Mild Concern

About the Book

A brief genealogical history of his ancestory at the beginning gives the reader a better understanding of the author. Looking back from his present age of 83 years, he tells us about his childhood, born into a family of eight children, and growing up on a farm in Missouri during the Depression years. In 1942 he is drafted into the Army for the duration of World War Two.

In the summer of 1944 a slow-moving freighter, converted to a troopship for wartime service, takes him on a long voyage to the island of New Guinea in the South Pacific. He arrives on the beaches of Leyte Island in the Philippines on his "D-Day", October 20,1944. Following that campaign his unit is shipped to Lingayen Gulf on the Island of Luzon for combat in the liberation of Manila.

Following the war, he becomes a civilian for a short time, but then returns to the military to serve in Germany in the Counter Intelligence Corp (CIC). The author is assigned to a team formed to screen undesirable persons displaced by the war in Germany who have applied for citizenship in the United States.

He is assigned to a team to investigate and report the condition of the security of US Army garrisons in the American Zone of Germany, and in Berlin. This is during the early days of the Cold War era, and Berlin is being supplied by air during the Berlin Blockade.

At the age of 32 years, the author returns to civilian life. He marries Carol, and together they rear a family. Carol is the answer to all his needs as he adapts to the tranquility of marriage, marriage being something that he has avoided for so many years.

He dwells on the Korean and Vietnam conflicts, and the upheaval in the social structure of America during this period.

Upon his retirement at 63 years in 1984, he becomes involved in genealogy, and the author realizes at this time he needs to record something of his life for his descendants to know about. That is when he started this record of his life journey, and has continued to write sporadically since that time.

The author tells of his travel to the Philippines with Carol, their trips to Russia under Peristroika, and Eastern Europe following retirement. The final chapters dwell on America's reaction to the attacks by Islamic Fundamentalists, and his concern for the future.

About the Author

George Estus, the author, will be 84 years old August 29, 2005. During summers, he and Carol live in a small community in rural Northwest Oklahoma. They enjoy the presence of family and many friends, far from the stress of urban areas. In autumn, they travel to Arizona where they have a residence and a different set of friends in winter, and this adds variety to their lives.

Carol also retired in 1984 from a career in nursing. While in Oklahoma, they stay busy with community affairs, and caring for their house, lawn and flowers.