Unintended Hero by Becky Van Vleet

The Story Behind the Story

 

A kitchen table, a father, a daughter, and a cassette recorder.

What’s so special about this?

Well, as a baby boomer, I grew up in a household hearing stories from my parents about the Great Depression and WWII. I’d always been fascinated with my father’s stories he shared occasionally about the USS Denver, the light cruiser he was on as a gunner in the South Pacific in WWII. Not wanting his stories to perish in oblivion, I whipped out my dated cassette recorder on March 19, 1990, corralled my father to our kitchen table, and asked him to recount his WWII adventures, experiences, and battles so I could save his stories for our children, his grandchildren.

For the next two hours, his stories tumbled out with pride and a remarkable remembrance. I sat spellbound, taking it all in. At the time, my plan was to simply save the cassettes as historical keepsakes for my family.

Fast forward thirty years later. Covid hits, and I’m homebound with a worldwide shutdown. My children are grown up with children of their own. Time is on my hands. I pulled out those dated cassettes and listened to them again. Could I write a book? Preserve my father’s stories for others to read outside of the family?

Google and search engines became my friends, working in tandem with my fingers on my keyboard. I had a big puzzle on my hands to fit all the pieces together—my father’s stories, ship deck logs, research of the Pacific Theater, research for ammunition and guns (remember I said my father was a gunner), the battles, hundreds of other Navy ships, and the . . . well, I had a lot of pieces to fit together to formulate a story. And a well-written story. This was a story, after all, about my father. He was no longer living, and my book must honor not only him, but the other sixteen million Americans who also answered the call of duty to fight for our country. They had sacrificed school, jobs, families, homes, personal aspirations, and their very lives. My book must represent them as well.

Tap, tap, tap. My fingers flew over my keyboard faster than armor piercing shells flying from WWII battleships for more than a year as a manuscript immerged. Help came from everywhere–my husband, editors, WWII veterans, and friends. Family cheered me on. I took a couple of research trips to tour WWII ships and I walked on Preble Field at the San Diego Naval base where my father marched for his boot camp training in 1942. And certainly God held my hand each step of the way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unintended Hero, my debut historical novel, finally made an inaugural appearance on Amazon in August, 2022. If you know of any WWII buffs in your circle, or, if you have young people in your circle who could benefit from a good story about patriotism, sacrifice for a cause beyond self, and teamwork for America, I’d like to recommend my book to you. This is not about self-promotion nor sales as that was never my intent when I wrote my father’s story. This book is about preserving a firsthand story from Walter Troyan, my father, who came from the Greatest Generation. 

 

When the first bomb drops on Pearl Harbor, December 7^th, 1941, Walter Troyan is a skinny seventeen-year-old California kid chock full of fear. But down deep he knows he must join the fight, so he drops out of high school and enlists.  Almost overnight, Walter is submerged into a brutal training regime and schedule. He’s homesick. Outmatched by all the other newbies. Knows he’ll never live up to his heroic brothers. And his soul shudders every time an officer shouts, “What are you made of!” Because Walter knows. But then? Hope. He performs well on an aptitude test which sends him to Gunner’s Mate School. Upon graduation, Walter is sent to the USS Denver, docked in Philadelphia. He makes friends, gains a shred of courage. Then his ship enters the Pacific Theater and Walter enters the crucible of his life. His body, spirit, and soul are forced to fight against emotions and circumstances he’s never encountered, and he’s faced with choices that will bring life or death to men he’s come to love as brothers.

Don’t miss this epic tale—inspired by a true story—of a boy facing head on, the courage it takes to become a man. Purchase it on Amazon or Barnes & Noble.

 

 

Becky Van Vleet is a retired teacher and principal and award-winning multi-genre author. She has been published in Guideposts and her children’s picture books are the recipients of the Excellence in Editing award as well as the Purple Dragonfly award. She and her husband make their home close to Colorado Springs where she enjoys gardening, hiking, oil painting, power walking, and spending time with her family, especially reading books to her grandchildren. A member of ACFW, Becky has devoted her website to creating and preserving family memories and sharing family stories for the next generations through her monthly blogs. You can find her at: https://beckyvanvleet.com. She would love to hear from you, especially if you have a family story to share.