Little Things Count

Bob Koning’s latest story was titled “Whalen – The Other Side of the Story” (you can read it here). In his research, he says the following: “23 civilians were killed and were not remembered. Wahlen has no church anymore. … It felt weird: 23 civilians were killed and there was no place to remember them.”

He goes into a lot more detail on why there is no church, and that the graves are now located in the neighboring village of Steinfeld. But because there is no church in Wahlen the people there, several of whom are descended from those civilians who were killed during the bombing of 25 December 1944, no longer feel comfortable visiting the graves in the next town.

Such a simple thing – the government decided to not rebuild the church in Wahlen, the graves were moved to a different village, and now they sit among weeds and small bushes with no one visiting them.

[Cemetery in Steinfeld]

 

But that got me to thinking – about how some simple things (also associated with war) had significant outcomes.

 

Ruloffe Van der Kerr (VanDeCar)

I wrote the story of Ruloff, my wife’s great*5 grandfather, a few years ago (see here). But why did he choose to enter the Revolutionary War on the side of the British when all of his brothers and cousins sided with the colonists? As I looked at all the details of the story, there were some simple things that accounted for this.

The Van der Kerr family had been in the Hudson River valley for over 100 years before Ruloffe was born in 1745. His great-grandfather had been born there in 1637. So why would some still be favorable with the British? There were a number of reasons.

The first is the terms that the British gave to these Dutch inhabitants when they took over the Hudson River valley in 1664. While Charles I was a horrible king (he was beheaded by order of the British parliament), and his son, Charles II, was not much better, when agents of Charles II approached the Dutch, they gave them very favorable terms. As you can see here, the Dutch got to keep their weapons, their ale houses could remain open, etc. The terms even stated that “All people shall continue free Denizons and enjoy their Lands, Houses, Goods, Ships, wherever they are within this Country, and dispose of them as they please.” So the Dutch were given no reason to hate the new British government (unlike people in other parts of the British empire).

A second reason is that about the time that Ruloffe was born (in what was called at the time Loonenberg, but is now called Athens, NY), the British colonies were involved in the French and Indian War. A man by the name of Edward Jessup (1735-1816) (see here and here) had been living in Dutchess County, NY, but served as a captain in the NY Militia in 1759. Following the war, he and his brother moved to an area above Albany, NY where they received 500,000 acres of land from the British Crown. The area where they lived became associated with the British and remained so when the Revolutionary War broke out not too many years later.

Meanwhile, Ruloffe had moved out of the farming community where his relatives lived and had taken the profession of tanner and shoemaker. This seemingly simple choice of occupation meant that instead of being bound to the land, having other farmers as his principal contacts, and needing to tend crops/animals every day, he associated with men who could afford shoes and who walked as part of their everyday lives. These would have included men like the Jessup brothers as well as British soldiers. Thus, when the war began, 30 y.o. Ruloffe had his allegiance to his customers, including the British, instead of to the colonists who tended to be farmers. So he joined the group known as Jessup’s Raiders.

When the war ended in the early 1780s, Ruloffe was forced to flee to Canada. The British there, following their pattern, reimbursed him for the losses he had suffered. He remained loyal to the British for the remainder of his life. It was only after his death in 1830 that one of his sons moved back to the US – but not to nearby NY. Rather he went to the newly settled territory of Michigan which became a state in 1837.

One small thing – the choice of an occupation – but significant consequences for Ruloffe.

 

Peach Tree Creek

Like my wife’s VanDeCar ancestors, my Russell ancestors who lived in the Hudson River Valley were not unfamiliar with war either. My great*5 grandfather, John Russell (1756-1833) had left his young wife and newborn son to enlist with the NY militia on 1 May 1776 where he served until Aug 1777. Thus, when the Civil War engulfed the country, it was not unexpected that Stephen Simmons, the husband of my great*3 aunt, Rebecca Russell, also enlisted in a NY regiment in the fall of 1862. Rebecca, together with their two children (ages 10 and 9) moved back with her parents on the family farm. But Stephen’s service was not confined to the Hudson River valley and by mid-1864 he found himself as part of General Sherman’s armies in northern Georgia.

