Have you ever written a book or article about your service?

Eupher

Eupher

U.S. Army, Retired
Location
Arkansas
Curious to know. You may know of a friend who has written something, or perhaps you have as well (apart from a forum like this one).

I wrote a book under my name to commemorate the soldier/musicians of the 298th Army Band with service in West Berlin, Germany. I won't pimp that book because that's not my style, but for those who are curious as well, no problem. I'll provide a link via PM. Please note -- I did not write the book to make money. I wrote the book to make sure the story was told, and I relied on dozens and dozens of interviews to tell that story -- not all of my own stories. The book is dedicated to those who served there.

Service in a military band does not even remotely compare to service in a combat unit. No attempt is made to equate them. Nevertheless, honorable service is honorable service, regardless of job title. I am proud of my service -- enough to make sure that that aspect of military service -- military music -- is told.
 

No, but I could write one. I have had many experiences that I could share. Some good and some bad, but I wouldn't want people to think I was using other people's tragedies to make a buck by exploiting their miseries. The one that I have nightmares about is the Lancaster County murder of the 5 little girls that were murdered inside the one-room school. Two of the girls were sisters.

I was notified a few weeks ago that the 6th girl died from her injuries she suffered at the time of the other murders. She was the female survivor with the most injuries. I think she lost her voice and needed daily care. I also believe she was confined to a wheelchair. She died on 9/3, one month before the anniversary of the shootings. She was 24 y/o.

I was somewhat reluctant to go to the funeral, but decided to go at the last moment. A few remembered me even out of uniform. I had a nice chat with them. They asked me to stay for the repast or luncheon, but I declined at first, however, I had the feeling they really would have liked me to stay, so I did. It turned out to be a very warm and friendly day.
 
911 said:
No, but I could write one. I have had many experiences that I could share. Some good and some bad, but I wouldn't want people to think I was using other people's tragedies to make a buck by exploiting their miseries. The one that I have nightmares about is the Lancaster County murder of the 5 little girls that were murdered inside the one-room school. Two of the girls were sisters.

I was notified a few weeks ago that the 6th girl died from her injuries she suffered at the time of the other murders. She was the female survivor with the most injuries. I think she lost her voice and needed daily care. I also believe she was confined to a wheelchair. She died on 9/3, one month before the anniversary of the shootings. She was 24 y/o.

I was somewhat reluctant to go to the funeral, but decided to go at the last moment. A few remembered me even out of uniform. I had a nice chat with them. They asked me to stay for the repast or luncheon, but I declined at first, however, I had the feeling they really would have liked me to stay, so I did. It turned out to be a very warm and friendly day.
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One of the challenges I had in writing my book was making sure that the stuff I wrote about did NOT hurt people. Not through violence, per se, rather through calling attention to decisions made that weren't entirely smart. Some of those people were no longer alive, but that didn't matter. I didn't want to disparage their memory. OTOH, there was an incident that involved clearing a 1911 pistol after an exercise. Nobody was hurt, but there was a hole in the wall and a band commander that was quite nervous.
 

Eupher said:
One of the challenges I had in writing my book was making sure that the stuff I wrote about did NOT hurt people. Not through violence, per se, rather through calling attention to decisions made that weren't entirely smart. Some of those people were no longer alive, but that didn't matter. I didn't want to disparage their memory. OTOH, there was an incident that involved clearing a 1911 pistol after an exercise. Nobody was hurt, but there was a hole in the wall and a band commander that was quite nervous.
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Shaming or embarrassing someone is not what I do or have done. I may report on a story, but try not to use names, unless the public is already aware of who it is we are speaking about.
 
911 said:
Shaming or embarrassing someone is not what I do or have done. I may report on a story, but try not to use names, unless the public is already aware of who it is we are speaking about.
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I never meant to insinuate that you did so. I just meant to say that sometimes it's difficult to report a story when there is an element of shameful or embarrassing behavior in the story. It's a challenge and sometimes, the best thing to do is not to write about it at all. I ran into that multiple times, especially when there might be a legal aspect involved.
 
Eupher said:
I never meant to insinuate that you did so. I just meant to say that sometimes it's difficult to report a story when there is an element of shameful or embarrassing behavior in the story. It's a challenge and sometimes, the best thing to do is not to write about it at all. I ran into that multiple times, especially when there might be a legal aspect involved.
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No problem. I didn’t take it that way.
 
Several years ago I read a book called Unlikely Warrior: A Small Town Boy's View of World War II by a gentleman named Robert C. Lovell. The book is a memoir of his time as an army draftee. Mr. Lovell is not a professional writer (he's actually a retired banker, attorney, and judge), but he is a very articulate man and a good, unpretentious writer. I truly enjoyed the book. (y)
 
A section out of my book:

Terrorism

Terror strikes on U.S. bases and interests in Europe, principally Germany, began in the 1970s and ran until the latter part of the 1980s. These included:

