FREE at LAST

About the Book

This is the saga of a hard working, abused, cotton picking field slave named Billy.  He suffered under the brutal and torturous hand and boot of the curator until he reached the limit of his endurance.  Through a stroke of good fortune he acquires the tool that permitted a vehicle toward escape.  He rouses other slaves and convin-ces them to join in his Flight for Freedom.  Their escape is perilous and takes them across neighboring farms to lead to their perilous crossing of the raging flow of the mighty Mississippi River. Their trek takes them northward through many life threat-ening situations until they reach the wagon train marshaling areas in eastern Kansas.   Encountering mixed emotions and bigotry with only a scant few dollars they begin their westward aspiration on foot.  They persevere through the continuous bigotry insults and innuendos across the farm lands and through the towns including an ar-rest and victorious escape.  After they manage to acquire their own wagon they en-counter a party of Indians, best their best warrior in mortal combat they become members of their tribe.  They adopt the life style of the Indians then train and fight with their new allies against their common enemies - the white pioneers in their wagon trains that are invading their land and the Army Cavalry that is there to sup-port their advances.  A number of their troop desiring a less violent existence de-part the Indian nation to continue a more peaceful existence in the west.  They forge on with less antagonism only to confront a encounter a group of renegades that have commandeered a frontier town.  They overcome the renegades to liberate the town and settle in as welcome neighbors.  The story unfolds with the escapades and thrilling encounters of both groups. There is excitement on every page to keep the reader spellbound through a believable and fast moving saga of a Quest for Freedom that is as topical as today.           A Quest to be “FREE at LAST”

About the Author

Author's Bio for Book Jacket Two weeks after my eighteenth birthday I was in the draft office being sworn in to the U. S. Army. Two weeks later I was aboard a troop carrier heading for England. Upon our arrival we loaded into army ten wheeler and were taken to an old English Army Base where I was trained combat radio operator. I was assigned to a combat unit to prepare for the war. We were the moved to Dover to await further orders. Within a few days we were boarding troop Carrier and we were on our way to war. The next day we climbed down rope ladders into landing crafts and headed toward Omaha Beach and probable death. Two hours after midnight of day one we set foot on French soil amid tremendous cannon and machine gun fire. I survived that night and by dawn was on the beach road shooting the cannon and machine gun operators. We battled our way eastward until we captured the Port City of Cherbourg where we liberated the port and opened it to receive shipments to support the invasion troops. We then fought our way east to the break through at St. Lo to drive the enemy from Caen Beach for a fire free landing of the British, Canadian and Free French Armies. We then drove on to assist in ridding the city of Paris of the resident German troops, went on through the Maginot Line and directly into the dreaded Siegfred Line that guarded the entrance into Germany. We fjorded the multitude of concrete pilings to face the six our bunkers placed there to repel invaders. Our command left when the only remaining bunker was atop the slope leaving it for the artillery sergeant and myself for it demolition. Our mission was accomplished however, we were hit by a direct mortar shell and I was wounded. A quick stitch and bandage and we reported the incident and results to our commander, for which I was awarded the Purple Heart for the wound and a Silver Star for my refusal to stay in the hospital rather than report the results to our commander. Before we could settle in we were in the midst of a humongous German Counter attack which was designated “The Battle of the Bulge". We suffered many casualties, BUT we managed to survive. When the battle subsided our unit moved on to rescue the prisoners of a slave labor camp in the Hertz Mountains, then moved on to the Hospital city of Bad Godesberg where we captured and released a company of German Infantry to avoid destroying a hospital city and killing many innocent, elderly civilians., Before we could settle in we were ordered to race to the Bridge at Remagen before it could be detonated. We arrived to find the bridge wired for demolition but managed to capture or drive off the few remaining Germans. We then forged ahead against minimum 'resistance until we reached the Elbe River where we liberated a Polish Slave labor camp and captured the Main German Airport that they serviced. We all enjoyed a typical Polish Party of eating drinking and dancing until a group of Russian soldiers walked across the bridge confirming an alliance of victory now that the war was over. WE all listened to General Eisenhower as he delivered his Victory Address confirm the end of World War II. A short time after we moved on to serve in the Army of occupation with headquarters in Schrobenhausen Germany, along the Frankfurt Main Autobahn where I was promoted to a bird Colonel and assumed command of our Combat Assault Regiment, headquartered in Schrobenhausen, Germany. A brief time later I was transferred to Bavaria to operate an abandoned movie theater and make it operable to entertain the troops of the fourth division. Three months later I drove my jeep to the port of Marseilles in France, boarded a troop ship, and sailed back home to America. I then realized that the war was over and I was going home.