On 17 July 1864, the Confederate President, Jefferson Davis, had replaced General Joseph Johnston with General John Bell Hood, due to Johnston’s practice of a strategy of retreat (see here and here). As Sherman’s armies were approaching Atlanta, Hood’s strategy was to allow the Union Armies of Tennessee and Ohio to move east, but to attack the Union Army of the Cumberland, under General George Thomas, as they were crossing Peach Tree Creek and were most vulnerable. This was an excellent plan, however Hood lacked the insight to realize that he needed to position his troops where they could protect themselves from the Tennessee and Ohio forces on their right while still engaging the Cumberland forces crossing the river.

The original plan called for Hood’s forces to attack around 1-2 p.m. on 20 July, but because of the delay of about 90 minutes while they shifted to the right, they were not ready to attack until 3:30-4:00. By then the bulk of the Cumberland forces had completed crossing the creek and this led to a victory by the Union forces instead of the Confederate forces. With the Confederate forces once again being forced to retreat, the stage was set for the Battle of Atlanta two days later.

Just a small delay of 90 minutes in a war that had been going on for four years. But that simple delay was enough to change the course of the war by allowing Sherman’s March to the Sea.

But that outcome did not change the experience of Stephen Simmons. He was one of the casualties of the Battle of Peach Tree Creek. His wife filed for a widow’s pension, remarried three years later, and moved to CT with her new husband.  

 

Simple things sometimes have significant consequences. That’s partly why the study of history is so fascinating!

Military Research

It Started with Bob

Fifteen years ago, in the winter of 2008-2009, my younger brother announced that he had published a book of poetry that he had written. I had not realized that self-publishing was something you could do, but thought I could do some as well. The first book I published was a book of poetry that had been written by my father during his time on board a small ship in the South Pacific during WWII. He had passed away a few years earlier and I had come into possession of his collection of poems. I organized them, typed them up, and published the book of his poetry, called “My Father’s Love”, in March 2009.

A few weeks later, I was meeting for breakfast with a small group of men who got together every few weeks at a local restaurant where we shared what was going on in our lives and prayed for each other. I brought along a copy of the book that I had just published to share with them. As I was doing so, the distinct words that came to me – a message from God – were “Go see Bob.” Bob Kauffman was a retired gentleman from our church. He had not attended much for the prior few years as he was dedicated to taking care of his wife who was bedridden. She had passed away a few months earlier and I knew that was struggling with what to do next.

I also knew that he had written some monographs of his time in WWII where he had served. Knocking on his door (I had never been in his house before), I showed him the book of poetry and offered to organize and publish his monographs. He was stunned, especially since he had just a few days before received an email from a British general whom he knew who had also said that he should get his stories published.

Bob wanted to write an opening chapter of how he came to enlist in the US Army, but in the meantime, he gave me a folder with copies of all his monographs. I spent the next few months editing them, eliminating duplicate accounts, putting them in chronological order, etc. Over the summer it all came together and his book, “The Replacement” was published in September 2009. (See here).

It was an immediate success. Over the next few years until his eventual passing in 2013, he gave innumerable speeches to various civic organizations, schools, and churches, appeared on TV, and was even invited as a special guest speaker at the Gettysburg National Cemetery during their annual day of remembrance.

But perhaps the most significant speech he gave was at the Normandy Cemetery in France in 2012. Bob had memorized many of the chapters in his book and was honored to repeat it to a group at the daily flag-raising ceremony that day. (You can see it here).

 

Another Bob

During this period of his life, Bob was taking annual visits to Europe to see the places where he had served. He often took others with him. It was on one of these trips that he met a young man, Bob Konings. Bob was originally from the Netherlands but had recently moved to the small village of Grandmenil, Germany, where he had opened a bed-and-breakfast. He was enthusiastic about researching history, especially of the town of Grandmenil. As he notes on his website (https://www.battletour.be/about-bob/), he published some of his findings in early 2009. Then just a few months later, in May 2009, he met Bob Kauffman and they became close friends.

