The Tides of War is about two men, Lenny Dawson and Frank Billups. Lenny is a teenager and Frank is his Sunday school teacher. Unusual circumstance bring them together again during WW II flying B-17 bombers. Their trials and exploits during WWII bring both to Germany after they are shot down. They pass themselves off as German citizens and are taken into the German Luftwaffe. Both hope to return to their base in England by flying away in a German plane. While in Germany both meet German women and a love story develops for both. The Luftwaffe quickly learn that they are superb pilots and they are promoted and sent to the eastern front where they engage the Russians. Both eventually fly a plane back to England before the war ends. Dawson is reassigned with his American unit and is shot down once more over Germany near the end of the war. He is put in a German prison that the Russians later capture. He is then sent to Siberia where he makes a daring escape nearly two years after his captured. Billups' service with the Luftwaffe is discovered by the CIA and they want to charge him with treason. Only his commanding general is able to save him. After the war they return to America and both apply and receive jobs flying commercial airliners for Global Air. However, over the Caribbean Ocean they crash land in the ocean and are set adrift. They eventually land on an island that has been a secret base for German U-boats and are received warmly by the natives. The story concludes with Dawson and Billups helping the natives develop the island as a resort.
THE TIDES OF WAR
By WILLIAM POSTAuthorHouse
Copyright © 2011 William Post
All right reserved.ISBN: 978-1-4520-1963-5Chapter One
A REUNION
Leonard (Lenny) Dawson was thirteen when his mother was killed in an automobile accident. A neighbor had asked her to pick up her son from his piano lesson as her car was in the shop getting new brakes. On their return a truck blew a tire and hit them head on killing both instantly. Both families were devastated. It was Gilbert and Hilda Getz's only child. The year was 1936.
Lenny had an older brother, Ralph, Jr. who was a sophomore in college. His father ran an engineering firm where he spent about fourteen hours a day because he couldn't afford to hire more help. The country was in a depression and work was sparse.
Hilda missed her boy so badly that she would invite Lenny to come over after school to have cookies or some other goodies she had baked especially for him. Lenny realized that Hilda missed her boy terribly and always went over and talked to her as he realized how much she needed him. He liked Hilda and their fondness for one another grew as Lenny needed her also.
Hilda and her husband, Gil, spoke German in their home as they had immigrated to America just after their marriage. Hilda wanted Lenny to speak German so she began teaching him that language. Lenny thought of it as a game and really enjoyed learning the language. In just a few weeks they were conversing in German.
New Braunfels High School offered two courses in German in which Lenny took advantage. It helped him immeasurably in his conversations with Hilda. Many Germans had immigrated to Texas and a good number of these students took the German language courses as they were easy for them. This made the course fairly difficult because so many of the students were already fluent in German. Their teacher was a German immigrant also who had taught German in Germany and demanded much from his students.
Lenny studied avidly and Hilda helped him so he was soon as proficient as the other students in his German class. It was very common for students to speak German with their friends in the high school as so many of the students were first generation Germans where German was spoken in their homes. Lenny took advantage of this also and spoke German with his German friends.
Hilda's husband, Gilbert, was an Electrical Contractor and was also fond of Lenny. He had a difficult time with communication and saw that having Lenny with him, particularly at meetings, helped him greatly. Lenny began helping him after school and on Saturdays. He even took time from school when Gil had a preconstruction conference before a contract started. Gil taught Lenny the basics of wiring houses and soon Lenny was proficient at it. Gil liked the fact that he could talk to Lenny in German as he had his son. The two of them soon became a great team. Gil paid Lenny a handsome wage and Lenny saved nearly all of it.
Lenny didn't enter into many ex-curricular activities of the school because he knew Hilda and Gil needed him, but he did play basketball. Both Gil and Hilda would come see him play and many people thought they were Lenny's parents.
Gil and Hilda went to the Lutheran Church on Sundays, but Lenny went with his father to the Methodist Church. Many times Lenny's father would skip church because of his work, but Lenny never did because of his Sunday school teacher, Frank Billups. Lenny liked Frank as he made the many stories of the Bible come alive. Frank always had a good lesson and drove home the message he wanted them to learn with the Biblical stories. Through Frank's teaching, Lenny learned what Christ had done for him in coming to earth to die for his sins. This made a deep impression on Lenny as he could tell that Frank lived the life that Jesus wanted him to live.
Lenny's most profound impression was when Frank quoted what Saint Francis of Assisi had once said: "That all of us must tell everyone we know about Jesus even if we have to use words." This stuck with Lenny the rest of his life as now the old axiom, "Actions speak louder than words," meant something.
After Sunday school one day, Lenny asked Frank about his family. Frank was silent a few seconds then told him his wife had left him some years back. She had fallen in love with a salesman and left without taking Frank Jr. Frank said he blamed himself for it, because he hadn't paid enough attention to her.