  • May 12, 1972. Officers Club near the U.S. Army V Corps Headquarters in Frankfurt bombed by Baader-Meinhof gang, killing one U.S. officer and injuring others (Huffman, Frankfurt V Corps HQ Bombing Damage #1, 2011).Senior Forums
  • May 24, 1972. Campbell Barracks, Heidelberg, Headquarters of U.S. Army Europe and 7th Army bombed by Baader-Meinhof gang, specifically in response to bombings in Vietnam, kills three U.S. soldiers (Huffman, May 24, 1972 Heidelberg, October).[ii]
  • August 31, 1981. Ramstein Air Base, Rheinland-Pfalz, bombed by Red Army Faction. Twelve U.S. military and two German civilians injured (Editor, 30th anniversary of USAFE headquarters bombing, 2011).[iii]
  • August 8, 1985. Rhein-Main Air Base, Frankfurt, bombed by Red Army Faction. One U.S. airman and one U.S. family member killed (Tagliabue, 1985).[iv]
  • November 24, 1985. Military Exchange (PX) shopping center in Frankfurt, bombed by persons unknown, however an Iranian and unnamed accomplice were the subject of an international police investigation and charged with the crime. At least 34 persons were injured in the car bomb (Markham, 1985).[v]

Terror attacks occurred elsewhere throughout this time period by differing groups and for different reasons.

On April 5, 1986, at 1:50 A.M., the La Belle Discotheque in the Friedenau subdistrict of West Berlin’s Schöneberg District exploded from a 2kg bomb made of Semtex explosive encasing shrapnel. The blast killed Sergeant Kenneth T. Ford outright, along with a Turkish woman. A second U.S. infantryman, Staff Sergeant James E. Goins, died of his wounds two months later. The disco was known to be frequented by many U.S. servicemen. More than 200 were injured, included 37 (Fleshman, 1986)[vi] other U.S. military, all of whom were awarded the Purple Heart for sustaining wounds at the hands of terrorists.

The attack on the LaBelle was seen as revenge for the sinking of Libyan patrol boats and destruction of a Libyan missile control site by U.S. warplanes in March 1986 when those planes were attacked by up to six Libyan surface to air missiles (Gerstenzang, 1986).[vii] U.S. intelligence indicated Libya’s involvement in the LaBelle bombing, so President Ronald Reagan ordered retaliatory strikes on the leadership and government of Muammar Khadafi 10 days after the disco bombing (Connolly, 2001).[viii] F-111 bombers and other aircraft flew out of their bases in England and hammered targets in Tripoli and Benghazi.

CW3 David M. Smith, commander of the 298th at the time of the LaBelle disco attack, recalls receiving a phone call at his quarters at about 0230 – a scant 45 minutes after the bomb’s detonation. He was instructed by the Berlin command’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC) to initiate a unit recall/alert. Mr. Smith was informed that there had been an “incident” downtown with mass casualties and that a solid headcount was needed to determine personnel accountability.

Mr. Smith immediately phoned the 298th’s Charge of Quarters and instructed him to execute the band’s alert roster/phone tree. Mr. Smith added the instruction that this was no drill.

At about 0315 hours, the band was fully assembled or accounted for. Mr. Smith submitted the appropriate report to the EOC. The band was then instructed to stand fast and await further instructions. Later that morning, the band stood down and went about the normal duty day.

Mr. Smith further recalls planning and conducting two Battalion Funeral Parades per Army regulations and field manuals, commensurate with the death of each soldier. Noteworthy about these parades was the parade to the McNair Barracks chapel was conducted with the respective battalion commander and his staff leading the formation, with no guidon (unit flag). The band’s drums were draped in black and the snares on those drums were turned off. Mr. Smith had directed to play a Beethoven dirge on the way to the chapel.

From the chapel following the service, Army procedure stated to undrape the drums and turn the snares on. Mr. Smith ordered uplifting patriotic music to be played, characterized by the band’s performance of Sousa’s Washington Post march.

After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the opening of secret files of the East German Staatsicherheitamt (Stasi), evidence indicated direct Libyan government involvement with an intercepted radio transmission to the Libyan embassy in East Berlin with orders to attack “with as many victims as possible.” Telegrams supported the charge of Libyan involvement.[ix]



Senior Forums Frankfurt V Corps HQ Bombing Damage #1 - baader-meinhof.com
[ii] Tag Archive for "Campbell Barracks" - baader-meinhof.com
[iii] http://www.stripes.com/30th-anniversary-of-usafe-headquarters-bombing-1.153700
[iv] http://www.nytimes.com/1985/08/09/world/car-bomb-kills-2-on-a-us-air-base-in-west-germany.html

[v] http://www.nytimes.com/1985/11/25/world/bombing-at-px-in-frankfurt-wounds-34.html
[vi] http://www.theberlinobserver.com/archive/1986V42/V42_N21_may_30.pdf
[vii] http://articles.latimes.com/1986-03-25/news/mn-2_1_patrol-boat

[viii] http://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/nov/14/kateconnolly
[ix] Ibid

Photo taken in 1985; U.S. Army, Berlin Brigade

298th ClayHQ 1985.jpg
 
john19485 said:
Wrote my book, but it got kind of complicated, someone threaten to sue me , my attorney told me to make it fiction, I just ask everyone to read my facebook profile page, and watch ithe video of my room , it kinda validates the book a little, if you understand what you are looking at.

https://www.amazon.com/stores/John-...ramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true
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Sorry, I don't do Facebook. But I did download your book in my Kindle Unlimited account. I look forward to reading it.
 
I have two that I started several years ago. One of them I got a few pages into, them wiped it clean and started differently, they are on a thumb drive.
Also have lyrics written for a dozen or so songs. Guitar to go with three of them. Started getting into my car hobbies and they got set aside.
 

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