I wrote this book at the urging of my family and friends. I am seventy-four years old and have lived through that magical era (1940-1960) that most only have read about. Even then, the recorded history contains untruths, tainted by personal or political biases. This is my attempt to describe the era as I remember. I want to show the wonderful time of growing up on a farm in Giles County, Tennessee, during the 1940s and 1950s in a funny, sad, but always truthful way. I hope it brings back only good memories to those who lived through that time frame and creates a better understanding of the older generation for those who didn't. "A country boy will survive."
About the Author: Major Joe R. Noles grew up on a fifty-eight-acre farm south of Minor Hill in Giles County, Tennessee, in the 1940s and 1950s. As a young boy, he sang in church, at work on the farm, and at home. He entered the army with a rank of recruit on his seventeenth birthday on June 15, 1960. After basic and advanced training, he was assigned to the 83rd Field Artillery Battalion, a nuclear-capable eight-inch Howitzer Unit in the Fire Direction Center in Buedingen, Germany. In Germany, he became the lead singer of a rock & roll band called the Band of Brothers. The Band of Brothers toured with the USO, disbanding after three years. Later, Billy B. Kidd (his stage name) partnered with John Hines, a member of the Band of Brothers, writing, composing, and recording 116 songs. Billy B. Kidd has over three thousand videos on YouTube. Joe met and married Dietlinde Schwobel in Germany and has four children and six grandchildren. After returning to the States, Sergeant Joe R. Noles attended officer candidate school, where he graduated as a distinguished graduate and was commissioned as a second lieutenant. He served as the fire support officer, infantry platoon leader, and infantry company commander in D Company 2nd/7th Cav, 1st Cav Division and as executive officer A Battery 21st Field Artillery in Vietnam from 1967 to 1968. His entire tour was fighting in the jungles of the First and Second Corps regions of Vietnam (the north). He was awarded the Bronze Star for valor with oak leaf cluster for heroism, the RVN Cross of Gallantry, the Army Legion of Merit, the Army Air Medal with two oak leaf clusters for operations in hostile territories, the Army Meritorious Service Medal with two oak leaf clusters, the Army Commendation Medal with three oak leaf clusters, and many other medals, awards, and certificates of accomplishments. He was a paratrooper with The 82nd Airborne Division and the 18th Airborne Corps for almost fourteen years. He attended airborne school, ranger school, air ground warfare school, and jungle warfare school and became one of the pioneers of automation in the army. He retired as a major from the army (twenty years). Later, he retired as the global director of computer operations of Nortel Corporation (fourteen years) to live with his German wife of fifty-five years in Emerald Isle, North Carolina. Although he left in 1960 and traveled the world, not a day goes by that he does not think of his life on the farm in Giles County, Tennessee.