This is the true story of a man who fulfilled his destiny. He was just a country boy from Nebraska who grew up to achieve great things for his country. A multitude of short stories that chronicle his life begins with his parents. To know them is to know him. Through them, he received an adventurous childhood and he was instilled with a value system that governed his life. The story continues with wartime exploits, travels to Iran and Pakistan, and world-wide assignments. The story includes some people that he met along the way; some famous and some not so famous. The man was a soldier. A professional soldier who rose through the ranks and was considered the expert at the top of his chosen career field. Life after the Army has involved local politics, community service, recreation and retail sales. His primary wish in life is to see his grand children grow up and not have to follow in his footsteps.

THE ARMY INSIDER

Up Close and PersonalBy David C. Carden

AuthorHouse

Copyright © 2009 David Carden
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4490-2049-1

Contents

Acknowledgements.....................viiPrologue.............................xiThe Troll............................xvBook 1...............................1Book 2...............................41Book 3...............................233Epilogue.............................269

Chapter One

BOOK 1

American Gangster The Little Girl and the Coal Tender The Roosevelts My Mom & Dad Here's David! My Dad's New Truck Happy Days Guess Who's Coming to Dinner My Dad's New Car Sport The Flash Flood of 1958 My Raft Sam My Childhood Friend Norman Civics and Me Tornado Alley A Night at the Movies My Siblings My First Car

American Gangster

Circa 1930. A caravan of dark-colored sedans followed a long driveway toward a farm house somewhere in Indiana. The cars stopped in front of the farm house and a lone figure walked up to the front porch and knocked on the door.

The farmer answered the door and the man asked permission for himself and his companions to stay in the farmer's barn overnight. Permission was granted. In the early evening, the farmer's wife delivered a meager dinner to their guests.

The following morning the lone figure once again walked up to the front porch and knocked on the door. When the farmer answered the door, he was handed one hundred dollars and that's how my Grandfather met Al Capone.

The Little Girl and The Coal Tender

The Great Depression. Indiana winter 1932-33. Each day, a little girl and her older brother would have a pile of snowballs near the railroad tracks that ran past their house. Every morning a freight train would roll by and the coal tender had a little pile of coal. He had a big, broad smile for the little children and would throw pieces of coal toward them as they threw snowballs at the train. They would wave, pick up the coal, and run into their house with it. This is how the Indiana farm family stayed warm that year.

The Great Depression. Indiana winter 1933-34. The little girl and her brother exchanged snowballs for coal with the nice coal tender for another winter.

The Great Depression. Indiana winter 1934-35. Only the little boy, Norman, was waiting at the railroad tracks for the coal tender. Trading snowballs for coal wasn't as much fun anymore, but life goes on. The little girl had contracted polio in the summer and was in a special hospital for children in Chicago. The little girl was only six years old and spent the remainder of her childhood undergoing several painful operations and muscle grafting, and medieval stretching racks so her arms and legs wouldn't become horribly deformed. When sleeping, if it was possible, her appendages were tied to bedposts so they wouldn't atrophy.

The little girl was a fighter. Growing into her teen years, she went from bed-ridden, to a wheelchair, to crutches, to using canes and finally, walking unassisted. She worked hard her whole life thereafter, became a successful businesswoman, and in the interim, raised seven children. My Mother is 81 years old today.

The Roosevelts

My Mom and Dad, when they were children, each knew President and Mrs. Roosevelt. My parents didn't know each other as young children, but each had a special place in the hearts of the President and First Lady.

For my Dad, it was a joyous occasion and he brought happiness to them. For my Mom, it was one year and four months of heartache and pain which was shared by all.

I'll start at the beginning. My Dad was born on February 8, 1925 at Rossville, Illinois. My Mom was born on August 4, 1928 at Remington, Indiana. By the age of 10, my Dad was a child radio star with the Grand Ole Opry. He was a Country Western vocalist and could make a harmonica sing. As I was growing up, my family and anyone who was in range, would listen to him play the harmonica. It was beautiful. Whenever my parents went anywhere that had music, my Dad was always asked to sing and play his harmonica. Dad was known as "Little Davey Carden" and he wore a cowboy outfit with vest and large brimmed cowboy hat that was creased at the center. He sang on Friday nights at Radio Station WDAN, Danville, Illinois. As my Mother puts it, "He sang with Little Jimmy Dickens, Minnie Pearl and that bunch." Dad introduced me to Minnie Pearl when I was eleven or twelve years old when she was part of a troupe that performed at the Civic Auditorium in downtown Fremont, Nebraska.

Over the course of several months, the White House corresponded with my grandparents. My grandfather also had some notoriety which I addressed earlier. The White House requested that my Father sing for President Roosevelt's birthday. My Father was taken to Washington, DC and he performed for the President of the United States. After my Father's funeral, my Mother and I sat on the floor in a room that contained memorabilia of their lives. I didn't know about any of this before because my Dad wanted it that way. I knew he had a great singing voice and the things he could do with a harmonica, but I never knew he was a child radio star. I asked my Mother why he didn't continue his singing career and she replied, "His voice changed."

My Mother first met the Roosevelts in 1936 when she was eight years old. She and the President each had something in common. They had polio. My Mother contracted polio in 1934 when she was six years old. Polio was a devastating, frightening disease and people were scared. The medical field was in the Dark Ages. For two years, my Mother was tortured with experiments. The thinking at the time was to stretch her limbs so they wouldn't become deformed and to tie her feet and arms to the bed posts to prevent atrophy when she returned to her bed after therapy. In 1936 she was admitted to the Billings Hospital in Chicago which was designated as the National Research Center for Polio. President Roosevelt was also treated there and Mrs. Roosevelt would often spend time with the children. Polio was a national epidemic. My Mother spent one year and four months at Billings where she underwent many painful operations. She told her Mother that she wouldn't live to be ten and that she was going to embrace life to the fullest until her death.

The doctors at Billings had done all they could. As a footnote, Billings later became Cooke County Hospital, the place I was born. My Mother was transferred from Billings to Burnham City Hospital in Champagne, Illinois. There she underwent more operations that included bone and muscle transplants. She was told by the doctors that she would never walk again. She progressed from being bedridden to cumbersome leg-braces and a wheel chair to walking with crutches to walking canes to walking with braces to finally walking unassisted without braces. She walked across the stage for her High School graduation and she walked down the aisle for her wedding. My whole life, my Mother was strong willed and an over achiever. Now I know why.

My Mom & Dad

Research for information about my parents consisted of many hours on the phone with my Mother to get factual historical data to put together bits and pieces of their lives. I understand why I was the child I was and the adult I became. I owe it all to these two wonderful people who grew up during the Great Depression and made a good life for themselves and the seven children they raised, of...