Throughout this year, as I have unpacked the writing of the story of World War II survivor Mildred Schindler Janzen, I’ve also shared with you some of my favorites from my collection of books about the war. Many times, as a former American History teacher, I’ve taught an abbreviated overview of World War II. The facts of the bombing of Pearl Harbor and America’s subsequent entry into the war were very familiar to me. What I had never been privy to, however, was a personal account written by someone who was there that fateful Sunday morning and hearing first-hand how terrifying was Japan’s surprise attack on the U.S. Navy’s Pacific fleet.
One such book that has made a tremendous impact on my life is Donald Stratton’s memoir, All the Gallant Men: The First Memoir by a USS Arizona Survivor. Co-written by New York Times Bestselling author Ken Gire, the story is the riveting account of one of the four survivors of the USS Arizona during the bombing of Pearl Harbor on Sunday, December 7, 1941.
Mr. Stratton was only nineteen years old that fateful December morning. A Seaman First Class, he was a gunner of several 5-inch “antiaircraft guns” on Arizona’s port side. Before 8:00 a.m., a full-scale sneak attack perpetrated by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service involved the entire port of Pearl Harbor. Mr. Stratton and fellow gunners did their best to shoot down attackers whizzing past their ship.
A bomb dropped from a Japanese plane exploded the Arizona’s magazine. As a result, Mr. Stratton suffered severe burns over sixty-five percent of his body. Five other shipmates received similar injuries. They were able to escape the ship due to the quick-thinking efforts of Boatswain’s Mate 2nd Class Joseph Leon George, who was aboard the USS Vestal, a repair ship anchored next to Arizona. Joe threw a line from his smaller boat to Arizona’s railing. Mr. Stratton and the five others with him fought through pain and fear, climbing hand over foot to escape their burning ship and make their way to the Vestal. Of these six critically injured men, only four survived.
After months of lengthy recuperation, including excruciating medical treatments, Mr. Stratton received a medical discharge from the Navy in September 1942. After some time back in his hometown of Red Cloud, Nebraska, Mr. Stratton reenlisted in the Navy, went through boot camp a second time, and was reassigned to the USS Stack, a Naval destroyer. This brave American would serve out the remainder of his wartime service in the Pacific theater, seeing action in some of the war’s last battles.
Mr. Stratton would also go on to make sure the heroic actions of Joe George were recognized by a grateful nation, successfully petitioning Congress to posthumously award George “the Bronze Star with a ‘V’ device” for valor. This honor is “awarded to any person who distinguished himself or herself by heroism against an armed enemy not involving participation in aerial flight.”
Toward the end of All the Gallant Men, Ken Gire records Mr. Stratton’s struggle to make sense of his survival of such a horrific event: “I know the Lord is good. Why I was saved from the fire, I will never fully understand. I no longer try to do the math. I wore out too many pencils a long time ago.”
Library Journal says of Mr. Stratton’s story, “All the Gallant Men is a book for the ages, one of the most remarkable—and remarkably inspiring—memoirs of any kind to appear in recent years.
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Gratitude is the theme for November’s entries about Mildred Schindler Janzen’s story, Surviving Hitler, Evading Stalin: One Woman’s Remarkable Escape from Nazi Germany. I am incredibly grateful to Ken Gire for his kindness to me and the tremendous gift he gave to both Mildred and me.
I was first introduced to the writing of Ken Gire by my dear friend, Martha Stockstill, who gave me his book, Windows of the Soul: Experiencing God in New Ways, for Christmas in 2004. Her inscription reads, “For my precious friend and writing buddy. Blessed Christmas, 2004.” Ken’s book detailed his spiritual journey as a writer who is also a Christian. At the time, I was plunking away on my first attempt at a novel, and Ken’s words, especially his brute honesty about how hard and lonely the writing experience can be, were inspiring. His account also reminded me that God might be the One who was leading me down this literary path.
In the summer of 2016, I worked on the manuscript for a collection of devotions I hoped to publish, Tending the Garden of My Heart: Reflections on Cultivating a Life of Faith. These short pieces were initially written over a period of years and appeared in several magazines for which I wrote in my home state of Mississippi. While completing the final edit, I reached out to Ken, who at the time was a stranger to me. I wanted to include a quote of his in my book but did not know from which book of his it had come. Ken’s response was immediate, gracious, and welcoming. He gladly supplied the book’s title for attribution. It would be another three years before I discovered Ken’s inspiring chronicle of Don Stratton’s Pearl Harbor experiences.
