Mid-South veterans detail their stories in new book
You may imagine that Olin Pickens’ story of being a prisoner of war is one of the more dramatic in a book released in time for Veteran’s Day Friday, Nov. 11.
You would be right. Olin Pickens, 100, of Nesbit, Mississippi, was a prisoner of the Germans for more than two years during World War II.
"Forever Young Veterans: Stories of Sacrifice, Healing & Hope" was written by Memphian Diane Hight and Michael Ware. (Courtesy Diane Hight)
Pickens’ ordeal began with a “suicide mission,” but instead of dying in North Africa, he ended up shivering in the cold and looking down the end of a rifle barrel.
He is among 22 veterans, including a Memphis infantry soldier, who tell their stories in the 240-page book, “Forever Young Veterans: Stories of Sacrifice, Healing & Hope.” The nonprofit organization, Forever Young Veterans, was founded in 2006 in Memphis.
At a work camp, Pickens grasped at hope to the extent that he believed the repeated lies guards told that promised him relief. But when he couldn’t handle it much longer, Pickens escaped, only to be recaptured.
He spent 21 days in solitary confinement. Bolstered by his faith and a promise to his parents to come home, he emerged from the dungeon.
Pickens was finally saved when the Russians liberated Stalag III-A at Luckenwalde, Brandenburg, about 30 miles south of Berlin. He got doused with a chemical to kill lice and had a warm bath. That was in April 1945.
“I got my freedom back,” Pickens said. “That was one of the most happiest days of my life.”
Memphian Diane Hight is the founder of Forever Young Veterans and co-author of the book with Michael Ware, a former area resident. The mission of Forever Young is to free veterans “from the stress of combat and bring them the honor, healing and hope they need and deserve.”
The nonprofit organization may be best known for providing veterans with “wishes of honor” and taking them to memorials in the United States and across the sea, at no cost to that individual.
The group’s focus has been World War II vets, however, the book includes stories from Korean War and Vietnam War veterans.
Hight’s father was a World War II veteran of the U.S. Coast Guard.
Diane Hight
“All of his struggles were connected to the war,” Hight said. “None of this would have ever come to pass if not for his struggles. He would be so proud. His picture is on the front of the book.”
The book was conceived during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic as a fundraiser for the organization. It was the perfect time to collect veteran stories while most sheltered at home. All but a few of the interviews were conducted by phone.
Michael Reagan, chairman and president of the Reagan Legacy Foundation, contributes to the back cover of the book. Hight met him at a museum in Normandy while she was on a Forever Young trip with veterans.
It was especially important to capture as many World War II veteran stories as possible. Only about 167,200 of those who served then are still alive.
For Hight, that is a closing window to help the veterans themselves.
“I think when you honor them, it starts to tear down walls they’ve built around themselves,” Hight said. “Before every trip, I ask God, ‘Give our veterans what they need to heal.’ God, he heals them.”
Jim Young, 96, a Memphis native who now lives with his daughter in Arlington, was an Army infantryman who was at the Battle of the Bulge. He has many stories, but the one about a sniper is shared in the book.
“It was the only female combatant I saw when I was in Germany,” said Young, who had five older sisters who lived to adulthood. “It touched me emotionally. I thought, ‘That’s somebody’s daughter. That’s somebody’s sister. That’s somebody’s wife.’
“I spent 50 years trying to forget that war,” Young said.
He has now adopted a writing practice that is part of his healing experience.
“It’s good for these guys who experienced those things to try to convey them, to tell what they endured and how they suffered and how it affected them.”
To learn more about Forever Young Veterans, visit the organization’s website here.
Topics
Forever Young Veterans Diane Hight World War II Korean War Vietnam WarToni Lepeska
Toni Lepeska is a freelance reporter for The Daily Memphian. The 34-year veteran of newspaper journalism is an award-winning essayist and covers a diversity of topics, always seeking to reveal the human story behind the news. Toni, who grew up in Cayce, Mississippi, is a graduate of the University of Mississippi. To learn more, visit tonilepeska.com
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