When Duty Called
Copyright 1998 Magnolia Press
Athens, Alabama
These remembrances of World War
II are excerpts from When Duty Called, a compilation of Limestone County,
Alabama, veterans war stories by Athens attorney
Jerry R. Barksdale, which he
published in 1998.
They were a natural outgrowth of
the reverence Barksdale held as a child for his Uncle James Burch, a WWII
veteran:
“At my insistence, he would
climb the ladder into the attic, open his dusty Army footlocker, and bring down
his war relics for me to see. I remember a German Luger, bayonet, Hitler Youth
dagger, a large Nazi banner and various medals. Uncle James used the dagger each
fall when he butchered hogs. Of course I understood nothing of the cause, nor
immensity of the war that consumed 50 million lives worldwide. I only knew that
Uncle James was my hero. He still is today.
“He finally told me his story on
the 50th anniversary of the Normandy Invasion. He told me he had
served four years in the Navy, most of the time aboard the battleship U.S.S.
Oklahoma, which later went down at Pearl Harbor. He was discharged from the
Navy in 1940 and then drafted into the Army. He served in the Third Army under
Gen. George S. Patton, who pinned him with the Bronze Star. I was hooked. I
wrote his story and it was published in our local newspaper.
“Over the next four years I
interviewed dozens of WWII veterans. I listened to their stories, many I sensed
were being revealed for the first time. I witnessed them shake and sob. I loved
them all. May their deeds live forever in the hearts of free people.”
Part of
the proceeds from the sale of this book goes to benefit the
Alabama Veterans Museum and Archives.
Soft cover
484 pages
Indexed
$24.95
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be
reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopying, recording, or any information storage retrieval system,
without permission in writing from the publisher. All requests for permission to
reproduce material from this work should be directed to Jerry R. Barksdale, 212
S. Marion St., Athens, AL 35611
