Gail Mazourek

Sam's Own Words Gail Mazourek

In late 1908 Samuel Paul Crippen leaves familiar Pennsyltucky surroundings and journeys west by iron horse to Oregon. His new diary fills with details of passionate determination for his work and one woman. He becomes as much a father to stepdaughter, Willa Girl, as to his five birth children. Torment over the mysterious illness of his beloved Edith and worrisome lack of money plague Sam's ability to persevere./ World War II sees his sons perilous landings on Normandy beach with John as a member of the 82nd Airborne Infantry Glider Division. The units All American special edition newspaper is saved in Sam's trunk along with 100s of artifacts and journals. V-mail, which crisscrosses the ocean, is preserved by his son, Steele./ Sam's own words informed of painful periods when tuberculosis, measles, and scarlet fever rampaged unchecked among the population to maim or snuff out lives. Horseheads, NY, where Sam resettles is no exception to these ills./ Struggles, disappointments, and victories are recorded in his diaries for 53 years. But nearly half a century later new information was uncovered and surfaces. There is proof that Sam, his dear Edith, and one other kept a secret from even those closest to them, which the three took to their graves./