Struggles, Service & Smiles: The Autobiography of a Depression Era Kid

by Robert B. Wiley, Sue Hamilton (Editor)

Overview

Fatherless Kid Becomes World War II Veteran

This writing covers a life that has been lived during a third of the history of the United States. It goes from 1924, when hamburger sometimes sold for a nickel a pound, to 2011, with a bacon-wrapped filet in a butcher shop nudging $20.00 a pound.

As this book chronicles the life of Lieutenant Colonel Wiley, he is confident that WWII veterans, as well as other veterans, will be reminded of the days of their youth and early adulthood; the trying times as well as the pleasures and friendships. Women will get a glimpse into the vital role of military wives during both war and peace.

Children and grandchildren of these vets may gain some insight as to what their parents and grandparents encountered and endured but which were never related.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940012950628
Publisher:	Robert B. Wiley
Publication date:	05/26/2011
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	241 KB

About the Author

Robert B. Wiley, a decorated WWII veteran, was born in a small eastern Colorado town on the eve of the Great Depression. He lost his father when he was nine and grew up with his widowed mother in Sioux City, Iowa.

After one year at Iowa State Teachers College, he was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1943. After completing his combat tour in the Pacific, as a navigator on a B-24, he went through pilot training and elected to continue serving his country as a career military officer, retiring in 1964.

In September 1945, he had married Maxine Anderson, who he called “Mickey” and with whom he had attended church since they were sub-teens. They raised four children: Diana, born in Texas; Debi, in Washington; Dennis, in Colorado; and Dan, in Massachusetts. They have five grandchildren.

Sadly, after 62½ years of marriage, Mickey passed away in 2008 and she never got to know her two great-grandsons, both of whom are fourth generation, native-born Colorado Wiley males.

Bob, who is blessed with good health, jokes that he still has all his original "equipment" except his tonsils, one wisdom tooth and about 12 centimeters of his colon. He is thankful that his body does not have “implants,” neither metal nor plastic.

He enjoys independent living at Garden Plaza, a beautiful retirement residence in Aurora, Colorado.