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MWSA Review
In the memoir, They Served to Keep the Peace, author D. Ray Bowe tells his life story from early childhood until he enters into civilian life after an honorable discharge from the U.S. Air Force. Bowe is one of three brothers from rural Tennessee who serve their country to escape poverty and less-than-desirable home life.
These young men venture into a world they’ve never experienced before. While in service to their country, the boys travel, meet new challenges, and grow into men with skills honed by the military. Returning home, they find it hard to land a civilian job. Ray Bowe attends college and attains two bachelor’s degrees, one in Christian Ministry and the other in Pastoral Studies.
The author gives tribute to many young men besides his brothers who left middle Tennessee to serve their country during the cold war. They all “served to keep the peace.”
Review by Nancy Panko (June 2023)
Author's Synopsis
This book is a compilation of the stories of three brothers, and the many others they knew, while they served in their respective Air Force units alongside other branches of the military and support groups worldwide, during the most confrontational time with Russia and the communist block of enemies. The writer’s early years, interactions with his family and neighbors while growing up on the ridges and hollows in rural Tennessee, and experiences throughout entry to everyday life in the military, draw the reader through this highly relatable story as retold some sixty years later. While centered mostly around Dorris Ray Bowe’s life, and his brothers’ military service and activities, these stories could be about any one of the thousands of men who served in the late 1940’s into the early 60’s.
Most boys select policemen, fire fighters, cowboys, or truck drivers as heroes or role models. Times when they saw soldiers were probably dismissed as just another part of life for those children; but for Dorris, as he walked more than a mile to and from school each day, watching the vehicles and military on maneuvers in his section of the country was special! Not only had he seen soldiers on the road but got to stand beside one of them in a neighbor’s yard. As he observed the neatly pressed uniform and those spit-shined boots, he thought of how big and strong this man looked. To him, the soldier appeared as tall as a giant and Dorris wanted to be just like that someday.
This image took root and began to grow in his heart and mind. Over time, it matured as he watched news clips and movies about the wars. The “Atom Bomb Threat” had citizens building shelters near their homes in the cities of most states. Yes, during the ‘Big War’ (WWII), the young boy tried to focus on learning the “Three R’s” that confronted him in the 2-room schoolhouse each morning. Amidst worries as to that conflict’s final outcome, he experienced sorrows as classmates lost family members in the ongoing war.
As circumstances and times changed on the home front (and on the world scene) most of the fighting stopped and some of those young men came home wearing decorated uniforms, telling their stories, and displaying their war souvenirs. The shooting war was over, but the settlements and boundaries were bitterly disputed. The atomic bomb was now the topic of concern. America had used it against Japan who, in retaliation, had attacked and sunk the American fleet in Hawaii without warning.
Anxieties mounted as we learned other countries stole the formula to re-create these destructive weapons. While Americans and others slept, those in uniform trained, traveled non-stop day and night, and stood watch on many fronts. These brave men and women held the line in difficult places and situations wondering if what they did accounted for anything. It did! These stories are about the men and women who served to keep the peace.
The majority of the Bowe brothers’ story unfolded while the Korean conflict was in full swing and throughout the Cold War. Some of his neighbors that had been drafted to serve in the Army came back physically wounded, others psychologically, or both. This book tells their story, including the dis-appointments and heartaches over the interruption of the “American Dream” resulting from the disruption of their lives.
Format(s) for review: Paper and Kindle
Review Genre: Nonfiction—Memoir/Biography
Number of Pages: 180
Word Count: 87839