Old Northland Warriors

Every generation has its wars. Three of them--WWII in (in the 1940s) Korea (in the 1950s) and Vietnam (in the 1960s and 70s)--are fading from memory. This chronicle of airmen and soldiers recalls the wartime experiences of nine men, all with roots in Michigan's Keweenaw Peninsula. Some were left unscathed; some were wounded; all were men of faith, fortitude and humility. "Are you a hero?" a blinded Vietnam veteran is asked. "I don't use big words I can't spell," he replies. A veteran who served in Korea says, "I was never a hero. I wanted to come back." These stories are about muddy foxholes and ice-cold bombers, the joy of puffing a cigar in Vietnam and having clean dry stockings in the mountains of Italy. All were grateful to survive, even one who was blinded and one who lost a leg. In the words of a Korean War vet and a machine gunner, "You wouldn't take a million dollars to do it over again."

This book presents a combination of memoir, history, journalism and folklore. The Keweenaw Peninsula, also called the Copper Country, is a remote and storied place, the site of North America's first mining boom, and the gritty backdrop of the stories herein. Period photographs from the servicemen and from the author's collection illustrate both the time period and the lives of these nine remarkable men.