Chicken Soup for the Veteran's Soul: Stories to Stir the Pride and Honor the Courage of Our Veterans

by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Sidney R. Slagter

Overview

Chicken Soup for the Veteran's Soul will inspire and touch any veterans and their families, and allow others to appreciate the freedom for which they fought.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781623611033
Publisher:	Backlist, LLC - a unit of Chicken Soup of the Soul Publishing LLC
Publication date:	09/18/2012
Edition description:	Original
Pages:	400
Sales rank:	216,486
Product dimensions:	5.60(w) x 8.34(h) x 1.09(d)

About the Author

Jack Canfield is co-creator of the Chicken Soup for the Soul® series, which includes forty New York Times bestsellers, and coauthor of The Success Principles: How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be. He is a leader in the field of personal transformation and peak performance and is currently CEO of the Canfield Training Group and Founder and Chairman of the Board of The Foundation for Self-Esteem. An internationally renowned corporate trainer and keynote speaker, he lives in Santa Barbara, California.

Mark Victor Hansen is a co-founder of Chicken Soup for the Soul.

Hometown:

Santa Barbara, California

Date of Birth:

August 19, 1944

Place of Birth:

Fort Worth, Texas

Education:

B.A. in History, Harvard University, 1966; M.A.T. Program, University of Chicago, 1968; M.Ed., U. of Massachusetts, 1973

Website:

http://www.jackcanfield.com

Read an Excerpt

Against the Odds

It was the summer of 1942. I was nineteen years old and a signalman third class on the USS Astoria stationed in the South Pacific.

One hot night in August, we found ourselves skirmishing with the Japanese for control of Guadalcanal, gearing up for the bloody battle that soon followed. At midnight, I finished my duty on watch. Still wearing my work detail uniform of dungarees and a T-shirt, and only pausing long enough to unstrap my standard-issue life belt and lay it beside me, I fell into an exhausted sleep.

Two hours later, I was awakened abruptly by the sound of an explosion. I jumped to my feet, my heart pounding. Without thinking, I grabbed my life belt and strapped it on. In the ensuing chaos, I focused on dodging the rain of enemy shells that were inflicting death and destruction all around me. I took some shrapnel in my right shoulder and leg, but by some miracle, I avoided being killed.

That first battle of Savo Island lasted for twenty minutes. After the enemy fire ceased, the men left standing helped with the wounded, while others manned the guns.

I was making my way toward a gun turret when suddenly, the deck disappeared. My legs windmilled beneath me as I realized that an explosion had blasted me off the deck. My shock was immediately replaced by a stomach-clenching fear as I fell like a stone—thirty feet into the dark, shark-infested water below.

I immediately inflated my life belt, weak with relief that I'd somehow remembered to put it on. I noticed between ten and thirty men bobbing in the water in the area, but we were too far away from each other to communicate.

I began treading water, trying to stay calm as I felt things brushing against my legs, knowing that if a shark attacked me, any moment could be my last. And the sharks weren't the only danger: The powerful current threatened to sweep me out to sea.

Four agonizing hours passed this way. It was getting light when I saw a ship—an American destroyer—approaching. The sailors on board threw me a line and hauled me aboard.

Once on the ship, my legs buckled and I slid to the deck, unable to stand. I was fed and allowed to rest briefly. Then I was transported back to the Astoria, which,
though disabled, was still afloat. The captain was attempting to beach the ship in order to make the necessary repairs.

Back on board the Astoria, I spent the next six hours preparing the dead for burial at sea. As the hours passed, it became clear our vessel was damaged beyond help.
The ship was taking on water and finally, around twelve hundred hours, the
Astoria began to roll and go under.

The last thing I wanted to do was to go into that water again, but I knew I had to.
Filled with dread, I jumped off the high side of the sinking ship and began swimming. Although I still had my life belt on, it couldn't be inflated a second time. Luckily, I was soon picked up by another destroyer and transferred to the USS Jackson.

Against all the odds, I had made it—one of the lucky men to survive the battle of Savo Island. We were issued Marine uniforms, and I spent my time, in between visits to the ship's doctors for treatment of my wounds, sitting on the deck of the Jackson, waiting for our transport to San Francisco's Treasure Island and the leave that would follow.

Though it felt odd to wear the unfamiliar uniform, I wasn't sad to lose my old dungarees and T-shirt. The one thing I found I didn't want to give up was my life belt. I hung on to the khaki cloth-covered rubber belt, studying it sometimes as I sat around on the Marine ship.

The label on the belt said it had been manufactured by Firestone Tire and Rubber Company of Akron, Ohio, which was my hometown. I decided to keep the belt as a souvenir, a reminder of how lucky I'd been.

When I finally took my thirty-day leave, I went home to my family in Ohio. After a quietly emotional welcome, I sat with my mother in our kitchen, telling her about my recent ordeal and hearing what had happened at home since I went away.
My mother informed me that "to do her part," she had taken a wartime job at the Firestone plant. Surprised, I jumped up and grabbed my life belt from my duffel bag, putting it on the table in front of her.

"Take a look at that, Mom," I said. "It was made right here in Akron at your plant."

She leaned forward and, taking the rubber belt in her hands, she read the label. She had just heard the story and knew that in the darkness of that terrible night,
it was this one piece of rubber that had saved my life. When she looked up at me, her mouth and her eyes were open wide with surprise. "Son, I'm an inspector at Firestone. This is my inspector number," she said, her voice hardly above a whisper.

