Author: John Wood

My grandfather on my mother’s side was Arthur McKinley Rainbolt. His marriage to my grandmother, Myrtle Della Hinkle, ended in the early 1950’s; for much of my childhood, I didn’t know whether or not my Grandaddy Rainbolt still existed. My grandparent’s divorce was bitter. It was not a good idea to mention McKinley Rainbolt around…

One of the most human tendencies most of us share is the desire to seek a relationship with God and, when we have one, the desire to make it more perfect.  Of course, there are people who deny God, and who try to find substitutes in superstition or science, but our species is exalted by…

During the Civil War, more than 17,000 African American men born in Virginia served in the United States Army and Navy, fighting for freedom and the preservation of the Union.  Born Far From Freedom tells the story of the obstacles that had to be overcome to allow these men to fight, military units in which they served, battles in which they fought, and challenges they faced during and after the war.

As you go through life it is easy to get swept up in your own concerns and become unable to look past your problems.  Learning about challenges other people have faced is a good way to keep things in perspective.  You never know when an opportunity to learn might present itself.

In 1980 I was 19 years old and stationed in Mainz, Germany while serving in the U.S. Army.  The military may not be for everyone but ultimately it was a good thing for me, and the late seventies and early eighties were a good time to serve.  It was peacetime.  Later in life I would work at more stressful and less fulfilling jobs.  I tell people being in the Army then was like living in a movie.