Follow Your Heart, Across an Ocean
by Michele Roger
After years of hardship from war, my grandparents found each other.
He told the story of the guys in his barrack taking shifts sleeping. Stationed in Africa, the locals— supporters of Rommel—were known for sneaking into American camps and slitting the throats of soldiers. He was thankful to be reassigned to a new post that took him to France.
She told stories of being orphaned by age eleven and raised in a school by nuns. She recalled a time when she hid from a German patrol in a theater with her schoolmates. None of them had eaten or had water for days. Her friends hid in a prop room. There, they stumbled upon a stash of oranges and a barrel of water. They ate oranges until their gums bled and their bodies formed “pockets” of water in their skin, unable to absorb the water they poured into their mouths.
Clarence was an American Machine Specialist soldier from Detroit stationed in France. He played saxophone…
Read more in our Winter 2021 #Wellness issue.
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