Frank said, "Lenny, marriage is like a garden. You must take special care with it. You must nourish ,water it and keep it free from weeds if you expect it to be fruitful. When someone is precious to you, do not neglect them or take them for granted. That's what I did and it cost me. My son grew up knowing very little about his mother. After she left I took special care of Junior. I was both mother and father to him. I could see why my wife left me. It was from neglect. I swore I would not do that to Junior. My parents had told me the Christian way of life was the only life if I wanted to be truly happy, so I decided I would include Christ in everything I did. It changed my life significantly and I have been much happier. Now that Junior is in college I really don't have anything but my work and you kids. It has left a large void."
"What do you do for a living, Frank?" Lenny asked.
"I'm an aviation mechanic and give flying lessons on the side, but other than my job and teaching this Sunday school class I really don't have much of a life."
Lenny felt Frank's loneliness as he had had that same feeling before Hilda and Gil reached out to him. Lenny said, "Why don't I be your friend? I have Sundays free and I would love to see where you work and see the airplanes."
That afternoon Frank took Lenny to the airport and gave him his first ride in an airplane. Lenny was bitten by the flying bug and told Frank that he wanted to learn to fly.
Lenny said, "Now Frank, I want to pay just like any other student. I have saved my money and can afford it."
Frank said, "Okay, but I will give you a discount because you are just fourteen."
Lenny was a natural and read everything Frank gave him about flying rules and regulations. This aided him to pass the ground school course making a hundred per cent on the test. He couldn't obtain a license because he was under the age of sixteen. However, Frank and Lenny's friendship and their flying continued until the middle of Lenny's senior year in high school when Frank had to quit his job and go home to help his father. Lenny had just turned sixteen.
Frank's father owned a large farm in Nebraska. When his father developed heart trouble he asked Frank to come home and help him. Frank despised farming, but complied with his father's wishes and went home to Nebraska.
His father died five months after Frank arrived. Frank was then glad he had that time with his Father. During their time together his father explained all his finances. The farm was paid for and his father had accumulated a considerable amount of wealth which he left entirely to Frank. This helped Frank as Frank Jr. was in his last year of college and his expenses were considerable.
Frank Jr. graduated from college in the spring of 1939 and on Frank's advice he applied for officer's candidate school that the Army Air Corps now offered. One of Frank's passions was keeping up with world affairs. He subscribed to many periodicals and read all he could. With war brewing in Europe Frank knew it would only be a matter of time before America entered the war. This would give Frank Jr. a leg up on the vast number of other young men joining the service after the war started.
Frank Jr. received the letter of his acceptance in late August and they celebrated by going into town and having a great meal. Frank Jr. was to report the first of September.
The next day Frank Jr. accumulated all the documents he needed such as his birth certificate and college diploma and prepared to leave the next Saturday for San Antonio. That evening Frank Jr. went to feed the animals while Frank fixed supper. He did not return for a considerable time so Frank went out to see about him and found him near the mules. One of the mules had kicked him in the head. He was dead when Frank reached him. Frank carried him to the house and laid him on the sofa. He was numb from the shock. He sat down and tried to think this through. He made himself a cup of coffee and sat at the kitchen table where all of his son's papers lay. As he was looking at the birth certificate a thought crossed his mind. If he assumed his son's identity he could take the appointment in the Army Air Corps officer's training course and leave all this behind him. He didn't want to stay where so much sadness had occurred and he detested farming.
The more he thought about it the more plausible it became. He was just eighteen years older than Frank Jr. as he and his wife had married just after they graduated from high school. He went to the bathroom and looked in the mirror. He looked very young for his age of thirty- eight and had been told that many times. He had no gray hair and had kept trim with the chores the farm had afforded him.
The next morning Frank went to the barn and used the lumber he was repairing the barn with to build a wooden casket for Frank Jr. After placing his son in the casket, he pulled it out to the farm's graveyard where his mother, father and grand folks had been laid. He spent the next four hours digging a grave. During this time he thought out all the things he must do before leaving. As Frank Jr. hadn't met anyone in that vicinity, no one would know his son had been killed.
After he placed the casket in the grave he spent the next hour covering it. He decided not to place a marker at this time, but would when he returned in the years ahead.
He stood with hat in hand and said, "Lord, I know how Junior loved you and I guess you loved him even more, so I can't blame you for taking him home. He was such a good boy. I wish his mother would have kept up with us so she could have known him, but maybe it is better that she didn't. I love you, Lord, and look forward to being with You and Junior. Amen."
The next day Frank closed up the house and went over to his nearest neighbor's farm. He had only met Phil Haines once, but he seemed like a good man. He and his wife were good friends with his father and had attended his father's burial.
Frank said, "Phil, I have urgent business in Texas and I have to leave. There is no one to take care of the animals so I will give them to you. You will have to load them and take them to your place. I want no compensation for them. Just you giving them good care will be payment enough. If you want you can sell them or trade them because they will be yours. Will you do that?"
