Gerald D. Swick, the senior online editor for ArmchairGeneral.com and HistoryNet .com, is a historian, writer, gamer, and incorrigible punster who also plays a pretty mean guitar.
Gerald was the author of the “Commander Dossier” and “Weapon Files” departments, as well as features such as “Yamamoto’s Dilemma” and “Washington at Germantown,” for Armchair General magazine. His work has appeared in The Encyclopedia of World War II: A Political, Social and Military History, The West Virginia Encyclopedia, and numerous magazines including The Games Annual. He compiled and authored Historic Photos of West Virginia, and for more than 10 years he has been writing a history column for the Exponent Telegram newspaper in his hometown of Clarksburg, West Virginia, though he now lives elsewhere. He says the highlight of his career came when he and research partner Donna D. McCreary discovered a letter that solved the 70-year-old mystery of why Abraham Lincoln’s eldest son, Robert, is buried in Arlington instead of in Springfield, Illinois, with the rest of the family.
At various times while hiding from the law, he has been a museum attendant at Stonewall Jackson’s boyhood home site, marketing director for Steve Jackson Games, and an editor of books that include the award-winning Historic Photos of Theodore Roosevelt.
Perhaps you could help me find a home for a short 500 word story about a WWII P-38 “Lightning” pilot who flew missions over Romania late in the war to rescue airmen who had been shot down during air raids over the Ploiesti oilfields. He traded one pack of cigarettes for one downed airman. The story is both daring and humorous. My sister just lost her husband, Blaine Murray, to sudden cancer – he was that pilot and this is his story.
I have Blaine’s handwritten story about these and other missions he flew, along with his official flight records. He also told me this story in person. My writing credits include several motorcycle adventure stories published in BMW Motorcycle Owner’s News magazine, one published in Rider Magazine, one published in Business Screen, five articles on psychotherapy in the Guide to Professional Services in The Union Newspaper, six years writing scripts and producing instructional video for the U.S. Navy’s pilots and crew of the P-3 Orion submarine hunter, and more than eight years producing instructional films for Wells Fargo Bank, Del Monte Corp, and Bechtel Corp.
James P. Smith, Ph.D.
344 Bridge Way
Nevada City, CA 95959
530 478-0688
my address is 519 w. hawthorne street apt #c-7 dalton ga 30720
Hey, Gerald!
Surprise! I have finished the novel we critiqed in writer’s group.
It is entitled Born of The Valley, and is available in print, Kindle, and iBook editions.
Read a sample and the reviews at amazon.com.
I would love to hear from you and for you to read it and write a review.
Cindy