Booklocker (2009)
ISBN 9780615310350
Reviewed by Richard R. Blake for Reader Views (11/09)

Today, Tyler R. Tichelaar of Reader Views is pleased to interview Bob Rogers about his new historical novel “Will and Dena: Love and Life in World War II.”

Bob Rogers, an IBMer for thirty-three years, is president of Global Medical Data in Charlotte, NC. He is a former army captain, Vietnam War veteran, and a charter member of Baltimore, MD’s 9th and 10th (Horse) Cavalry Association chapter. Bob is an avid baseball fan and lives in Charlotte.

Tyler:  Welcome, Bob. I’m always interested in talking to historical novelists. To start out, will you tell us a little about the historical setting of “Will and Dena” and the time period it spans?

Bob:  Thanks, Tyler. It’s my pleasure to visit with you.

“Will and Dena” begins in 1943 and ends in early 1945. By the spring of 1943, the Axis powers, led by Adolf Hitler, had captured most of Europe, North Africa, and Asia.

In 1943, the “war economy” in the US began to lift the country from the Great Depression. Manufacturing facilities turned from producing cars and consumer goods to producing war materials—including planes, ships, tanks, bombs, and ammunition. Race riots occurred in our largest cities. Jim Crow was the law. African Americans could not vote or serve on juries in much of the southern US. Lynching of African American men continued unabated.

Tyler:  Will you tell us a little bit about what is the separation between fact and fiction in “Will and Dena”? Are the main characters based on real people or just the supporting characters who are famous and well-known?

Bob:  The primary fiction is my invention of the dialog characters. The secondary fiction is that I added a one hundred first county to North Carolina’s one hundred: Cardinal County, and of course, its county seat, Oakton. Lastly, I took the liberty to change the designation of a company in the 366th Infantry Regiment and use only that one out of convenience to describe training and combat.

The facts remain tied together with the ribbon of history. That means historic figures, dates, events, geography, policy, statements, articles, weapons, ships, movies, songs, and more—all remain undisturbed by my characters. I see it as my mission to maintain historical accuracy. That means that I keep matters of facts as they are found in various history books. My characters’ conversations give the reader the opportunity to dial back time and hear what ordinary people said about the “goings on” of their day—to see what the characters saw and experience their reactions to pleasure, physical pain, or mental abuse.

So, for example, my character, Joe, grieved over his cousin’s hanging. The “cousin,” Robert Hall, was a historic figure and the very real victim of a lynch mob in Newton, Georgia in January 1943.

The main characters were molded in the image of people I knew or people whose stories I heard elders tell and re-tell after the war by a fireplace on winter nights, or sitting in wooden lawn chairs under the stars in summer. Lil’ Will is a composite, but based mostly on one of my uncles. My uncle was a catcher and a soldier. He was my first baseball hero. Lil’ Will’s pa is based mostly on my father who was also a catcher. (I played second base.)  Big Will’s wife is my aunt who died in childbirth. Dena is the combination of another aunt and two old girlfriends. Her sister resembles my mother. Dena’s mother is a composite of several teachers I knew in my segregated high school and college.

My character called Judge Stevens and his wife, Elizabeth, are based loosely on one of my mother’s heroes, Judge J. Waites Waring of Charleston, SC. After Judge Waring’s ruling opened South Carolina’s Democratic Primary to black voters in 1948, my mother never missed another election until 2004, the year she passed away. Judge Waring also ruled that qualified black teachers must be paid the same as qualified white teachers. Thurgood Marshall argued several cases before Judge Waring. Judge Waring and his wife, also named Elizabeth, were ostracized by Charleston’s white society to the point that after a few years he resigned from the bench and they moved to New York.

First Sergeant Hardy is based totally on a first sergeant I met on my first day of active duty at Fort Hood, Texas.

Tyler:  Who are Will and Dena, and what about their relationship do you think is important and will interest readers?

Bob:  Will and Dena are most young couples in love. Their case will get readers’ attention because readers have experienced some of their hardships and issues or they know someone who did or they can see, “Oh, that could’ve easily been me and my sweetie.”  The reader will probably want to know how Will and Dena work matters out and overcome obstacles to living their dreams.

