The Gold Star Mother & the White Cliffs of Dover

Author: Ken Wiley

ISBN: 978-1-62137-508-1 (eBook)

134 pages

A true story of a mother, father, daughter, and five sons from typical small town, USA. There is no doubt that America was one nation under God. High school was the stepping stone for the military and it was only age limitations that kept some there until graduation. In 1939 as every man, woman, and child's actions were required to help with the war effort, all turned to essential war materials only. There was total unity and dedication. The book centers around a mother of five sons in the military, one being the author, Ken Wiley. Written like a timeline, the author drives a landing craft in invasions in the Pacific while his brother, Vic, flies to who knows where. Troy and Joe were with the eighth AF flying missions over Germany and Bill joined the Army. Their parents at home did everything they could and waited for those very infrequent letters and sometimes, the dreaded telegram. Ken and Troy, using memory and old letters to lay out the timeline, describe what each are doing at certain times. With communication at that time being so difficult, it comes as a surprise how each of them are notified of Joe's death. This book follows the journey of a B-17 with ten boys who are facing death every minute from German fighters and anti-aircrafts for an eight hour mission over Germany. It shows exactly what was happening 12,000 miles away on a Japanese held island, and exactly what was happening at the same time, 70 years ago back home. If you are interested in any of these things, you'll want to read this book.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ken Wiley was one of five brothers in WWII. Three were in the Army Air Corp, one was in the Army, and he was in the Coast Guard. His brother Joe, co-pilot on a B-17, was killed on his fifth mission over Germany. The third brother, Troy, was also assigned to the Eighth AF and flew B-17s, completing thirty-five missions over Germany. His brother Vic was assigned to the Embassy Service and Ken was a Cox'n of an LCVP landing craft, making seven invasions in the Pacific.

After the war, Ken did his engineering work at Hill College, Texas A&M, eventually completing it at Oklahoma State University. He worked three years for the Soil Conservation Service, two years for Bell Helicopter as a hydraulics design engineer, twenty-four years at Ling Temco Vaught, a diverse defense and commercial business contractor, moving from Liaison Engineer to Vice President of Marketing. Upon his retirement, he was called to help Nation Presort introduce new equipment for eleven years. He then worked independently as an Operational Analyst and consultant. He formed his own company, based on patent and software copyrights that he had designed, and operated the company for eleven years. When he eventually retired in 2006, he wrote and published Lucky Thirteen: D Days in the Pacific with the US Coast Guard in World War II which has been a consistent, best-seller since. Ken now works with veterans as the president of the AHCWWII Roundtable and co-hosts a television show titled Veteran's Voice. Ken is married and has six daughters and ten grandchildren.