Although I have never had the opportunity to travel to Grandmenil, I also have begun working with Bob on some of his research. My specialty is using my skills at genealogy to find relatives of the various soldiers who were killed at some of the battles in that area and trying to make connections with them so that we can get a fuller picture of the men involved. If you look at one of Bob’s websites (https://www.battle-of-the-bulge.be/the-ottre-massacre-sources-and-acknowledgments/), you can see the thanks that he gives to Bob Kauffman and also his acknowledgement of me as a fellow researcher. I’m happy to be associated with all the individuals in this research and to be able to add my small contribution to it.

 

Add in Myra

One of the other researchers involved in this research is Myra Miller. Not only does she have a keen interest in WWII research, but she is fortunate to live just outside of St. Louis near the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) facility there. While NARA is headquartered in MD, the National Personnel Records Center, which houses military records (Official Military Personnel Files (OMPF)) is in their St. Louis facility. Myra and her team of researchers (officially called Footsteps Researchers (see https://www.footstepsresearchers.com/founders) spend many hours combing through the NARA records each year.

It was about this time that Myra and her four siblings began the research on a book that would honor their father and his service in WWII. They put together a large (338 page) collection of the stories that their father had told them as well as stories from another 140 WWII veterans. The book was called “Soldiers’ Stories: A Collection of WWII Memoirs” (see here). By the time it was published in late 2016, I had already worked with Bob Konings and Myra for a while and ordered a copy for myself as soon as it was available. Of course, one of the soldiers featured in it was Bob Kauffman.

This book was also an instant success and as others began sending Myra their own stories (or stories from their father or grandfather), they quickly had a collection of enough other stories for a second volume. This second volume, published in 2020 (see here) also included a story that I wrote about my father’s time in the US Navy. You can see what I wrote here.

Myra continues to do WWII research through the NARA records as well as leads small groups on battlefield tours of the European theater. I am happy to be connected to both Myra and Bob Konings in social media.

 

Add in Joey

The final member of the collaborative team is Joey van Meesen. Rather than contributing by writing, Joey uses his skills to produce documentary videos. His website is called Snafu Docs (https://www.snafu-docs.com/). As you can see on his website, he partners with Battle of the Bulge Tours (Bob Konings), with Footsteps Researchers (Myra Miller) as well as with others. Not having skills in this area, I have not worked directly with Joey as I have with Bob or Myra, but I have viewed all his videos.

 

Pulling it all together

I had already decided earlier this week to write this blog post. But then within the last 24 hours three separate items brought it to the forefront of my mind.

First, in my Youtube feed I received a reminder of a video of Joey’s that I had watched two years ago. The video was a short documentary about looking for the person who was in a picture from 1944 in a small town in Luxembourg (see here).  The people on the search team were Joey, his father, and Bob Konings. Naturally, I watched it again – and put this blog writing on the top of my list.

Then, late last night, two items showed up at the top of my Facebook feed. The first was a posting from Myra, showing the Footsteps Researchers/Snafu Docs teams at a display table at a convention in Louisville. Both Myra and Joey were in the picture.

Finally, early this morning (European time) there was a posting by Bob Konings about a recent trip he and his wife made to the small village of Wahlen, Germany looking for the graves of the civilian victims of a bombing run of a plane that crashed near where they currently live. So, in the middle of the night (my time), I not only read his post, but resolved to write this blog post TODAY! And, the focus of his post will be the subject of a subsequent post that I’ll begin writing this afternoon.

Just like when I showed my father’s book of poetry to a few friends and received the message, “Go see Bob,” I now have received the directive to write this latest post!

 

Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

Why Do I Post These Updates?

Before I get to the topic mentioned above, I thought I’d give some of the rationale on why I post these detailed insights into my current medical situation.