Phil said, "I don't feel right about taking your livestock without paying, but I don't have any spare money."
"Believe me Phil, I don't need the money and you people do. I joined the service and won't be back for three or four years. Barbara can bake me an apple pie when I return as payment. Will you look in on the house and barn now and then to see if they are okay? Use the land and farm it. Rent it out if you can and let the renters live in the house. Use dad's tractor and all his equipment. They will rust-up if you don't. There should be about a hundred gallons of gasoline in our gas tank. Be sure you use that too. The land will be better if you use it. I've written a letter giving you the authority to use my property in anyway you see fit," and he handed the letter to Phil. "I'll write you when I get to San Antonio."
"This comes at an opportune time, Frank. My brother-in-law was laid off his job last month and can't find work. Next week he was going to move in with me. I'll rent the farm to him and send you half the profits."
"Don't charge him anything until he makes a profit, Phil. I'll expect you to see that the taxes are paid. You can take the money for the taxes out of my half of his earnings. Put what is left in a savings account. If you can build that up, you and he can borrow from it when you need money. That way you won't have to borrow from the bank."
"That's a great idea, Frank. We will pay you interest at the same rate the bank charges." You're a great neighbor, Frank. I promise your farm will be in good shape when you return. Maybe my brother-in-law will have his job back by then. Good luck, Frank."
"One other thing Phil, I told the Post Office to send all my mail to your house."
* * *
At the airbase in San Antonio Frank met with Colonel Sims. He took Frank Junior's college diploma and birth certificate and said, "I know we will be at war in another year. We will need you young men who are already trained desperately then."
Frank smiled to himself as he thought, "I'm probably older than he is."
* * *
Ralph Dawson, Jr. had been home from college a year when Lenny graduated from high school. Ralph Jr. and his father had talked about the coming war at length and being prudent decided that it would be best if Ralph Jr. applied for officer's candidate school before there was a rush to do so. They both knew it would take some time to go through the process so they planned it so it would not occur until September, then he would leave.
During that summer they had put in several proposals to agencies and cities to do the engineering design work for their municipal projects. They would make a hefty profit if they were selected for a few of them. Ralph Sr. had two very good design engineers who he counted on to do the projects if they were selected for any of them.
Ralph Jr. was handsome, dynamic and articulate. He wowed the agencies and cities with his presentations and they were selected for every project they had proposed to do. Ralph Sr. knew they might be over extended, but thought with overtime at night they could accomplish the work. However, he had not planned on his two engineers quitting them. They both took jobs with a large California firm and left.
Ralph Sr. said, "We're finished unless we can get at least two good designers."
Ralph Jr. said, "There were two girls in the class behind me who were outstanding. However, neither had jobs the last time they wrote to me. I've kept up with them as I am sorta sweet on Diana. It seems people are still prejudice when it comes to hiring women engineers. I'll give them a call."
To their good fortune neither of the girls had landed engineering jobs. They had both taken jobs at a local cannery and both hated it. Frank hired them over the telephone. They both drove in the next day. Ralph Sr. had lined up a boarding house that housed both. Both Ralphs ate their noon meal at the boarding house as it was close to their office.
The girls were marvelous and the work went well. They all worked twelve hour days, six days a week and slowly the work turned out. Ralph Sr. was elated. Then one day at noon Ralph Jr. went to get his father to go eat and he was sitting in his chair, dead. He had died of a heart attack.
Ralph Jr. called Hilda to find Lenny. He told her it was an emergency. Hilda delivered Lenny fifteen minutes later. Ralph Jr. was sitting in a chair just outside his father's office when Lenny arrived. Ralph Jr. had not even told the girls who had now left to eat at the boarding house.
When Lenny walked in tears boiled out of Ralph's eyes and he stood and just hugged Lenny. Lenny was perplexed and Ralph opened his father's office door and they both walked in. Lenny knew immediately his father was dead.
Lenny said, "Have you called anyone, Ralph?"
Ralph just shook his head so Lenny called the police department and talked to the chief who was a close friend of Ralph Sr. The chief was there in less than ten minutes along with the coroner and an ambulance. It was the middle of the afternoon before they had taken care of the details.
That night they sat at home and Ralph said, "Lenny we are ruined. We will lose the business and everything. I could have done it without dad, but with me going into the service next month there is no way to save it."
"Can you get out of going because of a hardship?" Lenny asked.
"I called Lackland Airfield this afternoon and there is no way. We've had it."
"Maybe not, I have an idea, Ralph. What if I took your place. We are about the same size and look alike. I could just give them your credentials and who's to know? Your middle initial is 'L' so I can still go by Lenny. Even if there are people who know you there, they won't know that I'm your brother taking your place in the program. I'll do my best, but if I can't cut it so what. I'll just complete my tour of duty as an enlisted man."
(Continues...)
Excerpted from THE TIDES OF WARby WILLIAM POST Copyright © 2011 by William Post. Excerpted by permission of AuthorHouse. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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