INSIDE HISTORY? FIND AN INSIDER

How does anyone get the real story inside history?

Read books, watch documentaries, tour museums?

That’s a good start, and for many an end to the story.

But what if you want more because you know there’s more out there?

Author Bill Little needed more when he started his book, Mechanic On The Wing.

Did he know where to look? A man with two Masters degrees knows research, but he’s not a historian and he had an untold history to tell.

What to do?

When your wife has two Masters degrees you might lean in.

Four Masters degrees in the house will uncover more than enough to fill a library.

The trick is narrowing it down to the particulars of the story that needs telling.

Mr. Little was motivated to write his book by his father.

Like many baby boomers, he didn’t know much of the details of his dad’s experience in WWII.

The dad was a career Navy man; his son followed the same path.

Someone in his dad’s unit, Carrier Aircraft Service Unit 11 (CASU11), wrote a daily diary from Guadalcanal and things snowballed from there.

Bill Little turned the diary into the backbone of his book.

Then something else happened.

Inside History For The CASU-11 Community

As time rolls by life is consumed by daily tasks and responsibilities.

What we thought was important enough to dedicate a lifetime’s work isn’t enough.

There has to be more. Some of the people who have these feelings are called writers.

From Bill Little’s blog about his dad:

 He asked me about my service, but, for reasons totally incomprehensible to me, I never asked him about his war experiences. And now that he has passed away, I have become excruciatingly curious about his military service.

I’ve got a soft spot for men who missed out on talking to their father’s about their war experiences.

Sometimes they won’t talk at all, no matter who asks.

Forgotten soldiers and sailors all join a long line of Americans who did their duty and moved on.

But why forgotten? Someone needs to remember and report in.

But who?

Bill Little stood up and moved forward with his dad, and he wasn’t alone.

Call it the ripple effect.

He dropped a stone into the waters of the South Pacific and people who had family members there in 1943 felt the wave.

In the blog world, they found Bill and he brought them a measure of closure.

Mechanic On The Wing is about all of their fathers.

How Not To Talk To Your Dad

My Dad was a Korean War Marine in 1950.

As kids we thought he was a policeman since Korea was called a Police Action.

Police action in military/security studies and international relations is a euphemism for a military action undertaken without a formal declaration of war.

We never asked about anything.

As an adult I found a moment to talk to him about his war experiences.

It came after he got divorced from my Mom and remarried.

With his new wife present the time felt right.

Me: Dad, what did you do in Korea?

New Wife: Tell him what you told me, hon.

Dad: First, I was young and stupid.

I knew I was on the right track when she left the room.

My Dad eyeballed me for the sneaky way I asked.

I figured his new wife was listening from the other room when he started.

2

Dad: We came into a city or town and did the same thing each time, cover each other block by block.

Me: So you captured cities and towns?

Dad: Not so much capture, but moving through on the way to the next objective.

Me: So you’re walking down the road?

Dad: We were plastered up against building walls expecting an ambush.

Me: Did it ever happen?

Dad: All the time. At the end of each block I fired a burst around the corner to clear the street before taking a look and crossing.

Me: Every street?

Dad: (Giving me an odd look) Every time except one. The one time I looked first before firing a burst I saw a woman with a baby in her arms and a small child beside her.

Me:

Dad:

Me: I’m glad we talked, Dad.

Dad: Is that enough for you?

New Wife: Tell him what you told me, hon.

Me: We’re all good in here. I’ve always wanted to ask and now I have. Thanks, Dad.

At my father’s memorial someone read his Silver Star citation.

I’d never heard it before.

Forgotten men in battle want to forget, but not everything.

If you want to get inside history about family members in the Armed Forces and want to know more, read Bill Little’s book as a template to start.