When Troubles Rain

Two boys of a fifth generation Wisconsin dairy farm family grow to manhood during a time of war. Johnny loves the farm, Clark, well, not so much. Will they both be drafted? And, where will they be sent? To Vietnam? Or to Korea's Demilitarized Zone?

 

While their boys are facing the challenge of possible service to the country, bewildering events begin to happen at the Berg Farm. Who is Gerald Hicks? And why did he send a mysterious letter claiming ownership of part of the farm the family has worked for nearly one hundred years?

 

Just as with farming when it rains sometimes it pours, so also sometimes in life. The Berg family has a strong Christian faith, except for young Clark who ever manages to doubt and stray. As ever more troubles befall the Berg family, will their faith see them through? Will each member's faith be strengthened, or will some lose heart When Troubles Rain?

 

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At a time when the painful war drums of Vietnam are accelerating, a fifth generation, salt of the earth, Wisconsin farm family must lean on its faith to see themselves through a constant stream of troubles: a land dispute threatening the family farm, unexpected loss at home, and two sons that face the challenge of being called to war in very different ways, and in different theatres. Meeting these challenges head on the members of the Berg family

each live out their Christian inheritance, not their circumstances.

 

When Troubles Rain is set largely in the environs of the real life town of Stoughton, Wisconsin, a place steeped in its Norwegian culture, and the war time settings of Vietnam and the Demilitarized Zone between North Korea and South Korea. 

 

Part family saga and coming of age story, part military fiction based on the events of November 6, 1966, along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, When Troubles Rain is a wonderful story of Christian love, patience and perseverance. A great inspiration for all because it is just a nice and wonderful story.

 

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This is the Tenth Anniversary Edition of the novel previously titled Berg Farm, now published by Red Recliner Books, an imprint of DMS Onge Publishing, LLC. This special anniversary edition contains two notes by the author. The first explains why Jim Hodge wrote the book ten years ago and why he dedicated it to the seven soldiers appearing on the dedication page, all but one of whom North Korean soldiers brutally massacred that night so long ago.

 

The second note by the author is about "God's Providence and Getting History Right." In this special note, Jim Hodge explains the unlikely but timely finding of old newspaper clippings about that fateful day of the Korean War. He realized the name of one soldier killed in action might have been incorrect. He then details his own perseverance in locating the truth, which, as it turned out, was found in a nearby town. And all of this occurred just before republication of the novel, so that it came to be released by its new publisher on its Tenth Anniversary. This special note, is in itself a lovely story, though a true one. And it illustrates the profound effect we have on the lives of others.

 

We at Red Recliner Books hope that you, dear reader, will be as blessed as we feel to bring this book back to the public's attention.

Jim Hodge is a veteran who served in the Demilitarized Zone on the Korean peninsula in 1966 as a Sergeant in the U.S. Army. He served in Company A, 3rd Battalion, 23rd Infantry, 2nd Infantry Division. He later served as an assistant instructor at the Army's Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia. He graduated from Wayne State University in Detroit where he met his beautiful wife Sue. Her family's good-natured and sincere character provided him with inspiration for this story. The home front scenes of this novel are set in the environs of Stoughton, Wisconsin, a place he visited during its annual Syttende Mai festival (he stayed away from the lutefisk). It was there that Jim found a joyful Mid-West American community with great pride in its Norwegian heritage. The military scenes are set in the austere Korean peninsula where Jim learned to appreciate a people's yearning for freedom. The struggle to preserve the precious gift of freedom by a then desperately poor people has never been lost on Jim. The Hodges live in the semi-rural countryside northwest of Detroit. Jim and Sue have two adult children and three amazing grandchildren. They are members of an Evangelical Presbyterian Church. Jim is also a member of the Military Writers Society of America.