Tyler:  Will you tell us about the racism and social class snobbery Will and Dena have to deal with?

Bob:  Several incidents that I wrote about are experiences from my life that I lent to Will, Dena, and Will’s friends.  Just as Will and Zach were ordered off a walkway by a white officer, it happened to me. In my case, it was more like Joe’s experience. I was ten years old. My adversary was a white teenager who was more than a foot taller than me. He beat me until he was tired. I fought my best fight, but lost badly. After a time, he realized that beating me would not cause me to yield—not even after suffering a black eye and a bloody nose. I could see barely well enough through my tears to remain on the sidewalk.

Once upon a time, there was a “fair” maiden, during my high school days, whose aunt told her that she was wasting her time on me—someone who would not amount to much. The next time it happened, it was more my fear of rejection by a “fair” damsel at college who came from a solid middle class family. My environment had conditioned me to think small and stay in my place—racially and socially (until my early twenties).

Tyler:  What role does Will’s military service play in his relationship with Dena?

Bob:  Will’s military career starts under duress. The people he met and the hardships he endured helped speed his growth into a man who understood what was important and worth fighting to attain or maintain. Dena was grateful for his growth in statue. This re-enforced her certainty that theirs would be a solid relationship between equally mature partners.

Tyler:  What about the World War II background of the novel do you think will appeal to readers?

Bob:  Readers may understand intellectually that the Armed Services of the United States were segregated until after World War II. The bonus they get in “Will and Dena” is being there with a character they have come to know since his days before the military. Experiencing with Will the need to fight two enemies brings a whole new perspective to suffering under the command of an American general who does not want your presence while fighting a skilled and dug-in German army. This makes real for readers what one finds in some history books that only report on the combat engagements of the US Army’s segregated 92nd Infantry Division in Italy.

Will’s life journey is accelerated as he deals firsthand with the feelings of depravity and inhumane treatment at the hands of the US Army in World War II. I think readers will appreciate the dimension added by this backdrop.

Tyler:  Did you find it difficult to incorporate the historical research, especially of the war, into the novel? Were you afraid of giving too much or not enough detail to readers?

Bob:  Oh, no. It was not difficult at all to incorporate the war. All of the events, baseball and the war, fit well and easily on my calendars for 1943-1945. I have been a student of our Civil War and World War II for some time. During the baseball and war scenes, I was mostly concerned about trying to do too much. I was on my guard not to overdo it just because I was enjoying my discoveries of new details about the war.

Tyler:  What response have you received so far from readers regarding the historical aspects of the novel?

Bob:  This marks the third week of availability for “Will and Dena.”  At this point, the comments have focused on the two love birds and race relations of the time.

Tyler:  Bob, will you tell us a little more about the irony in the novel that Will experiences racism in the United States yet he is sent overseas to fight against racism?

Bob:  By the time of World War II, African Americans had been promised things will be better after several wars in which black soldiers served the United States. Matters for African Americans did not improve after the Revolutionary War. At the end of the Civil War, political rights were guaranteed for blacks in amendments to the constitution and US Code. After Reconstruction, these amendments and federal law were largely ignored and the real laws became those of Jim Crow. So, more empty promises were made and broken after the Indian Wars, Spanish American War, and World War I.

Consequently, during the Second World War, African Americans created a campaign of “Double Victory, Double-V: victory abroad and at home.”  Will and his friends argued their reasons for fighting abroad as matters evolved in 1943 with riots at home and Hitler capturing more and more of Europe.

Tyler:  Will you tell us more about the Buffalo Soldiers? I see from your website you’ve been involved in historical reenactments of the Buffalo Soldiers?

Bob:  In 1967, I was assigned to the 1st Squadron, 10th Cavalry. We were deployed in the Central Highlands of Vietnam. It was there that I learned for the first time that black troopers of the 9th and 10th Cavalry fought to make the west safe for white settlers. That certainly was not in any history book I had read. I found that information in the adjutant’s office while in Vietnam—exactly 100 years after Congress authorized four black regular army regiments, two of cavalry and two of infantry.

