Recollections Of A Common Man

D. V. Gillum had a fascinating story of his life that he wanted to record as a part of his family ́s genealogy to pass along to future descendants. As a child growing up in a coal-mining region of Kentucky during the Great Depression of the late 1920 ́s to the mid 1930 ́s, he experienced poverty and hardships that few people of later generations could even imagine. As teenager during WW II, he joined the Navy and served as Quartermaster aboard the USS LSM 36. He participated in invasions of Japanese held islands in the Pacific, witnessing the danger and terror of the Japanese Kamikaze suicide planes. Like millions of other young Americans, he returned home to an America where very few job were available. Armed with only a 9th grade education, he later became a department executive for Rockwell, and worked on the Apollo Moon Landing Project, and later the Space Shuttle Project. Through his hobbies, he coached Little League Baseball and became a mentor to many young children. He is also a gifted poet. His life ́s story is so typical of average Americans whom, in their own way, large or small, contributed to making America the great nation that it is today. The citizens of this country who suffered through the Great Depression, followed by WW II, have been described by many as "America ́s Greatest Generation." D. V. Gillum certainly qualifies as a member of this elite group. T. D. Burns