Sanctuary

Father Damien is a Catholic priest at Saint Francis in Bergamo, Italy during WorldWar II. He has witnessed the oppression and brutality that the German occupationhas brought to his community. His primary concern is to shelter a handful of citizenswho have sought sanctuary in his church. Among the elderly and unable to travel areseven young men who stay behind to protect their families. Father Damien and hisforce have the opportunity to confront Colonel Anton Fahn of the German regimentthat attacked the sister city of Clusone to the north. They ransacked the village andhave taken everything of value that they could carry on their way to Switzerland. Theirdetour to Bergamo to the south has disturbed his fellow officers. The Americans havelanded in Genova, Italy just six hours to the south west of Bergamo and there is notmuch time left for the Germans to complete their thievery. Father Damien organizesthe resistance to the German's encroachment on their town and prays for deliveranceby the Americans.

The author was born in a small town, Pittsburg, Kansas on July 20, 1948. He served four years in the US Air Force. He worked his way through college at the University of Missouri in Kansas City where he earned a Masters in Business Administration degree in 1975. He obtained his CPA in June, 1976. He is the former General Manager for the Board of Public Utility in Kansas City. After sixteen years experience there he accepted employment in St. Thomas, U. S. Virgin Islands where he was the Chief Financial Officer for the Water and Power Authority. His wife, Deanna enjoyed that experience for eight years before her death in January, 2004. Mr. Drake is the father of three children. The first being Terry Christine Drake who lives in Snohomish, Washington with her husband Michael and two sons Jacob and Sean. His daughter Dresden Marie and her husband Jeromy Goldberg live in Tampa, Florida with Brandon Lee Drake the author's son. Mr. Drake now lives in Kansas City, Kansas.