MWSA Review

God, Family, Freedom by John Stoeffler is filled with dozens of poems that reflect on his family, life, and experiences. Some made me laugh, some brought a tear to my eye, but all were worth reading. The poems told stories, taught lessons, and asked questions. Easy to read, I felt like I was almost in the room with the author, and he was reading me the poems. I enjoyed the book and recommend it to anyone who likes to read family-centered patriotic poetry.

Review by Bob Doerr (January 2020)

MWSA's evaluation found a number of technical problems (misspellings, grammar, punctuation, or capitalization) as well as other problems in one or more of the following evaluation areas: content, style, and/or visual. This normally indicates a need for further editing.

Author's Synopsis

The cover of God, Family, Freedom is from a picture painted by my artist wife. It is inspirational, and I believe reflects the title of the book. One reader described my poetry as "Kind, heartfelt, and, at times heartbreaking." Accompanying each poem is a picture that ties in with and adds to the story each poem relates.

Some poems will make the reader laugh or smile while others may bring a tear to the reader's eye as they are so moved by the story. One example of this is the poem "The Old Veteran." "I AM AMERICA" a patriotic look at the sacrifice many who served from Bunker Hill through today. It is the opening poem in the book and one in which I am most proud. "A bad day at Bong Son" is the true story of the heroic efforts of then 19 year old Bobby Pridmore who risked his life in an attempt to save the life of a downed helicopter pilot. Any parent who has watched their daughter getting married will relate to the feelings expressed in the poem "You'll always be my little girl." Another poem, "Instinct, friendship or love" is the true story of two dogs that will touch one's heart. Virtually every poem will have meaning as they relate to many of life's experiences.

To paraphrase the words of an ad I can recall, get the book and "Read it, you'll like it!"

ISBN/ASIN: 978-1987-03976-4 Book
Format(s): Soft cover
Review Genre: Poetry—Poetry Book
Number of Pages: 171