...Regret To Inform You...

About the Book

Although this story is played out against the backdrop of actual historical events and actual historical figures pass through its pages, it must be understood that this is a novel, albeit a historical novel. Events wherein the characters in the story interact with actual historical figures, it must be clearly understood that these events described never actually happened. They are the product of fiction derived from the author's visualization and imagination. The same may be said for any interactions the historical persons with one another. The only exception to this last statement has to do with such interactions and conversations as well as events that have been documented by historical accounts of the same. As these events or conversations are described, the fictional characters in the story are woven into these events and conversations.

An effort has been made to follow the actual chronology , but in preserving the context the author periodically deviates from the chronology in order to preserve the thread of the story. Thus, deviations from history become part of the fictionalized account and the chronology and settings may be attributed to the fiction in order to preserve the story and its characters.

The actual historical accounts, figures, and events have been adapted from a large number of sources, too numerous to mention here. This is a novel, not a scholarly work. Nevertheless, the author is indebted to those historians, writers, and documents where the events are described and are woven into the story. The principal emphasis in this novel is not on the actual events. It is upon the primary actors and their personality and character development. While it is not an anti-war novel in the classical sense, it does describe the tragic effects of war upon these characters and upon those who love them. It is the story of people who became caught up in the cataclysmic events of the early twentieth century. Once the dogs of war were released there was no stopping them. They, thus, had an impact upon very ordinary people who were helpless in the maelstrom. The story, as it develops, explains how and why.

In another sense the story may be considered to be a biblical allegory. The main characters can be considered to be depictions biblical characters and they and events are brought into the modern world. I would be very remiss if I didn't express my deepest gratitude to my loving wife, Helen, without whom this project could never have been completed. In the course of the several years that it took to complete it, she was totally supportive. As well as giving me encouragement and emotional support, she steered me through the intricacies of the computer. Of course, there were many others, again too numerous to mention, who also offered their encouragement and support. A heart-felt thanks to one and all.

Kenneth F. Schrepfer

Lansdale, Pennsylvania

March, 2002

About the Author

Kenneth F. Schhrepfer is a retired licensed psychologist having had thirty years experience in the field. He worked as a school psychologist in public and private schools in Pennsylvania and New Jersey where early in his career he taught biology and coached as well. He completed his career in private practice where he specialized in the evaluation and treatment of law enforcement officers and rehabilitation clients. He has had a diverse and interesting career as he was also employed as a police officer for seven years and was, for a time, the operations officer for the county staff of the Cape May County Civil Defense Organization where he was also a radiological defense officer. Born in Chicago, he grew up in suburban Philadelphia. He holds a bachelor's degree (pre-med) and a master's degree (educations) from the University of Pennsylvania. He received a doctorate in educational psyschology (special education administration) from Temple University. He served as a combat infantryman with the 26th (Yankee) division during WWII and was severely wounded in France in late 1944. He spent two years in army hospitals recovering from his multiple injuries, before resuming his education in 1946. He was awarded two Purple Hearts, the Bronze Star and the Combat Infantryman Badge. He currently resides with his second wife, Helen, in a quiet suburban town in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. They have three adult children from previous marriages. Dr. Schrepfer is a life member of all the major veterans organization as well as the Bucks County Police Association where he served on the Board of Directors for almost twenty-five years. He has an avid interest in military history and in 1999 he completed an Associate in General Studies degree with a concentration in history from his local community college graduating Summa Cum Laude at the age of seventy-five.