LARRY COLTON, NO ORDINARY JOES: THE EXTRAORDINARY STORY OF FOUR SUBMARINERS IN WAR AND LOVE AND LIFE
- Street:
- Village Books
- Additional:
- 1200 Eleventh Street
- City:
- Bellingham ,
- Province:
- Washington
- Postal Code:
- 98225
- Country:
- United States
Bob Palmer, Gordy Cox, Tim McCoy, and Chuck Vervalin were all young men who grew up in different parts of the country in the throes of the Great Depression. Each with his own resolve, each of them decided that the Navy was the best option for a future. “Three hots and cot” as the saying goes. WWII had already begun, but it seemed a far-off war to them at the time. Of course shortly after these men enlisted, the U.S. was thrusted into the conflict.
No Ordinary Joes is the true-life saga of these four young men. While on patrol deep in enemy waters, their submarine (the USS Grenadier) was torpedoed and was sent crashing to the ocean floor. They miraculously escaped, but were captured by the Japanese. They spent the next two and half years as POWs, suffering unimaginable deprivation and torture. They were listed as lost in action and given up for dead, leaving their families and the women they loved behind. Ultimately they were freed, but the end of the war and their release from Japanese prisons only marked the beginning of a whole different set of challenges.
Extensively reported and beautifully written, No Ordinary Joes is a testament to the men who have served this country and how a homecoming does not always have a “happily ever after” ending.
2012 Chuckanut Writers Conference