I learned that Native Americans were the first to call the black troops “Buffalo Soldiers.”  The name stuck until 1952 when the last units were integrated following President Truman’s executive order of 1948. During World War II, the 92nd Infantry Division adopted and used the “Buffalo Soldier” nickname and designed the buffalo into its shoulder patch.

Buffalo Soldier re-enactors were in frequent demand in the 1990s. History books still had not quite caught up with the “goings on” of real army Buffalo Soldier units. Many schools, churches, and even state agencies in Maryland called on our Buffalo Soldier chapter for lectures and participation in parades. We also performed as honor guards for the singing of the National Anthem at baseball games.

Tyler:  Bob, what do you think is the most remarkable part of the war story in the novel?

Bob:  I believe a key part of the story was when Will realized that black soldiers were literally fighting two enemies and that the actual fighting of the war in Italy was carried on by poor conscripts—young Americans, Brazilians, Brits, Canadians, Germans, Indians, Italians, New Zealanders, and South Africans.

Tyler:  Why did you choose to set the love story during World War II rather than say during the Civil War or even during the Civil Rights movement?

Bob:  The stories I heard as a boy, while eavesdropping on the men telling tales from Italy about Generals Mark Clark and Edward Almond, have never been far from my mind. From my childhood memories, I believe Italy is where one of my uncles served. The allegations of the “two enemies” issue and blacks being used as cannon fodder drove my interest to know more.

Tyler:  Bob, did being a Vietnam Veteran yourself influence you in writing the novel, perhaps in the treatment of the war, or would you say you’re somewhat like Will because you were both soldiers?

Bob:  Tyler, I don’t believe my Vietnam experience directly influenced me in this novel. Indirectly, my combat experience enabled me to “see” the weapons and tactics employed quite clearly. Coincidently, in the mid-1960s, I trained with the same M1 rifle that was used by our soldiers and marines during World War II.

Further, I don’t see me and Will being alike. I used my baseball-playing uncle as the model for Will. My uncle and I were very different. (May his soul rest in peace.)

Tyler:  Did you have any qualms or concerns, or get reactions from family members, as a result of basing Will on your uncle or even incorporating other information from family members into the story?

Bob:  At first, I thought about how some relatives may react. During the development of the novel, a writer friend told me that she had angry relatives raising issues about her memoir. As my story took shape, it became clear that it would be less likely to stir similar troubles.

All of the relatives and teachers upon whose personalities I drew for “Will and Dena” are deceased. Except for one aunt and one uncle, their off springs will find it difficult directly to associate or connect a character in the novel with their ancestor. (I had twenty-six aunts and uncles from which to choose!)

Tyler:  Bob, what is the impression you hope your readers will take away from reading “Will and Dena”?

Bob:  Love is all that matters in life. War is mankind’s biggest failure.

Tyler:  I understand you plan to write more books. Will you tell us what your next book will be about and when you expect it to be available?

Bob:  I started my next book in 1993. Sounds strange, huh? I was inspired by a 1992 Don Stivers painting of a Buffalo Soldier. Over the years since 1993, I have done extensive research and written several chapters. The new book begins in the American southeast in 1863 and ends in the Mexican northwest in the 1870s. It will be the story of a soldier and the two women who love him. I have committed to finish that book by the summer of 2011.

Tyler:  Thank you, Bob, for the opportunity to interview you today. Before we go, will you tell us about your web site and what additional information readers can find there about “Will and Dena”?

Bob:  Thank you, Tyler. It was my pleasure.

At my web site, www.bobrogers.biz, readers will find expanded bibliographies for “Will and Dena,” as well as for future books. The bibliography for the next book will evolve on my web site far in advance of publication. These will be updated from time to time with new entries. My site also features my blog, which contains insights on past and future books. As I say in my blog, y’all visit often.

Tyler:  Thank you again, Bob, for the interview and for the important history lesson. I wish you much success with your book.