Meet My Experts - Part II

Congratulations to Kathy Wiechman who won FIRE, COLOR, ONE from last week's blog.

Three years ago I posted a blog about some of the people I'd interviewed for Half-Truths. These experts as well as other men and women willingly shared their life stories with me in order to make my story more authentic. 

Since I'm at the beta/sensitivity reader stage, I'm no longer interviewing folks but I'm still fact-checking and always keeping my eyes and ears open for material that will inform Half-Truths.

For example, I had written a scene about Sam, Lillie's older brother who had enlisted for the conflict in Korea. But as I was re-reading my manuscript I wondered:

    a) Did Sam enlist or was he drafted? How would his choice affect my story? (Lillie's father came home from WWII and met with ridicule in North Carolina. How would he react to his only son enlisting in the service? In turn, how would that affect Lillie?)

   b) Was there even a draft then?

Not finding the answer online, I turned to the Korean Veterans Club in my community. 

KWVA  Chapter 169

I was allowed to speak at one of their meetings and discovered that men could enlist or be drafted. (Whew! I was safe with that part of my story!) When they found out the premise of Half-Truths, the men were quick to tell stories of those first attempts at integrating the armed services. It reinforced, to me, how integration was a process that happened over time. 

• One vet laughed about being mistakenly assigned to a black truck company. 
• Another told me of how the troops were integrated during training on Parris Island, SC and Camp Lejeune in North Carolina (during the mid-50's), but as soon as the men stepped off the base, "segregation was rampant." He said that it was as if the blacks lived in two separate worlds. On base they were treated as equals, but if they left camp, they were in a different, biased world. 
• One man's brother who had served in WWII said, "Treat Negroes with respect because we bleed the same red blood to keep this country free." 
• One vet said he was accused of being a "McCarthy boy" because he wanted to go to college. The consensus in this group was that Communism wasn't talked about much at home.
• Truman knew the country wasn't ready for another war, that's why it was called a "police action."
• I was left with the overall impression that these men worked and fought with black men and that was their "normal".

Of course, I've read some of this accounts online and in articles. But it was different hearing these stories from the men who witnessed and lived them. 

I received this star from one of the vets.

And their stories make mine a little bit richer as a result.

Stay tuned. Soon I'll be sharing stories and pictures of one of my African American experts in Charlotte who has meant so much to me. 

My Sister, My Reader, My Friend

Recently, my sister Barbara visited from Milwaukee. While in my home, she  was looking around for something to read. I suggested that she start reading through our father's letters to his parents when he served in World War II. There are hundreds of them that need to be organized:

Henry Federlin's WWII mementos and letters

"No," she said. "I'd rather read your book."

"It's not in very good shape," I said. "Especially towards the end. It needs a lot of work."

"That's OK," she replied.

I shrugged and brought her a stack of papers.

Barbara Federlin beginning her big read

Up until now I have shared the premise of Half-Truths with the experts I have interviewed and with an handful of writers.  No one except a few friends has read beyond the first fourteen chapters.

No one until Barbara insisted.

In three days, interrupted by trips to see our mother and to local museums, my sister read the entire manuscript.

Now I have someone who understands my purpose, who "gets" the scope of my story, and who has a mental picture of my entire book.

Now I have someone who I can ask if a scene should be deleted or enlarged upon, or if a character has stayed consistent from beginning to end.

She didn't stop to correct grammar, word choice, or tenses. She just read, and gave me the gift of not being able to put it down.

When she finished with tears in her eyes she said, "Good job."  

That's high praise coming from my big sister.

                                        The Federlin resemblance is unmistakable

            

Our father, who taught us to love stories by reading aloud to us when we were little, would be pleased that she took such an interest in mine.

So am I.

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