Gabriel—The Angel with the Best Message

 By Sherri Stewart

Western artwork often represents angels as serene people in white robes or chubby-cheeked infants, typically with feathery wings and harps or trumpets. In truth, angels are beings of incredible power and influence. Only two angels are named in the Bible—Michael and Gabriel, although Lucifer is a fallen angel. Since we’re close to Christmas, we will explore what the Bible tells us about Gabriel.

Gabriel, whose name means “hero of God,” appeared to three people—Daniel, Zechariah, and Mary. Biblical encounters with Gabriel always induced fear, and Gabriel always allayed their fears. (Luke 1:13; 30; 2:10). 

Even a God-fearing priest like Zechariah (Luke 1:5–7) was terror-stricken when first seeing Gabriel. Zechariah was alone in the Holy Place of the temple, offering a sacrifice of incense (Luke 1:8–11), for which he was chosen by lot to perform. Incense always represented prayers to God. Gabriel’s message was a happy one. Zechariah and his wife, Elizabeth, were honorable people who had never had children (Luke 1:5–7). The angel's announcement suggests that prayers for a child had been a regular part of Zechariah's life. Although well past child-bearing years, Elizabeth would conceive, at last, and they would have a son. Gabriel commanded that the child be named John, and he would be great in the sight of the Lord. The angel also instructed Zechariah to raise the child under special care (Luke 1:14–17) as he would be an important herald of God's salvation (Luke 3:2–3).

Zechariah's instinct was to doubt this prediction. His question was not about how such a birth could occur. It was a reluctance to believe it could occur. In response, the angel identified himself as Gabriel and said that he stood in the presence of God. Zechariah would have immediately recognized the name Gabriel, thanks to the angel's appearance in the story of the prophet Daniel. Gabriel rebuked Zechariah for his lack of faith and said he would be unable to speak or hear temporarily. (Luke 1:20,62) Gabriel’s admonition sends a clear message to all to respond to God’s blessings the right way.

Soon after, Gabriel came to an obscure town in a rural area (Luke 1:26). The object of his mission was a virgin, unmarried but betrothed, by the name of Mary (Luke 1:27). Her status as a virgin (Luke 1:34) and member of the house of David (Luke 3:23–38) were both foretold by the prophets (Isaiah 7:14; 2 Samuel 7:12–16). 

As most people, Mary would initially be troubled by the angel's appearance (Luke 1:29) and wonder how God planned to accomplish His purpose (Luke 1:34). “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” However, unlike Zechariah (Luke 1:18), her question was about how, not if, the angel's message would come true, so Gabriel answered her question and confirmed his words with news of Elizabeth’s pregnancy. His final words to her were, “For no word from God will ever fail.”

Gabriel’s only other appearances were to Daniel (Dan. 8:16, 9:21), and his purpose was not to bring a message but to explain a dream that Daniel had about the end of the world. What we learn about the angel was that 1) he appeared as a man, but inspired fear; 2) he came as a result of Daniel’s prayers; and 3) he came swiftly as soon as Daniel began to pray. Gabriel’s presence shows us that prayers are heard, and sometimes even before the prayer is finished, God sends an angel with the answer. 

A Song for Her Enemies

After Nazi soldiers close the opera and destroy Tamar Kaplan’s dream of becoming a professional singer, she joins the Dutch Resistance, her fair coloring concealing her Jewish heritage. Tamar partners with Dr. Daniel Feldman, and they risk their lives to help escaping refugees. When they are forced to flee themselves, violinist Neelie Visser takes them into hiding.

Tamar’s love for Daniel flowers in hardship, but she struggles with the paradox that a loving God would allow the atrocities around her. When Tamar resists the advances of a Third Reich officer, he exacts his revenge by betraying the secrets hidden behind the walls of Neelie’s house. From a prison hospital to a Nazi celebration to a concentration camp, will the three of them survive to tell the world the secrets behind barbed wire?   https://amzn.to/2YJBkRn

 

A Song for Her Enemies

"She has the voice of an angel, but the devil is listening."

 

BOOK GIVEAWAY AND SPIES IN HOOP SKIRTS (PART IV)

ANNE GREENE here: This fourth part of my series ends with other lady spies, first Confederate spies and then Union spies. I so hope you’ve enjoyed this series. If so, I’d love to hear from you.

