Honoring All Who Served this Veterans Day
Ellen Jordan, who served in the WACs during World War II, was born on October 25, 1922.
Ellen Jordan was my aunt. She never had children of her own, but looked after her nieces and nephews as if they were her own. I still have a doll that was handmade by her for a Christmas gift. As a little girl and then later as a teen-age girl, she helped me, many a time, to sew dresses, along with showing me how to crochet and knit.
She was also instrumental in helping to raise her nephew, Billie Wayne Flynn, who graduated from West Point Academy and was killed in Viet Nam January 23, 1967.
Ellen took care of four of her younger siblings until she enlisted at the age of 22. My mother and her twin sister were fourteen-years-old (the youngest of the siblings) when Ellen enlisted.
Ellen Jordan enlisted in the Army in 1944 at the local U.S. Post Office where the local Army recruiting office was located. She attended basic training at Fort Oglethorpe and served in the Medical Corp while stationed at Camp Wolter, Texas in the Hospital Unit. She had on-the-job training on how to run the ICU unit, assist with operations and take care of the wounded soldiers. Since there was a shortage of medical supplies, the staff had to improvise on how to care for the patients, including constructing oxygen tents and setting up a patient ward on enclosed porches. After the war, she remained in Texas and continued to take care of the wounded at the clinic.
She eventually moved back to Greensboro, NC, to take care of her parents.
By sheer accident, I recently came across an interview on the internet 2022 with her for the Women Veterans Historical Project Oral History: The Ellen Jordan Collection
To listen to this oral history segment, please click on the link above. Hearing her voice in the interview opened a floodgate of memories about her. Ellen was truly an adventuresome soul.
Ellen Jordan (1st row, 3rd from left) and other WACs pose beside a structure at Camp Wolters, Texas, circa 1944. In front of the women are five puppies. The women were allowed to keep pets at this base.More than 150,000 WACs (Women’s Army Corp) served during WWII. The WAC was founded due to Representative Edith Nourse Rogers (MA). Rogers had witnessed first-hand the contributions women made in WWI. The WACs was formed in 1943 transitioning from an auxiliary branch of the Army (no life insurance, overseas pay, or death benefits) the WAACs to the WACs. WACs now receive equal rank, pay, and benefits equal to their male counterparts.
Ellen passed away in Greensboro, North Carolina at the age of 95. Two days before her “little sister,” my mother, Antha Mae Pace, who was 87-years-old when she passed away on May 26, 2017 in Bellingham, Wash.
My first cousin, Billy Wayne Flynn, at West Point Academy. He was killed in Vietnam January 23, 1967.
Veterans Day: A celebration to honor America’s veterans for their patriotism, love of country, and willingness to serve and sacrifice for the common good, and to protect our democracy.
As an annual tradition here at Chanticleer Reviews on Veterans Day, we are suggesting these titles from among our reviews of authors who are Veterans.
But before we recognize these outstanding works, let us take a minute to review these statistics about those who have served our country.
- There are 19 million Veterans as of this year (Pew Research Center)
- There was an average of 17.2 Veteran suicides a day in 2019 (VA Mental Health)
- Firearms were used in 70% of veteran suicide in 2019 (Stars and Stripes)
- Suicide Risk of veterans is almost double what it is for the general population (VA Public Health)
- The greatest difference in suicide rates between veterans and nonveterans is among those ages 18–34 (Rand Corporation)
- The largest number of veterans who die by suicide are between 55 and 74 years old.
- (Rand Corporation)
- 25% of all veterans have a service connected disability (Military.com)
- 41% of all post 9/11 veterans have a service connected disability (Military.com)
HELPFUL LINKS for ASSISTANCE
Writing is known to be a “transformative therapy’ for veterans haunted by their experiences. “The Red Badge Project encourages Wounded Warriors to rediscover their personal voice and realize the value of their experiences and emotions.”
“RBP partners with Vet Centers and allows Veterans of all ages to take advantage of the Red Badge Project’s program while providing a link between veterans of multiple generations.” Here is a link to a Seattle Times article by Nicole Brodeur that was published on November 11, 2019, that is about the Red Badge Project.
Using the creative process of storytelling, Wounded Warriors begin to rebuild their individual sense of purpose and unique individuality.
For Wounded Warriors struggling to heal the invisible wounds of PTSD, Anxiety, and Depression, believing in the value of their story and finding the means to communicate it to family, friends, and community is a struggle of heroic proportions. Tom Skerritt is a founder and is part of the Red Badge Project faculty.
