Publisher's Synopsis
This is a book that is both love stories and war stories. It begins in 1912, when Agnes falls in love with Walton Horner. They later marry and have eleven children, of which 3 died. The 6 boys were all in the military and the 2 girls married men who went into the military. This is a true story. One of the girls married my uncle. The book begins with WW I and continues with one war after another, WW II, Korea, Vietnam and mentions of others. That is why I chose the second title to be wars and rumors of war. The title is When the Sun Sets, I used this analogy to describe the darkness that war represents. I dedicated this book to my brother-in-law who was killed in Vietnam. I also added in loving memory to my Dad who was in the European war and my uncle Delmas who was in the Pacific War. The Pacific War did not receive the same recognition as the European War, but the U. S. almost lost the Pacific war and the hardships and the disease were unbelievable. Prior to WW II, Delmas married one of the Horner girls, who got pregnant, and she and baby both died. He remarried and the same thing happened again. He chose to enlist to get away from his pain, but as we know, pain travels along with us. After WW II there is a short time of peace, then the Korean war and then gradually Vietnam. My brother-in-law, Vaughn actually enlisted in the Army AirForce. His Dad was in the Army Air Corps. I mention throughout the book how patriotism was passed down to each generation. I had 2 Vietnam veterans talk about the war and each had a different perspective. One of the veterans told me how scared he was, reality check. Vaughn was killed on Sept 7, 1968, he had a letter to his Mom in his pocket and a another soldier found it and mailed it to his Mom, the mailing date was Sept 9, 1968. The letter arrived after Vaughn's body arrived. My in-laws kept the letter and it is in the book. There was blood on the back of the envelope, a reminder of the horrors of war. The book ends with 175 photos of veterans from the lower Eastern Shore, my hometown. Some were killed in action, others made it back. The cover of the book is a photo by Mike Cable who won 1st place with 22,000 entries and from 122 countries. The sun is setting on the Tangier Sound and the sky is laced in blue like a flag. Awesome photo that said all that was necessary. When the sun sets, it is dark. There will be wars and rumors of wars, a phrase taken from the Bible and I believe if we look around and listen to the news, we will find out that this is true.