Hundreds of women served as spies for the Confederate army during the Civil War. They often carried information about the enemy's plans, troop size and fortifications on scraps of paper or fabric which they sewed into their blouses and petticoats or rolled into their hair. To smuggle goods such as morphine, ammunition or weapons, they attached them to the frame of their hoop skirts or hid them in baskets and packages, even inside dolls.

Most women spies volunteered for the job, but some were recruited by spymasters. Most fit this description: lady spies were young, white, well-to-do and unmarried, as well as attractive, charming, intelligent, and quick-witted. They by-passed society’s strict rules by meeting men in various locations, and riding horses and in buggies unaccompanied.

Apprehended Confederate women spies were often branded as prostitutes unless their reputations were strong enough to protect them. Punishment for the crime of espionage was imprisonment or deportation to Canada or the South. Male spies were hanged.

Confederate lady spies often gathered information from Union troops who, when occupying southern towns, invited local women to army-sponsored balls, where they would sometimes talk about their military plans, not realizing the potential for espionage.

These women spies eavesdropped on soldiers during dinner parties, at boarding houses where the soldiers stayed, or gathered information from their friends and connections in southern society.

Although it was important for spies to keep a low profile while they worked, once they were detected or released from prison, spies like BELLE BOYD became instant celebrities after the press published their stories.

Belle was born into a Virginia family with strong Southern loyalties. A celebrated beauty, Isabelle Belle Boyd became one of the Confederacy’s most notorious spies after a skirmish with a drunken Union soldier in July 1861. The man invaded her home, tore down a Confederate flag, and spoke offensively to her mother. Enraged, the seventeen-year-old Belle shot and killed him. Acquitted of the crime, but closely watched by Union troops, she beguiled her enemies into revealing military secrets, which she transmitted to Confederate commanders.

In May 1862 Belle stayed in Fort Royal, Virginia, with relatives whose hotel had been taken over by Union officers. She

eavesdropped on their meetings through a hole in a door and rode through enemy lines, to report to Confederate General Stonewall Jackson. Imprisoned that July in Washington, D.C., she was released a month later. A second incarceration the following year ended with her banishment to the South.

Belle sailed for England in May 1864 to serve as a Confederate courier but was intercepted by Union troops. One of them, a naval officer named Samuel Hardinge, fell in love with the alluring spy and helped her escape to London, where they wed. He died shortly thereafter. Belle, now a widow and mother at 20, remained in England to compose her memoirs and launch a successful stage career. She later returned to America, where she continued acting, married twice more and lectured on her wartime experiences across the United States.

MARY KATE PATTERSON was no so famous. When the Civil War began she was sixteen. Mary Kate and her family lived a few miles southeast of Nashville, Tennessee. Vivacious Mary Kate, with flashing brown eyes and dark brown curls, attended old Elliott School in Nashville, Tennessee. Declaration of war between the North and South interrupted her education, but the contacts she made in school were invaluable during her service as a Confederate spy.

The Federal army occupied Nashville early in the war. Mary Kate provided information to Coleman's Scouts, a spy network of the Army of Tennessee. She befriended Yankees officers and frequently obtained passes to Nashville, where she gathered secret messages and supplies for the Scouts and hid them in her buggy's false bottom.

Mary Kate smuggled boots, blankets, and anything needed by the Confederate army through the lines, concealing quinine and morphine in her voluminous riding habits. She admitted after the war, when it was too late for reprisal, that she had carried six hundred dollars’ worth of medicine in just one trip. She and her family sheltered and fed Confederate soldiers, signaling them by a certain arrangement of louvers and lanterns in the windows when it was safe to come in for medical help and hot meals.

Widowed three times, when she died in 1931, she was buried in the Confederate Circle in Nashville's Mt. Olivet Cemetery, the first woman so honored.

BELLE EDMONDSON, born in Mississippi in 1840, served as a Confederate agent throughout the war. In 1862 after the fall of Memphis, she smuggled supplies and funds to the Confederate army. Her love of the South and of danger attracted her to spying, carrying mail and smuggling. In 1863, she worked for the Independent Scouts, headed by Captain Thomas Henderson.

She lived near Memphis, Tennessee and smuggled supplies to Confederate soldiers throughout the war. In 1864, since soldiers did not search women, she hid uniforms, money, buttons, letters, etc. in her luggage and on her clothing and took them through Union lines.

Belle’s trips eventually attracted the attention of Union forces and they issued a warrant for her arrest. In July 1864, she fled south to Mississippi and lived there for the rest of the war. She was engaged three times. The third was announced two weeks before her sudden death in 1873.And finally, I want to speak of two Union spies who did not fit the profile of lady spies.

