We love celebrating the Fourth of July in Ellijay. There’s the parade downtown in the morning, then a retreat into air conditioning or a pool before going back out to find a grassy spot on the hillside of the city cemetery to watch the fireworks.
This year, we had the added bonus of meeting an extraordinary young couple, Amber Brooke Davis and her husband, Reinaldo Hernandez. Amber had been in touch about purchasing my book on Vietnam veterans, so I told her our usual parade-watching location near the Times-Courier office and they found us easily.
Right away I saw the EGA (Eagle, Globe and Anchor) insignia on Reinaldo’s ball cap and “Semper Fi!” and a handshake were traded between fellow Marines. I didn’t make the connection right away — and quite possibly had forgotten if she told me — but Amber is the daughter of Joe Davis, a retired educator from Murray County with deep roots in Gilmer County.
When Joe learned I had published a book in 1998, “Wild, But True, Stories of the Outdoors,” he invited me to share anecdotes from it at a Family Reading Night at Eton Elementary. This school venture not only boosted literacy skills for the kids, but brought a sense of community to parents in the tiny burg as they shared supper together in the cafeteria. It was the first time I told stories from the book, and I became energetic while acting out a late-night panther’s visit to our camping site and a bear tugging on my sleeping bag in the Smokies.
Joe’s crew had set up a table and chairs for me to sign and sell books afterward, and when I got it all arranged and looked up, a line stretched all the way across the gym. Those who read the Bible are familiar with the New Testament encourager Barnabas. I feel like Joe Davis has been a Barnabas in my life — when you self-publish with money out of your own pocket, you always wonder if you’ll cover your expensive investment, much less make a profit. He helped me gain confidence and has shown up at my book signings in Chatsworth.
At first, I didn’t make the Joe-Amber connection, until I saw where she had served in the U.S. Peace Corps. Then I remembered him telling me about this while noticing her last name. In the last few weeks, Amber and Reinaldo have shared their unique story of recognizing four veterans from Gilmer County who were killed in World War II and are buried in Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery in Belgium. After being invited to a wedding in the Netherlands earlier this year, Amber designed 4-inch by 4-inch commemorative tiles to be placed at these veterans’ gravesites. They took a side trip to Henri-Chapelle that you can read about in this week’s issue of the Times-Courier.
There are other Veterans Day stories this year as well. In the Korean War, northern Whitfield County resident Drennon Crutchfield walked across the bodies of Korean and Chinese troops as American soldiers advanced in the peninsula — and from his unit’s dug-in position, he’s unsure if he killed any of them or not. Drennon has an amazing memory, and another benefit of getting to know him and his gracious wife, Mary Beth, is that they know just about everyone in Dalton I knew while growing up. Thanks go out to my good friend and old schoolmate Mickey Brock for introducing me to the Crutchfields.
Randall Richards is a Vietnam veteran and also a retired educator from Murray County, and one of the best storytellers I’ve run across. However, unlike the humorous tale of the day his “best dog in the world” Spot went to church in Spring Place, his story in advance of Veterans Day is markedly different. It describes a lopsided and deadly battle in Vietnam, with a dedicated and fearless Catholic priest who risked his own life to stay with the troops, ministering to the wounded and saying last rites over the dead. Randall calls the late Father Patrick Boyle not only his “hero of heroes,” but a mentor and friend.
Crutchfield’s story was in the Dalton Daily Citizen on Wednesday, and Richards’ recounting of the Battle of Illingworth was in there on Friday and in The Chatsworth Times. Amber and Reinaldo’s visit to Henri-Chapelle will be told in the Times-Courier, and we’ll save it for Memorial Day 2024 in the Citizen and Times.
My friend in Talking Rock, Vietnam vet and retired Army Col. Bob Reitz, says don’t tell a combat veteran “Thanks for your service” but instead “I’m glad you made it back — welcome home!” For Vietnam veterans, who endured cursing and spitting upon their return to the States half a century ago, it’s long overdue.
Mark Millican is a former staff writer for the Dalton Daily Citizen.