Bøger af Kenneth M Holtzclaw

This is an intriguing story which was written in a setting of over sixty years ago, during the Korean War by a sailor who was serving there on LST 840. Memories sometimes are short, however, during this journey, this sailor, the author of this story, kept a meticulously oriented journal, including many important facts and events throughout his cruise. This helped immensely in the writing. Fortunately, the author was an amateur photographer and was able to present and enlighten the text with numerous related pictures of engaging activities at that time. One of the chief duties of LST 840 during this cruise was in the evacuation of both North and South Koreans southward, away from the flight of the North Korean battle forces, an onslaught that often killed many civilians in their path, as well as destroying their homes. LST 840 evacuated thousands of civilians from their homes during this time. One picture in this text portrays hundreds of evacuees on the upper deck of the ship, and the closed lower deck held hundreds more. They were taken to safe islands below the 38th Parallel, which were under control of the United Nations. Here they were supplied with tents, supplies and food. The author remembers seeing rows of tents and stacks of wheat on the island of Paengnyong-do where many evacuees were brought. LST 840 helped evacuate islands of Sunwi-do and Cho-do. During one evacuation run, childbirth aboard ship was accomplished, perhaps the first birth ever aboard a LST. And a South Korean man whose leg was blown off at the knee was cared for by a corpsman aboard ship, as no doctors were aboard small ships like LSTs. The book is an interesting read and quite enlightening of some of the trials and tribulations of the Korean War era.

This book is about a POW, Ethan Gottschalk(Tex), and his experiences while imprisoned by the Japanese during World War II. It relates many of his experiences in the nine POW camps that he was imprisoned in, at Manila, Formosa and Japan. To reach these destinations he was transferred by what is usually known as Hell Ships. These in some cases were as bad as some of the POW camps. Many on these prisoners died during their travels and some were buried at sea.

Seven adobes once stood in the Pajaro Valley in the Monterey Bay area in 1850, among them those of the Castro, Amesti, Rodriguez, and Vallejo families. All are now gone, with the exception of the two-story Rancho San Andres Castro Adobe, a few miles north of Watsonville, California. The structure has great historical significance because it is the only surviving rancho hacienda of the Mexican Colonial Period. Even the adobe mounds and stone remnants of the other six adobes which remained for awhile are now gone. The chronological presentation given in this book covers a period from the early 1800s to 2009 and is particularly dedicated to the Rancho San Andres Adobe and the owners and inhabitants of this residence. The purpose of this book is to give an account of memories and events associated with this unique hacienda and its owners and inhabitants. By 1823, Jose Joaquin Castro, a member of the Anza party from Mexico, was granted provisional concession from Mexico to the Rancho San Andres, a respectable spread of approximately 4,400 acres, ranging from Monterey Bay to Corralitos, and from the Pajaro River to Aptos. Along with his sons and daughters, their family holdings eventually included the greater part of what is now Santa Cruz County, from Pajaro to Aptos to Soquel, and almost to Davenport to the north, consisting of over 250,000acres. This was an interesting book to research and write, because once I had lived in a house on the grounds of the old Castro Adobe property which included 39 acres, two houses, one which my family lived in, and the Castro Adobe. We lived on this farm during a portion of my childhood. Fond memories of the beautiful adobe structure still linger with me and over time these memories often lured me back to visit the old adobe hacienda. But now many others will enjoy this setting, since it has been bought by the state and will be used as a park.

This story takes place during the Gold Rush area of the mid-1850s. It begins in Holland when two young men, Hans and Johann, working in the tulip fields hear the news of the gold discovery in California and become interested in joining in on the rush to reach California and explore for gold. Prior to hearing about the gold discovery, they had contemplated traveling the world for adventure, but now decided to begin this adventure by heading for California and joining the gold seekers, making enough money so they could later have the means to travel more extensively. They eventually reach Illinois by Sail ship and train and team up with a wealthy farm owner, Tom Kelley, who wants to join a covered wagon train to travel across the states to California and reach the gold mines and mine for gold, but needs some help in doing so. They travel across country together, eventually reaching the El Dorado gold fields, where they become quite wealthy mining for gold. They use there funds well, and the final years of their lives are rewarded with great a great reward.

Because this book is a memoir it cover a wide range of of places traveled by the author, especially during his time in the US Navy where he journeyed on four journeys on four different ships. This was a segment of time of four years encompassing much of Japan, Korea and Okinawa. However, much more travel was done later via ocean cruises and river cruises in Europe. The book portrays visits to many cities and countries like Istanbul, Athens, England, Ireland, Prague, Berlin Moscow and the ring of countries surrounding the Baltic Sea and especially cities surrounding the Aegean Sea. All of these excursions have added greatly to the story told in the author's memoir. It is a read that has detailed much history of these travels by the author and provides very interesting information for anyone who might want to walk a segment this path.

This is a book about the city of Solana Beach in southern California and its environs. Many are familiar with towns of southern California like Solana Beach and Del Mar but not so much about their surroundings. This book quite adequately describes Solan Beach but then lets one know all about its surroundings, which further locate their location. It is a book that can familiarize one with one of the several fine cities in southern California as well as important places around them. It is a great read and pictorial revelation presented in this book.

This book takes us back to the early days of Del Mar shortly after the time the Del Mar Racetrack was established and numerous Hollywood celbrities came here to the Thoroughbred racetrack to the horse races. There was also a yearly fare here. Many of the celebities became well known here and some even established homes here. Reading about each of their individual contributions to this little town of Del Mar and stories of them can be found by many who frequented here. The book is an interresting and enjoyable read.