PAULINE CUSHMAN was a stage actress who later became a spy for the Union army. Born Harriett Wood in New Orleans on June 10, 1833, Pauline was raised in Michigan, but returned to Louisiana at age eighteen to became a stage actress, changing her name to Pauline Cushman.

Two Confederate soldiers, Colonel Spear and Captain Blincoe, offered Pauline money to toast Confederate President Jefferson Davis during a performance.

Offended, she visited Union Colonel Moore to report the men. Moore directed Pauline to carry out the toast, hoping to embed her as a local Union spy.

She toasted Davis and was promptly fired from the production, since they now believed her to be a Confederate sympathizer.

Since she had successfully gained the trust of the local Confederates, Pauline began posing as a Confederate camp follower in Kentucky and Tennessee. She disguised herself as a man while gathering information from soldiers in local saloons.

After visiting the camp of General Braxton Bragg in May of 1863, Pauline obtained the general’s battle plans, but aroused suspicion and was caught. She was tried in a military court and sentenced to death. But her execution was delayed when she became ill.

Shortly after, the Union army invaded Shelbyville, Tennessee, where she was being held, forcing the Confederates to flee without her.

Despite her brush with death, Pauline continued to spy for the Union army. At war’s end, President Abraham Lincoln awarded her the honorary rank of Brevet-Major, earning her the nickname “The Spy of Cumberland.” She was buried with military honors in the Golden Gate National Cemetery.

HARRIET TUBMAN set up a vast spy ring in the south, sending African-American men to pose as servants in order to gather intelligence for the Union army.

One of the most celebrated heroines in American history, Harriet Tubman is best known for ushering slaves to freedom through the Underground Railroad in the 1850s. But not everyone knows that the courageous Harriet, who escaped slavery in 1849, set up the vast espionage ring.

In early 1862, with the support of abolitionist friends in the North, Harriet traveled to South Carolina, where she served as a nurse and teacher for the hundreds of newly liberated slaves who had assembled in Union camps. She recruited black men to slip behind Confederate lines, posing as servants or slaves to gather military intelligence. She organized dangerous missions in which Union troops destroyed plantations and spirited former slaves to freedom on warships. In June 1863, Harriet led an armed expedition along the Combahee River, disrupting Confederate supply lines and liberating more than seven hundred slaves. Later in life, Harriet became a key figure in the suffrage movement.

Which of the Civil War Spies In Hoop Skirts did you like the most? Would you have liked to have lived during that historic period? Do you prefer the freedom of today’s clothing styles or the beauty and romance of the styles of the 1860s? Leave a comment for a chance to win an autographed copy of Angel With Steel Wings.

Thanks for visiting and please leave a comment for a chance to win an autographed copy of Angel With Steel Wings.

ANGEL WITH STEEL WINGS is a World War II romance where Steel Magnolias meet Band of Brothers. While doing her part test flying planes as a Woman Air Service Pilot, WASP, Mandy McCabe escapes her dead-end life in Hangman’s Hollow, Tennessee. But, can she escape from her past? Major Harvey Applegate lost his wife to the WASP program, and he’s convinced Yankee Doodle Gals have no place flying in the war effort. He determines to protect the remaining WASPs by sending them packing back to the home front. Both Mandy and Harvey experience immediate attraction, which increases Harvey’s desire to send Mandy home to safety. Can a man burdened with memories of death undertake added emotional danger? Will their new love survive the test? One love. Two goals. Someone has to give.

ANNE GREENE delights in writing about alpha heroes who aren’t afraid to fall on their knees in prayer, and about gutsy heroines. Her Women of Courage Series, first book, ANGEL WITH STEEL WINGS spotlights heroic women of World War II, and read her private investigating series, Handcuffed In Texas, first book HOLLY GARDEN, PI, RED IS FOR ROOKIE. Enjoy her other award-winning historical romances and novellas. Anne’s highest hope is that her stories transport the reader to an awesome new world and touch hearts to seek a deeper spiritual relationship with the Lord Jesus. Buy Anne’s books on http://www.Amazon.com. Type in Anne Greene. Visit Anne at AnneGreeneAuthor.com.

CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS DESPITE THE WAR

ANNE GREENE here:  

Christmas is a major holiday in the United States, but during World War II, 1941-1945 Christmas had a special meaning. Most families had a loved one serving in the military who could not be home for Christmas. Peace on Earth was no longer just a nice phrase found on Christmas cards, but the number one prayer of Americans everywhere. The Christmas season gave hope that while this year many were away, maybe next year the war would end and missing family members would return home.

On the Home Front, Americans tried to celebrate Christmas. Families dealt with painful separations and lost loved ones which made the holiday agonizing. But those keeping the home front fires burning worked hard at making Christmas merry for the children. 

Before the war, America still recovered from the great depression when money and jobs were scarce. Shoppers had often been limited to window shopping, not having any extra money to purchase gifts. When the war began, war production went into high gear bringing good-paying jobs and additional income. But, there was little to buy as rationing left few goods on the shelves. Metal toys nearly disappeared as did automobiles, radios, bicycles, typewriters, and other goods.

Wartime production priorities restricted the presents children could receive for Christmas. Santa Claus had to tell the kids to lower their expectations. Santa explained that a particular toy had too much steel in it, and that steel was needed for the war. If a child seemed disappointed, Santa told the child that some children living in the countries where the war was fought would have no Christmas. With the shortage of men, Santa was often a woman. 

The song, White Christmas, debuted in 1942. Sung by Bing Crosby the tune became an instant success as its peaceful feeling hit home with those on the home front and those on the battle front. I’ll Be Home for Christmas debuted in 1943. The words touched the hearts of separated loved ones. Both songs are still classics sung at Christmas. 

For the soldiers, sailors and airmen overseas, military necessity and lack of accommodations forced them to have minimal celebrations. Many of the boys serving overseas got the blues. But presents from home cheered them. 

Do you have a Christmas story you’d like to share? Maybe a soldier or someone in your family shared his or her experience. Maybe you have a story of how a child at home felt during those years at Christmas from 1941 to 1945. I’d love to hear your stories. Please leave a comment. 

Leave a comment and one lucky winner will win my WWII book, Angel With Steel Wings. Buy any one or all seven of Anne’s book on http://www.Amazon.com.

Ace Collins, bestselling author of numerous books, including the WW II series, In the President’s Service, says of ANGEL WITH STEEL WINGS: 

A story of a woman in a man’s domain set against the dynamics of World War II is a can’t-miss scenario. Angel With Steel Wings paints a vivid picture of courageous pilots facing death in the air while struggling with love on the ground, and wraps it up in a unique twist that will challenge all you knew about the “Greatest Generation.” Steeped in history and framed by faith, this is a tale that takes readers into a world now all but forgotten, and lands in a place that touches the heart in a special way. To know how far we have come, we must understand where we started, and Angels With Steel Wings takes us back on a thrilling trip in time that informs as it entertains. I think this is one flight you won’t want to miss.

ANNE GREENE delights in writing about alpha heroes who aren’t afraid to fall on their knees in prayer, and about gutsy heroines. Her novellas, A CHRISTMAS BELLE, and A GROOM FOR CHRISTMAS are now available. Her Women of Courage Series spotlights heroic women of World War II, with the first book ANGEL WITH STEEL WINGS available. Enjoy her private investigating series, Handcuffed In Texas by reading the first book, Holly Garden, PI, RED IS FOR ROOKIE. Try her award-winning Scottish historical romances, MASQUERADE MARRIAGE and MARRIAE BY ARRANGEMENT. Anne’s highest hope is that her stories transport the reader to an awesome new world and touch hearts to seek a deeper spiritual relationship with the Lord Jesus. Buy Anne’s books on http://www.Amazon.com.

 

 

 

AMERICAN SPY, VIRGINIA HALL, plus BOOK GIVE-AWAY

ANNE GREENE here. I’m giving a copy of the first book in my WW11 series, Women of Courage, ANGEL WITH STEEL WINGS, to one person who leaves a comment answering the question at the end of this blog.

And today I’m delving into the life of America’s foremost lady spy, Virginia Hall.

Virginia Hall was born on April 6, 1906 in Baltimore, Maryland. She came from a privileged family and attended colleges at Barnard, Radcliffe, the Sorbonne in France, and Konsularakademie in Vienna. She had a gift for learning languages and took a job as a clerk at the U.S. Embassy in Turkey, hoping to eventually become a diplomat.

