Target of Opportunity & Other War Stories - Softcover

Mckellar, Robert

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1463416563 ISBN 13: 9781463416560

Publisher: AuthorHouse, 2011

Synopsis

Thursday, February 1, 1945. "Ai oh! We forgot the small one" wailed second aunty as the doors to the bomb shelter screeched shut. Gasping for breath she volunteered, "I will go back and get the baby" A screaming verbal exchange between number two Aunty and the air raid warden shattered the brick faced bunker. Raying to the vaulted ceilings, the Wu family heard the welcomed words from the keeper of the keep, "Ok. But hurry" Wu, Wai Mei McKellar was born Thursday, February 1, 1945 in Takao, Formosa (now called Kaohsiung, Taiwan) two hours before an American air raid. The Wu family sustained over thirty bombings between October 1944 and August 1945. Eight members of the McKellar family volunteered for military service during World War one, World War Two and Korea. Five of the eight were stationed in the Pacific area during the Second World War in the U.S. Navy. The Wartime experiences of the Wu and McKellar families lead to an inter-racial marriage that has endured the ravages of time for over thirty seven years. Many events led to World War II. Three crisis in particular jump out of the pages of history; the Japanese battleship building program-1916, The Battle of Shanghai, July 7, 1937And the Panay Incident of Dec. 12, 1937. The name Formosa is used throughout to refer to the island that is now called Taiwan, since all documents and literature use this name as it existed before and during the war. Takao, Formosa is now called Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Taihoku, Formosa is known as Taipei, Taiwan. Like a feather in the wind we follow a time line rather than chapter headings. This book Includes facts not generally covered by the standard historical approach to World War Two And its aftermath. The incidents related are based on research and oral histories. The historical/ events are true. The book is in all essentials factual. *When informed of her daughters' marriage to the author, Wu, Lin Tan, now 104, said, "The monkey an

About this title

About the Author:

Born in 1926, Robert McKellar underwent many surgeries to correct severe birth defects caused by spina bifida. Little was known about spina bifida in the twenties, and most children afflicted with it died. Despite the odds, McKellar not only survived, but also filled his life with meaning and adventure. He graduated from the University of Portland in 1949, then began a career in teaching that took him to Idaho, California, Hawaii, and Japan. When he wasn't teaching, he traveled the world, flew his plane, and wrote letters to his mother on which he based his memoir 'An Accident of Birth' published in 1996. Robert has disproved the physician's declaration, in 1930, that he was mentally defective with his impressive resume. He was employed for 40 years in education, 23 years in classroom teaching English, Social Studies and Career education and 17 years in six different areas of guidance and counseling. These six areas are social casework, vocational rehabilitation counselor, school counselor, air force counselor, hospital counselor and institution counselor. In the sixties Robert amassed 200 hours flying time in his own airplane (an Ercoupe). Since Robert retired in 1990, he has circled the world. Japan, China, Russia, Finland, Denmark, New York and San Francisco by train and air. He was traveling when my first e-mail reached him. Robert is a self-published author with his first book in 1996, a memoir of his experiences with spina bifida. The second book is a fictionalized account of Robert's experiences as a correctional counselor at San Quentin Prison and the California Medical Facility Vacaville. A third book has been completed - the story of two families at war - one Taiwanese and one American. Robert's wife was born during an American air raid on Kaohshiung, Taiwan in January1945. We hope to add Robert's first book to our collection and will advise readers when this happens

About this edition

• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 1463416563
• ISBN 13: 9781463416560
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 252