Nov. 1, 2020
I’m pretty sure a while back I wrote in one of my posts that I was taking a detour for a while so I could focus on a long-delayed project (involving Colonial New England.) Then we slid into covid.
So, I have finished first and second drafts of my story, and after input from friends and family, I am in the middle of a “third rewrite” – this time with some significant new paths and bends in the road. Looking at my emails over the last year, I found that some submissions from readers got back-burnered.
Here’s one (from Joe Green – dated Nov. 20, 2019 [yikes!!] ). He submitted two pictures of some of his dad’s papers. Here’s his message to Bill: Attached a couple of relevant documents of my dad’s – his discharge from the naval reserves in 1954, and a commendation from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. I think by the time he was discharged he had acheived the rank of Lt Colonel.
One interesting story he told – there was a crewmember who was generally disliked and notorious for welshing on his gambling debts. One morning roll call in the middle of the Pacific, he just didn’t show up. The ship was searched, but he was gone. It was presumed he was tossed overboard in the middle of the night. Spooky story. Joe Green.