But in 1933, Virginia lost part of her leg in a hunting accident and used a wooden prosthesis. As an amputee, she could no longer work in the foreign service, so she drove an ambulance for the French Army. When the Vichy government took over they sent her to England. She volunteered for England’s newly founded spy ring, the SOE. They returned her to Vichy-controlled France where she worked with the Resistance until the Nazi takeover. She escaped to Spain through the mountains, on foot with an artificial leg!

During the next several years she worked with the underground Resistance by providing maps to Allied forces for drop zones. She found safe houses, trained French Resistance forces, and reported enemy movements. Smart Virginia avoided the Gestapo that penetrated many of the resistance networks.

America’s newly formed Office of Strategic Services (OSS) recruited her, and sent her back into France.

The Germans named her one of their most wanted spies. The Nazi secret police distributed wanted posters throughout Vichy France, calling her an unknown woman with a limp. So, Virginia taught herself to walk without a limp and used disguises to escape their attempts to capture her.

After the war, Virginia said in an interview, "In 1943 I joined General Donovan's Office of Strategic Services for more adventures with the French Resistance. I became proficient in Morse code and radio operation, which made me invaluable. During the day, I appeared to be a milkmaid. However, at night I directed the Resistance Forces under me in acts of sabotage and guerilla warfare. I relayed important information from haylofts via my radio to London. I always kept ahead of the Gestapo, whose leaders knew of me and wanted me captured. I never gave them the opportunity. At the war's end, my country rewarded my efforts with the Distinguished Service Cross in 1945, the only female civilian in the war to receive this nation's highest military honor after the Medal of Honor!"  

Virginia helped pave the way for women in America's intelligence network. Virginia worked for the OSS through its transition to the CIA. She retired to a farm in Barnesville, Maryland, in 1966, where she lived until her death in 1982.

She is known as World War II's most heroic female spy. 

QUESTION: Do you admire the women who served at the risk of their lives for our country as much as I do? And/or Do you know any of these heroic women? 

ANNE GREENE delights in writing about alpha heroes who aren’t afraid to fall on their knees in prayer and about gutsy heroines. She writes both historical and suspense novels. She and her hero husband, Army Special Forces Colonel Larry Greene, have visited twenty-five countries.  A visit to Scotland resulted in her award-winning Scottish historical romances, Masquerade Marriage and Marriage By Arrangement. A Texas Christmas Mystery also won awards. Her Women of Courage Series spotlights heroic women of World War II. The first book, Angel With Steel Wings, is available on Amazon. The second series, Handcuffed In Texas with the first book, Holly Garden, PI, Red Is For Rookie, now available on Amazon. Anne makes her home in McKinney, Texas. Anne’s highest hope is that her stories transport the reader to an awesome new world and touch hearts to seek a deeper spiritual relationship with the Lord Jesus. To learn more of Anne, visit her at http://www.AnneGreeneAuthor.com.  She writes a novel teaching class on her blog www.anneswritingupdates.blogspot.com

 

Anne loves to hear from her readers. Buy Anne Greene books at http://www.amazon.com.

GIVE-AWAY AND LADY SPIES DURING WW11 PART TWO

Anne Greene here: As stated on the 14th of last month I discussed American women who were spies during WW11. If you missed that discussion, please check out the archives. Today, I’ll tell the true tale of other women spies.

Two main oversight organizations were responsible for intelligence activities in World War II for the Allies. These were the American OSS, or Office of Strategic Services and the British SOE, or Special Operations Executive. In addition to traditional spies, these organizations employed many ordinary men and women to covertly provide information about strategic locations and activities while leading apparently normal lives.

OSS receiving spy transmissions

READ THE CAPTIONS FOR THE NAMES OF FEMALE SPIES

Violette Reine Elizabeth Bushell – 1921-1942 Violette was sent to France as an operative. Caught giving cover to a Maquis leader, she killed several German soldiers before being captured. Despite torture she refused to give the Gestapo any classified information and was sent to Ravensbruck. There she was executed.

 

Josephine Baker

Amy Elizabeth Thorpe 1910-1963 Amy, whose code name was Cynthia and who later used the name Betty Pack, worked for the OSS in Vichy France. OSS sometimes used her as a swallow, a female agent used to seduce people to get secret information. She also participated in break-ins. One daring raid involved taking secret naval codes from a locked and guarded room. She also infiltrated the Vichy French Embassy in Washington DC and took important code books. 

Maria Gulovich fled Czechoslovakia when Hitler invaded her country and went to Hungary. She worked with OSS teams to assist downed pilots, refugees and resistance members. KGB arrested her. She maintained her OSS cover under fierce interrogation.