We stared at each other, too stunned to speak. Then I stood up, walked around the table and pulled her up from her chair. We held each other in a tight embrace,
saying nothing. My mother was not a demonstrative woman, but the significance of this amazing coincidence overcame her usual reserve. We hugged each other for a long, long time, feeling the bond between us. My mother had put her arms halfway around the world to save me.

Elgin Staples

---

(c)2000
Elgin Staples.
All rights reserved. Reprinted from Chicken Soup for the Veteran's Soul by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Sidney R. Slagter. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the written permission of the publisher. Publisher: Health Communications, Inc., 3201 SW
15th Street, Deerfield Beach, FL 33442.

Table of Contents

Introduction xiii

1 The Warrior Spirit

Freedom Village James F. Murphy Jr. 2

The Code Talkers Bruce Watson 6

That Old Man Down the Street Emerson D. Moron 11

The Postcard Rocky Bleier David Eberhart 16

The Harbinger Bill Walker 19

The Final Battle Senator Daniel Inouye 22

Wiggle Your Toes! Walter W. Scott 26

"Go, Gunfighter, Go!" General Colin L. Powell 30

2 Under Fire

Against the Odds Elgin Staples 36

The Rescue Robert E. Brooks Jr. as told to Kimberly D. Green 40

Sergeant Mills John D. Governale 44

The True Face of Humanity Thomas Lafayette Pool 48

One Hell of a Plan Ronald C. Williams 52

The Altar Boy Richard H. Kiley 57

The Vision Paul Charlillo 60

Boom Boom James R. Morgan 62

Prepare to Ditch Jack Black as told to Patricia Black 66

Christmas in Korea Larry Ebsch 70

Help from an Unexpected Source Dr. Lester F. Rentmeester 73

3 Above and Beyond

Blind and Alone over North Korea Kenneth A Schechter 78

Do Not Resuscitate Diane Carlson Evans, R.N. 85

Colonel Maggie and the Blind Veteran Susan M. Christiansen 89

The Stuff They Don't Give Medals For Tim Watts 91

The Valley Barry Vonder Mehden 94

The Mitzvah Arnold Geier 97

Nurse Penny Ernest L. Webb 101

The Four Chaplains The Chapel of Four Chaplains 104

4 On The Front Lines

My Most Memorable Christmas Gene DuVall 112

To Any Service Member Nick Hill 116

Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep Diana Dwan Poole 118

Hot Lips Philip Weiner 122

Lord of the Chinese Flies Akira B. Chikami 125

A Show of Strength Ivan W. Marion 129

Stalag Las Vegas Robert D. Reeves 132

The Greatest Compliment Thomas D. Phillips 136

Operation Chow Down Richard Oakley 138

Amina's Way Barbara K. Sherer as told to Sharon Linnéa 139

Morse Code Bernard Belasco 144

The Twelfth Man Rabbi Paysach J. Krohn 147

5 The Home Front

Bob "March Field" Hope Bob Hope Melville Shavelson 154

A Flag of Any Size Stacy Havlik McAnulty 157

Too Young to Understand Barbara Sue Canale 162

I Have the Coffee On Susan Grady Bristol 167

The "Super Gunner" Benedict Yedlin 171

Love Letters Sarah H. Giachino 173

The Gift of Hope Bill Livingstone 176

6 Brothers in Arms

A Joyful Noise Everett Alvarez Jr. 181

More Than Brothers William C. Newton as told to Bill Newton Jr 186

The Watch Bill Walker 190

Honor Bound Jack Moskowitz 194

Combat Boots Watts Caudill 197

The Nine Days Walter F. Peters 202

Grandpa's Apple Pie Heather L. Shepherd 206

Fellow Marines Edward Andrusko 209

Ernie Pyle's Last Battle William B. Breuer 213

7 Coming Home

Luther's Lumber Joe Edwards 220

The Cabbie Robert L. Schneider 224

Back to the World Arthur B. Wiknik Jr 227

Wounded George W. Saumweber 231

Reunion on the Dock Margaret Brown Marks 235

The Most Beautiful Man in the World I. Kaufman 238

A Soldier Remembers David R. Kiernan 242

Kids from Mars Joe Kirkup 244

The Tradition Antonio Camisa 248

The Light Patricia S. Laye 253

8 Honoring Those Who Served

The Visit Tre'M. Barron 258

A Monumental Task Jan Craig Scruggs 261

A Voice in the Dark Connie Stevens 265

The Doorman Jean P. Brody 267

The Cub Scout Robert A Hall 270

The Waiting Room Michael Manley 274

Pie in the Sky Doug Sterner 280

A Daughter's Letter Rani Nicola 285

Former Enemies Reverend Peter Baldwin Panagore 289

9 Healing

The Search for "Shorts" Marta J. Sweek 294

Return to Hoa Quan Village Robert R. Anion Jr. 299

You're Never Alone on a Mission Julie Beth Kink 304

Sunglasses Stephen C. Klink 308

The Honey Man Robin Lim 310

Just Like Me Jerold S. Ewen 315

Ebony and Ivory Karen L. Waldman 319

10 Remembrance

Remembrance Day Christine Ann Maxwell-Osborn 326

Let Them in, Peter John Gorka 330

When Winter Was Warm Storm Stafford 332

Stars and Stripes from Odds and Ends John Carlson 335

Sweet-Pea Summers Susan Arnett-Hutson 338

History Paul F. Reid 340

American Eagles D. W. Jovanovic 344

Windows for Remy Frank Perkins 347

Who Is Jack Canfield? 352

Who Is Mark Victor Hansen? 353

Who Is Sidney R. Slagter? 354

Contributors 355

Permissions 368