I’m not doing it for personal glory, nor to try to shock you with all the details of what I’m going through. Rather, I recognize that we all encounter new things/challenges in our lives and we need to adapt to these changing circumstances. It’s important to remember that God is in control of all things. So we can rely on Him to help us. Thus, rather than be upset that we are not in control ourselves, we don’t have to be upset, but can learn from these new/changing circumstances.

 

New Steps Forward

The past several weeks have been a bit of a wild ride. First, about two weeks at home not feeling great because of COVID, then two and a half weeks in the hospital, then two weeks in a rehab facility, and finally a few days at home. I’ve known for quite a while that getting my right big toe amputated was a possibility, but it was a bit of a shock when the doctor determined that I needed a trans metatarsal amputation, i.e., the entire front of my foot. But I dealt with it with little difficulty and took the opportunity to minister to others in the rehab center.

There have been two really positive “side effects” that I’d like to share:

First, probably because of the CCD (Constant Carb Diet) that I was on in the hospital and the rehab center, my weight has been dropping. As of my latest stepping on the scale at home (which I’ve used before, so I know it’s pretty accurate), my weight is down 20 pounds compared to a few months ago. I’m now at the lowest that I’ve been going back at least several decades. I’m now in the “older normal” range. Now my challenge is to keep it off. My wife is trying to replicate the same CCD types of meals, but that’s not been easy, as she doesn’t know the portion sizes that they were using.

Second, and also related to that same diet, my average blood glucose is holding fairly consistently in the range that I’ve been shooting for over the last few years since I met with a nurse who started me on insulin, i.e. 100-130 target. My A1C the last few times it was measured was about 6.8-6.9, indicating a glucose level of about 140. But my average over the last 30 days is only 115, indicating an A1C of 5.4. Not sure if I’ll be able to keep it there, but if I can keep it below 130, that would be great! (This morning I was at 113, so this new diet appears to be working!)

 

One Step Back

However, I have had one setback….

It was great last Friday to have the wrap on my foot removed, the stitches taken out (after less than two weeks post-op), and come home. But then I had to figure out how to adapt the getting around on my knee scooter, going up the few steps into the house, and to make the various transitions to recliner, to bed, etc.

When I went into my den and wanted to get off the scooter into my recliner the alignment of the scooter to the chair was on the wrong side of the scooter, and there was not enough space to turn around. (I’ve now changed to getting off on the futon first, then making a second transition from the futon to the chair, but this was my first time and I hadn't figured that out yet.) Even with the assistance of my wife and daughter it was awkward. In the process I began losing my balance and I set down my right foot to stabilize myself. While I caught myself, I twisted my right ankle and heard an audible “pop” and felt a pain in the back of my right heel.

While neither my wife nor my daughter had heard the “pop”, I believed that it was like my Achilles tendon. It was late enough in the day that the orthopedic surgeon’s office was closed, but I contacted his office and left a message about what had happened and asked for an appointment on Monday. On Monday morning I heard from his office and we scheduled a short visit for early afternoon.

He quickly determined that I was correct in my analysis. He did not seem overly concerned as part of the eventual plan was to lengthen that tendon to compensate for the lost dexterity in my now shortened foot. But in the meantime, I needed to have it splinted to give it time to heal without any further damage.

[Splinted Foot]

 

The above picture shows the size of my splinted right foot compared to my still-normal left foot. You can see the size of the combined splint and wrap. The splint has several layers: gauze against the skin to prevent irritation; a sock to hold the gauze and give a slippery base; a splint (material that is wet to activate, then the water squeezed out, then shaped from beyond the front of the foot, around the heel, and up to just below the back of the knee where it hardens in a minute or so); a wide tape of elastic material. I covered it with bag-like black sock that my daughter got for me that keeps it all clean and doesn’t look quite so clinical.

So now my foot is immobilized and I can’t bend my ankle for the next two weeks. Just one more adaption!

