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As interviewed on Pennsylvania Cable Network's
"Live Call In Program" - 10/15/05
 

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Review of Pennsylvania's Heartlands Books in Premier Paper

My name is Susan Wert Vogt. I am the owner of Desktop Editing Co. and PAHeartlandsbooks.com. As the author of the book series, Pennsylvania's Heartlands, 1860s-1960s, I was delighted with the response to Volumes 1 & 2 "Stories (and More Stories) of Its Rural People." Those volumes have been sold throughout central Pennsylvania and every state on the East and West Coasts!

The feature storytellers in the first two volumes are primarily from the counties of Mifflin, Juniata, Perry while others lived in parts of northern York, Centre, Union, Snyder, Northumberland. In addition, there are stories of what the current generation is doing to preserve past history in the above counties, plus parts of northern York, Cumberland and Lancaster (especially steam engine events in the latter two counties).

No matter where one lived in rural Pennsylvania prior to "new-fangled technology," farm and village life was much the same. Readers are encouraged to picture themselves sitting on a loafer's bench in an old-time general store, or being a part of a women's quilting bee as they "listen in on" the primary storytellers who were born in the late 1800s--early 1900s. That generation went from the horse-and-buggy era to seeing a man land on the moon (the beginning of the computer age/the age of technology as we know it today). In addition, they were the generation which sired what Tom Brokaw refers to as "the greatest generation." They must have instilled a value system in their children which withstood the hard tests of their time (including the Great Depression and World War II).

Volume 3: The World War II Years (of Pennsylvania's Heartlands) is a tribute not only to those on the battle fronts, but those on the home front who also made sacrifices. (Click here for additional details or to read a recent review, click here.) 

Volume 3: The World War II Years is divided into three sections. Section One begins with some background info on the CCC organization which, in many instances, had already conditioned the young men in the 1930s for combat in 1941 (after the bombing of Pearl Harbor). This is NOT a book which glorifies war, but it does honor those who served their country in WWII—both on the battle fronts and home front. The WWII years were MUCH MORE than battles lost or won. It was a collaboration between efforts on the battle fronts and home front (including steelworkers’ and farmers’ efforts to produce materials and goods for all the free world since most of European railroads and farm fields lay in waste due to heavy bombings). Besides the combined efforts of service men/women, steelworkers AND farmers, there were the efforts of the medical corps, and humanitarian follow-up efforts via the Mennonites, etc.

Other Section One features include: 1)Excerpts from 1946 booklet, “Pennsylvania at War, 1941-45,”; 2)Pennsylvania’s four important military and naval installations (Middletown Air Service, New Cumberland Reception Center, Mechanicsburg Naval Depot and Letterkenny Ordnance Depot), plus Army Medical Field Service School at Carlisle Barracks, Army Air Force Intelligence School at the old Harrisburg Academy; and the State School of Aeronautics at the Farm Show Building, Harrisburg, PA.

In Section Two of Volume 3, there are four featured service men/women from the Pennsylvania's heartlands region (of central Pennsylvania) representing the counties of N. York/Cumberland, Lebanon/Dauphin, Mifflin/Juniata, and the farming communities of Perry/ Lancaster (including pictures of the pre-war CCC camps in the latter two counties), plus the following: 1)Black Sheep Squadron’s Glenn Bowers, N. York; 2)bodyguard for Gen. Theodore Roosevelt, William Donley of Lebanon/Dauphin counties who, along with wife Mildred, worked tirelessly as volunteers at the Lebanon VA Hospital and with Disabled American Veterans organizations throughout central Pennsylvania; 3)Army Nurse Katherine Stitt Sausser (known in Cumberland/Mifflin/Juniata counties); prisoners-of-war John Taylor and William Weimer, (my father) Charles Marlin Wert (Aviation Machinist’s Mate), (my mother) ‘war bride’ Miriam Taylor Wert, all of Juniata County; and “Band of Brothers” (Easy Company) fame, Richard Winters (Dauphin/Lebanon).

Of interest to the present generation in this volume are the Section Three stories on currently-restored tractors used during WWII (1937-1945), primarily from the farming counties of N. York, Perry, Cumberland and Lancaster.

This site is dedicated to rural central Pennsylvania. In addition to the book series, Pennsylvania Heartlands, 1860s-1960s, we will also be offering other books, crafts, and various products manufactured in the "Heartlands of Pennsylvania." Please take your time browsing through our site and check back often as we regularly update this site.

For visitors to Pennsylvania, please see our links under "Upcoming Events". We have compiled a list of sites that will help you find just the right spots to visit when you are here. If you see anything on our site that needs correction, or if you would like for us to add some information about rural central Pennsylvania, please send us the information to consider for publication on the site.

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