Brenda Marshall

Claire Maybelle Snyder 1907-1960, Claire, also known as Clara Fuentes, Claire Philips, Dorathy Fuentes as well as High Pockets, spy, entertainer, club owner, and author. She was awarded the Medal of Freedom. She joined the resistance in the Philippines, arranged forged papers, created a new identity, and established a gentleman’s club popular with Japanese officers in Manila. Phillips built an extensive spy ring which harvested information from the Japanese officers who patronized the club. She transmitted information she collected to American forces in the Pacific to counter Japanese force movements. She worked with the guerrilla movement to smuggle food, medicines, supplies and information to prisoners of war where she became known as High Pockets. She acquired the name because of her method of smuggling messages hidden in her brassiere.
On May 23, 1944, Japanese military police captured Claire. Inside a Japanese prison, they tortured her for information. Despite the torture, Claire refused to talk. Held in solitary confinement for six months, she was to be executed for espionage. In January 1945, liberated from the prison by American forces, she was close to starving to death.

Marlene Dietrich

Marlene Dietrich became an American citizen in 1939. She volunteered for the OSS and served by entertaining troops on the front lines and by broadcasting nostalgic songs as propaganda to battle weary German troops. She received the Medal of Freedom for her work.

Hedy Lamarr Actress Hedy Lamarr contributed to the OSS by co-producing an anti-jamming device for torpedoes. She also devised a clever way of frequency hopping that prevented the enemy from intercepting American military messages. Famous for the Road movies with Bob Hope, everyone knew she was an actress but few knew she was a spy.

Barbara Lauwers-Cpl. Barbara Lauwers, Women's Army Corps, received a Bronze Star for her OSS work. She cobbled fake passports and papers for other spies. Instrumental in Operation Sauerkraut, she used German prisoners to spread black propaganda about Adolf Hitler behind enemy lines. She created the League of Lonely War Women, or VEK in German. She used this mythical organization to demoralize German troops by spreading the belief that any soldier on leave could display a VEK symbol and get a girlfriend. One of her operations was so successful that 600 Czechoslovak troops defected behind Italian lines.

Spy Mavis Baity with Enigma Machine

Rochelle Hudson 1916 – 1972)Rochelle was an American actress from the 1930s through the 1960s. She married Harold Thompson, head of the Storyline Department at Disney Studios. She and her husband posed as a vacationing couple in Mexico to detect if there was any German activity in the different areas. One vacation they uncovered a supply of high test aviation gas hidden by German agents in Baja, California.

Some of the other women who served America during WW11: Mary Louise Prather, Juliana Mickwitz, Elizabeth P. McIntosh, Genevieve Feinstein, Mary Louise Prather, and many, many other women.

Spy FiFi- One of the most decorated

The OSS was active in every country in Europe, aiding the resistance groups and monitoring enemy activity, and also had spies in enemy countries as well as in the Pacific theater. Eventually the OSS became the CIA, Central Intelligence Agency.

I hope you enjoyed this glimpse into the world of women spies and look for my book, SPIES LIKE HER, when it releases in 2016.

 

LEAVE A COMMENT FOR A CHANCE TO WIN ANGEL WITH STEEL WINGS.

 

Do you prefer historical romance or suspense/mystery romance?

ANGEL WITH STEEL WINGS is a World War II romance where Steel Magnolias meet Band of Brothers. While doing her part test flying planes, Mandy McCabe escapes her dead-end life in Hangman’s Hollow, Tennessee as a Woman Air Service Pilot, WASP. Can she escape from her past? Major Harvey Applegate lost his wife to the WASP program, and he’s convinced Yankee Doodle Gals have no place flying in the war effort. He determines to protect the remaining ladies by sending them packing back to the home front. Both Mandy and Harvey experience immediate attraction, which increases Harvey’s desire to send Mandy home to safety. Can a man burdened with memories of death undertake added danger? Will their new love survive the test? One love. Two goals. Someone has to give.

SINGING IN THE RAIN---AND BOOKS, BOOKS, BOOKS GIVAWAY

 

ANNE GREENE here. HOORAY, hooray, hooray! We launched our brand new web site! To CELEBRATE we have a series of GIVEAWAYS by our fantastic authors. MANY books will be given away by the end of the month. YOUR PART: Leave a comment every day on every post. The more comments you leave, the greater your chances to win!

