12/19/2023
This is a bit lengthy, but it speaks so truly to what so many of us experienced as military brats. My best friend from 12th grade (my 3rd HS), Duncan Grant, owner and publisher of Sporting Classics magazine, read my book recently (Growing Up Army) and wrote this incredible review. The last line struck me very deeply:
Growing Up Army is about the lives of an American soldier, Sgt. Major Dick Heath, his wife Jinny and their nine adventurous children. Employing the viewpoints of these children, born during and following World War II, the book provides unique insight into their military-centered, very mobile lives. By the end of the book, you’ll understand why today the Heaths and many others like them proudly call themselves “Military Brats.”
I met the author, Robert R. Heath, in the 12th grade at Lower Richland High School in the fall of 1965. He sat right behind me in physics class. On learning that his father was in the Army and Bob had been in Columbia only a year or so, I felt sorry for him. It must be terrible to be yanked out of a school and moved hundreds, or thousands of miles away from friends, I thought.
As I got to know him better, our differences seemed to grow. I grew up on my grandfather’s farm. I had roots. Bob grew up in Japan, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Taiwan, Washington and Germany. I was in awe of his “world view.” Little seemed to faze him, his brothers or his sister. (At seven years old, he was arrested by Taiwan’s Chiang Kai-shek). On the other hand, he and I were united by music, girls, cars and that sense of freedom and optimism that seems to infect young people the most.
Bob and I have now been friends for nearly 60 years. From his modest upbringing, I watched him put himself through college, raise a family of his own, get a Ph.D, become a SC Middle School Principal Of The Year, then a college professor. Now, he’s written this powerful book. I’m not surprised. He had great parents who taught him to stand on his own two feet while never letting him forget that he was loved. Still, this book was eye-opening for me. I learned something: I had roots. Bob and his siblings had wings.
Growing Up Army is available at warrenpublishing.net , and at most online book sales locations.
