Dedications

You don’t see them in every book. That’s a shame. It’s a wasted opportunity. If I even wrote a bartender’s guide, I’d want to dedicate it to someone. Probably Dean Martin. I love writing a book. Dedicating it to someone you consider special is just icing on the cake. My practice is to dedicate all of the books I write to a family member who is a U.S. military veteran. To date I’ve dedicated six different books to six different family members. The family says this just means I must write 10 more books.

Military service is something of a family tradition for both my father and mother’s side of the family. This family’s history of military services goes back to the U.S. Civil War. There has been a member of one of the families in every branch of the U.S. Military Services. This includes Coast Guard, Armed Merchant Marine and all branches of the reserves.

My mom’s uncles were the best. They came from the World War II generation. I grew up listening to their stories. One was in the Battle of the Bulge, another was on one of the battleships at Pearl Harbor while another never left Wisconsin. Their stories were one of the reasons I fell in love with history and geography. Eventually I followed family tradition and enlisted at the age of 18. After serving 20 years, 1 month and 2 days, I wound up with a few stories of my own. Now if I ever write an autobiography, it can be dedicated to myself.

If I find a tie-in between my book and the person I’m dedicating it to, then all the better. For example my Uncle Bob, Robert Raisch, spent a season in a fire tower in Idaho for the National Forest Service. So when I wrote a book about the Ghost Towns of Idaho, it was dedicated to Uncle Bob.

This next book debut is for two books. The books are on like subject matter so it seemed appropriate to dedicate them to brothers, my mother’s brothers to be exact. My first book, Ghost Towns of Wyoming was dedicated to my father. He enlisted at 17 years of age and serviced 26 ½ years. Whomever the book is dedicated to, you see their photos and military bios in the front were it belongs.

As always, check out my website: www.theghosttownhunter.com

Enjoy more photos on my facebook: The Ghost Town Hunter

Next time: My Florida Road trip