I’m giving an autographed copy of my latest Scottish historical romance, MARRIAGE BY ARRANGEMENT. So be certain to comment at the end of this post for your chance to win! And I’ll chat with you as well.

I’m writing today about events during World War II. You’ll discover so much more in my book Angel With Steel Wings which will release soon. Angel is the first in my Women of Courage series. Angel is about women test pilots. You didn’t know America had women test pilots in 1944? You’re not alone, most people didn’t. But those were exciting, innovative years.

During World War II the American people kept their spirits and hopes high with the many new songs that blossomed during the first dark years of the war when America was losing the battle to Hitler’s Germany and Japan’s Hirohito.

World War II was the first conflict to take place in the age when almost ninety percent of American households had radio. Never before had it been possible for songs to be so widely available to the population. Never before had the number of listeners been so high.

And overseas, American troops had regular access to radio in all but the most difficult combat situations. American troops listened to popular music between bouts of combat on Armed Forces Radio.

The song, They’re Either Too Young or Too Old took a light-hearted look at the men left for the women on the home front while American Troops were off fighting the war.

Popular songs like Sentimental Journey, I’ll be Seeing You, Moonlight Serenade, and I’ll be Home for Christmas, all spoke of women’s longings for loved ones overseas and the troops longing to be home. Those songs gave society’s blessing that it was okay to miss your man because he was fighting for the good of Americans everywhere. And the many patriotic songs brought smiles to faces and pride to the hearts of Americans on the home front and abroad.

Earlier in the century big band music had become wildly popular and still was in the 1940s. Some of the more popular songs were:

There’ll Be Bluebirds Over The White Cliffs of Dover by Jimmy Dorsey & His Orchestra.

Be Careful It’s My Heart by Irving Berlin. 1942

Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy by the Andrews Sisters 1941

Comin’ In On A Wing and A Prayer by The Song Spinners

Don’t Get Around Much Anymore by Duke Ellington & His Orchestra

Don’t Sit Under The Apple Tree With Anyone Else But Me by 1942 by Stept, Brown, and Tobias.

Every Time We Say Goodbye by Cole Porter 1944

GI Jive by Johnny Mercer

I Don’t Want To Walk Without You by Harry James & His Orchestra 1942

I’ll Be Seeing You by Bing Crosby

It’s Been A Long Long Time by Harry James

I’ll Get By As Long As I Have You by Harry James & His Orchestra

Kiss The Boys Goodbye by Frank Loesser 1941

Praise The Lord and Pass The Ammunition by Frank Loesser 1942. I understand many people sang this song during church services.

People in the USA held the same desires as their leaders, and the government counted on popular music to reflect the same war aims that Franklin Delano Roosevelt wanted. Everyone hoped for a quick final victory over the Axis, and the songs about a world after the war with the boys coming home met those wishes.

This unity gave the USA an enormous energy that allowed the nation to accomplish far more at less human cost than the other major powers in the war. So in the driving rain of war where almost every citizen lost a loved one, music kept spirits high.

Have you heard any of these popular songs, and if so, which is your favorite?

COMMENT: Leave a comment and one lucky winner will win an autographed copy of my book, Marriage By Arrangement. Please leave your email address so I can contact you for your address. Don't forget to comment on all posts for more chances to win.

BIO: ANNE GREENE delights in writing about wounded heroes and gutsy heroines. Her second novel, a Scottish historical, Masquerade Marriage, won the New England Reader Choice award, the Laurel Wreath Award, and the Heart of Excellence Award. The sequel Marriage By Arrangement recently released.  A Texas Christmas Mystery also won several awards. Her World War II novel, Angel With Steel Wings, about WASPs, women test pilots releases soon. Be sure to look for it on Amazon. Anne makes her home in McKinney, Texas. She graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor’s degree in Literary Studies from the University of Texas. Tim LaHaye led her to the Lord when she was twenty-one, and Chuck Swindoll is her Pastor. View Anne’s other books, her blog, travel pictures, and art work at http://www.AnneGreeneAuthor.com. Her highest hope is that her stories transport the reader to an awesome new world and touch hearts to seek a deeper spiritual relationship with the Lord Jesus. Buy Anne’s books at http://www.PelicanBookGroup.com. Or at http://www.Amazon.com. Learn to write award-winning books by visiting Anne’s blog at http://www.anneswritingupdates.blogspot.com.

Don’t forget to leave a comment. Anne loves to talk with her fans.

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