We here at Chanticleer Reviews have had the honor of reviewing top novels and narrative non-fiction written by outstanding authors whose stories enlighten, remind, empathize, and creates a better understanding with those who have served in the armed forces.
Read on to see excerpts from our reviews:
NO TOUGHER DUTY, NO GREATER HONOR
By GySgt L. Christian Bussler
First Place in Journey Awards
From a family with a long history of military service dating back to the civil war, GySgt L. Christian Bussler brings to life his experience as a Mortuary Affairs marine and sheds light on a duty that few ever talk about. He is called to duty for his first of three tours in Iraq in February of 2003 after spending many years training as a reservist.
This fear becomes reality when he narrowly escapes an IED blast with his life. Afterward, Bussler wrestles with the guilt of going back home injured, leaving his team behind to fight without him. The final and longest section of No Tougher Duty, No Greater Honor mirrors the length of the final and longest tour from 2005-2006. This tour especially proves to be the most challenging for not just Bussler, but his whole team, and it leaves them all forever changed.
HILLBILLIES to HEROES
The Memoir of James Quinton Kelley
By S.L. Kelley
World War II veteran Quinton Kelley recounted his life story to an avid biographer – his daughter, S. L. Kelley, a documentarian and award-winning video producer.
Kelley’s tale begins in Coker Creek, Tennessee, where he was raised on an 80-acre farm, in a log cabin that he described as rough, but “brightened” with flowers. Taught to be honest and hardworking by his parents, he grew up with kerosene lamps for light, a fireplace for warmth and a wood stove for cooking. His recollections are colorful, with language that recalls his roots.
WOUNDED WARRIOR, WOUNDED WIFE
By Barbara McNally
The critical issues surrounding post-traumatic stress among America’s wounded warriors is expanded here to include the challenges and concerns of military wives and families.
Barbara McNally was working as a physical therapist when she watched helplessly as a man jumped off a bridge to his death. Feeling involved in his tragedy, she learned he was a wounded veteran. The experience spurred her to find out more about PTS and its effects on those who have participated in war.
A CROWDED HEART
By Andrea McKenzie Raine
Note: This is a work of Fiction
Willis Hancocks survives fighting in Western Europe during World War II but faces continuing battles of the mind at war’s end in Andrea McKenzie Raine’s poignant study of the plight of the former soldier in her historical novel, A Crowded Heart.
Willis decides to remain in London rather than return to his native Canada where his parents and sister live near Vancouver. Eager to put the war behind him, he marries Ellie, an intelligent young woman who has studied art at Cambridge University. Her affluent parents approve of Willis, and her father offers to finance his new son-in-law’s study of law at Cambridge. The newlyweds’ future could not look rosier.
MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY PTSD
By Christopher Oelerich
“I went away to war one person and came back another, and in my wildest dreams would never have chosen to be the one who came back.” – Christopher Oelerich
Thus begins this heartfelt discussion of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder by a military veteran who has spent his life helping others deal with the debilitating symptoms associated with the disorder. Christopher Oelerich relates his own personal history, beginning from when he was drafted into the military during the Vietnam War, and continuing through his return to civilian life and his own rocky road to recovery.
Oelerich eschews political correctness in favor of blunt talk mixed with detailed, empowering strategies that have worked for him, as well as for the military veterans and homeless he has helped over the years.
“Long goes far beyond the simplistic notion of the Civil War as told in American history texts to accurately portray the daily challenges faced by homesteading families, freed slaves, American Indians robbed of their ancestral lands, and ex-soldiers who face the disrespect of the Union army. Heart-warming and at times hilarious adventures are juxtaposed with gritty and emotionally wrenching moments such as Custer’s 1868 attack on Chief Black Kettle’s Cheyenne camp at Washita… Author McKendree Long displays a natural gift for storytelling.”
“It is when Kelly accepts an open invitation to spend some time in Guzman’s drug palace in Northern Mexico that his code of “trusting friends first” will force him to face not only the dilemma of a loyalty to be divided between Guzman and Dave Holt, but also of being thrust into a senseless and bloody border war that has more than a few parallels to the Vietnam conflict. As such, Gilliam’s novel stands not only as a complex and intriguing “band of brothers” romp but also as a reflection on the evils of unquestioned authority and corruption.” 
From a family with a long history of military service dating back to the civil war, GySgt L. Christian Bussler brings to life his experience as a Mortuary Affairs marine and sheds light on a duty that few ever talk about. He is called to duty for his first of three tours in Iraq in February of 2003 after spending many years training as a reservist.
