on my hands to fit all the pieces together—my father’s stories, ship deck logs, research of the Pacific Theater, ammunition and guns, the battles, hundreds of other Navy ships, and . . . well, I had a huge challenge to formulate a narrative. A well-written one. This was a story, after all, about my father. He was no longer living, and my book must honor not only him, but the other sixteen million Americans who answered the call of duty to fight for our country. They sacrificed education, jobs, families, homes, personal aspirations, and sometimes their very lives.
Tap, tap, tap. My fingers flew over my keyboard faster than armor piercing shells firing from warships for more than a year as a manuscript emerged. Help came from everywhere–my husband, editors, veterans, and friends. Family cheered me on. I took a couple of research trips to tour WWII ships, and I walked on Preble Field at the San Diego Naval Training Facility where my father marched for his boot camp training in 1942. And certainly, God held my hand each step of the way.
Unintended Hero, my debut historical novel, finally made an inaugural appearance on Amazon in August 2022. More than sales, my goal has always been to preserve my father’s firsthand account and honor the sacrifices of the Greatest Generation. Since publication, I’ve been invited into numerous schools to share lessons of sacrifice, teamwork, and patriotism—values my father and his fellow veterans exemplified. It’s truly rewarding to witness the enthusiasm of students as they eagerly raise their hands with questions and engage in group discussions about applying these values in their lives. What an honor to pay tribute to my father and the Greatest Generation through today’s youth. I’m so thankful I took the time to sit my father down at my kitchen table and record his WWII stories. I have a treasure trove today which is priceless!
(If you’d like to find out more information about my interactive presentation, “What Is a Hero?” for grades seven and up, for a school classroom, homeschool group, or youth group, you may contact me at beckyvanvleet9@gmail.com. I donate my time, and I’m available in person or by zoom.)
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Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/47p4k2y
Good for you, Becky. These stories must not be forgotten.
Thank you, Kathy, for your encouragement. I really appreciate it. I agree, these stories from the Greatest Generation are true treasures and should be preserved.
It was a privilege to feature this story, Pam!