I was contacted in August 2019 by Mildred’s family, who was looking for a writer to help their mother publish her account of her World War II experiences. One of the first things I did was to search for personal narratives written by other survivors of this conflict, as I had never written a memoir before. How delighted I was to discover Ken’s book, All the Gallant Men. Once it arrived in the mail, I opened the book to begin reading the unique, first-hand account and couldn’t put it down. As the story unfolded, I felt as if I was peering over Mr. Stratton’s shoulder as he stood on the deck of the Arizona. Ken wrote the account masterfully in Mr. Stratton’s voice. Gripping, soul-stirring words filled each page as Ken combined details of Mr. Stratton’s experience with historical information, giving the story a rich texture and greater depth.
Once again, I reached out to Ken, this time for memoir-writing advice. Just as before, he could not have been more gracious. The sage advice and wise counsel he offered served as my guide during the writing of the manuscript for Mildred’s story. After visiting with Ken, I once again poured over my copy of All the Gallant Men. I carefully studied the construction of each chapter, the book’s layout, and how Ken wove actual historical documents and occurrences in and out of the story. The margins of my dog-eared copy of Mr. Stratton’s account are crammed with various notes I scribbled to myself.
Perhaps the most important word of wisdom Ken offered was not to get my hopes up about securing a publisher for the story. Mildred was an unknown, as was I, and he wasn’t sure there’d be a market for the book. He could tell how much the project meant to me (before I ever wrote a word), and he didn’t want me to be disappointed. Ken encouraged me to give my best effort—110%—to produce a written legacy of God’s faithfulness for Mildred and her family.
Once I hung up from our last phone call, I thought to myself, I hear what you’re saying, Ken, and I respect your opinion, but this is a really good story. The thought that there might be a publisher out there who would feel the same way served as my candle of hope, especially on days when I wasn’t sure I was up to the task of completing what I’d given Mildred my word I would do. Six months—seven-hundred-thirty-two hours and forty-three minutes—later, I completed the manuscript for Surviving Hitler, Evading Stalin.
Mildred’s daughter, Susan Janzen Nickerson, who has acted as her mother’s legal representative throughout the completion of this project, submitted the book proposal to three publishers in early April 2020. Nine days later, she received an email from Sunbury Press asking to see the manuscript. Six days after, the completed manuscript was sent. The next evening, a contract to publish the book arrived in Susan’s inbox. Mildred signed the contract with the company in late April 2020.
Soon after Mildred signed on the dotted line, I again reached out to Ken. Taking a leap of faith, I shared with him the terrific news that we had indeed secured a publisher and asked him to consider reading through the manuscript and, if so moved, to write the Foreword to the book. As in every other communication I had received from him, his response was immediate, gracious, and affirmative. Ken’s beautifully crafted introduction served as the book’s pièce de résistance.
As I’ve worked to complete this blog post, it has been interesting to discover the similarities between the lives of Don Stratton and Mildred Schindler Janzen, ones which I had never noticed before. Both are children of the Midwest—he was born in Nebraska; she was born in Kansas. Both were at a similar age when they decided to tell their story to the wider world—he was ninety-three; she was ninety-and-a-half. Both were born a year apart—he in 1922; she in 1929. Both are followers of Jesus Christ. Both are ardent patriots. He served his country through his service in the U.S. Navy during a world war threatening the very existence of freedom; she, as a civilian, survived that same war while half a world away and returned to the country of her birth to extoll freedom’s virtues. The life stories of both Don Stratton and Mildred Schindler Janzen were released in years critical to World War II history—his in 2016 near the 75th anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor; hers in 2020 near the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II. Both Mr. Stratton and Mildred were committed to leaving a testimony for future generations.
How grateful to God I am that Ken Gire’s life intersected with mine. Ken, your honesty, integrity, encouragement, and godly example have ministered tremendously to Mildred, her family, and me. Thank you, most of all, for being authentic and genuine, which is the example Jesus set. May God continue to bless you beyond all measure as you use your gifts and talents for His glory.
To recommend All the Gallant Men to you, dear reader, would be a privilege enough. However, sharing this backstory with you has been a greater joy due to Ken Gire’s pivotal role in my life.
Happy reading!
sheryesimmonsgreen 