 

Movement and Transfers

The process of moving around and transferring to various seats has been a shifting landscape. In the hospital I was confined to bed and only allowed up to sit on a commode right next to it. The bed was alarmed if I tried to get up, so I had to call the staff then stand and pivot on my left foot. In rahab I started out on a wheelchair with a right leg support and had to get cleared by the therapist to demonstrate that I could transition to the toilet before they would let me go unattended. Then I got a knee scooter but had a belt around my middle that they could hold to ensure that I did not fall – eventually cleared to use that unattended as well. Finally got training on a stair-climbing cane to show that I could go up/down the few steps at home.

At home I started using the knee scooter, but it requires space to turn and so it was very awkward for things like going to the bathroom as there was no turning space. I’ve now transitioned to using crutches in the house and using the knee walker when I go out (so far only to doctor visits and church). This also facilitates any transitions (to recliner, to bed, to kitchen chair for supper) as the knee scooter only allows exit on the left side where my left leg is. I’m also using a urinal so I don’t have to make the trek to the bathroom if I wake up at night. Every change creates a new learning experience!

 

What’s Next?

If all goes well, then the splint on my leg will be removed in two weeks. Then I can make an appointment with a local company that will make a prosthetic insert that will attach to the front of my foot and enable me to use a regular shoe. I’ll then be cleared to drive and be somewhat back to normal. Not sure when I’ll need additional surgery on my ruptured Achilles tendon to give me the needed flexibility.

I’m continuing to learn new things – new things about my body, new ways to get around, new adaptions needed to transition, etc. But in all this, God is in control. Psalm 46 says, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear…” I will continue to rely upon Him!

The Power of Prayer

One of the advantages of my time here in rehab is that I have more time to myself instead of being involved in the homeschooling of my grandsons. So I’ve been using that time to spend time in prayer. I’m not doing anything different except for the amount of time. For several years I’ve had a routine for organizing my prayers that I’d like to share.

I have several lists on my smartphone to organize the names of people whom I pray for. Here they are – not in any priority order:

 

Shepherding Group

Although I transitioned from being an active elder at church to elder emeritus status last year (after 40 years), one thing that I retained was my shepherding group of 20 families. I not only regularly pray for them, but I try to touch base with them at church each week. I also periodically reach out to them via email asking if there are any specific things that I can pray for.

Praying Around the World

There are a number of missionaries from our church scattered around the world. I also have friends in a number of countries whom I have made over the years. I’ve organized them by geography, and I pray for one area of the world each day. So Monday is Europe, Tuesday is Africa, then South Asia, Southeast/East Asia, Caribbean and South America. There are 2-3 families in each of these. But concentrating on one geography each day means that I can pray specifically for each family regularly.

Long-term Prayers

I keep a list of 6-10 individuals who have long-term issues – things like physical situations or family situations. By putting them on this list I’m trying to not forget them. There is a human tendency to pray when we first hear about something but then forget about it after a while and this list keeps these individuals in front of me. Some of the people on this list I’ve had for 4-5 years.

Church Prayer Chain

Our church sends out a prayer chain twice a week. Some of these prayer requests are for people in the congregation and others are for family members that they are concerned about, i.e., please pray for xxxx’s sister-in-law. I generally only like to pray for people I know so I can put a face to each prayer, so rather than pray for these latter types, I pray for the church member to know how to work with their relative.

Family

Last, but certainly not least, I pray for my family – wife, children, grandchildren, siblings, nieces and nephews, etc. I don’t have these in a list as that’s not needed. But we can’t forget to pray for those who are closest to us.

 

There are many people who pray for things that do not fall into the above categories. For example, I’ve heard prayers like “Pray for our country, our president, our elected officials,” or “Pray for such-and-such organization.” If someone is leading a prayer like this, then I will certainly participate, but I do not put these on any of my lists. I want to be able to visualize the face of the person I’m praying for and to make my prayers personal. There are others who have other practices and I’m fine with that, but this is my focus.

There are a lot of benefits to prayer and there is power in prayer. Even if God has other ideas and we do not understand the eventual outcome, prayer helps to align us with God. And looking to Him is always a good thing!