Each week (or so... ) I select another member of our group to showcase on our site by making them a "Feature". This means that one of their works (I choose) will be shared with everyone along with a bio. Through this showcase, I hope you will learn something new about our SHINE members as well as support their creative efforts. If you would like to be featured it's easy: You must be a member of SHINE and you just have to let me know! How's that for ease of use?
When our latest creative told me his story (history!) he thought he didn’t have much of interest to share. I beg to differ. This father of three has so much to tell that it was hard for me to decide what to put into his feature. (In the article below, items in bold are links.)
The writer, poet and actor Bert Van Essen, has something in common with at least three US Presidents. “I was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan in the same hospital where Gerald Ford was born. I also attended the same high school he did, Union High School. I saw (but barely remember) the soon to be President John F. Kennedy when he was in a parade in Grand Rapids.” Read on to see if you can guess the third President.
Bert’s sons are all grown men yet I get the feeling that Bert’s relationship with each of them is very special and always has been. Bert’s pride in his three sons and their accomplishments is very clear: He says, “The youngest teaches in a small town in South Dakota. I trained to be a teacher in college so I have something beyond bias to say he is a great teacher. He is also a coach and he was and is a great athlete.” His middle son is presently in the Army Reserves. While in Baghdad for 14 months, he received four Army commendations for his bravery. Bert says, “I often forget to tell people that he is a Rosebud Sioux and adopted because he is just my son. He is currently completing training in Biological Warfare. Bert’s oldest is also named Bert, “It’s a Dutch tradition in the family to name the first born after the father,” says Bert. “He is a computer technician who loves climbing 14,000 feet Colorado mountains.”
Bert graduated from College in 1969 and enlisted in the Army because “I believed I needed to serve my country.” Bert believed that the draft was unfair: He says that since neither minorities nor the poor had any option for deferment, he refused his. "Justice is and has been an important issue for me.” In addition to other locations, he served 19 months in Germany as a Sergeant Missile crewman protecting the Fulda Gap.
Bert continues to "serve" his country but not in the traditional sense: He’s a Civil War Re-enactor. Before learning about Bert, I had no idea there was a Gettysburg outside of Pennsylvania! “Gettysburg, SD was founded in 1882 by Civil War veterans. My first Sunday in Gettysburg was also the first Civil War reenactment in Gettysburg, SD. Being a history buff I was hooked! The Gettysburg Civil War Association was founded to continue having reenactments and to keep the Civil War tradition alive in our town.” (Civil War Index Page)
Bert enjoys going to schools and giving programs on the Civil War. "I wear my uniform-and I go in "First Person" as Private Charles Houck who served in the 54th Pennsylvania Regiment and was one of the founders of Gettysburg… I actually become Private Houck-Even mentally I become him-I tell them what the war is like, the equipment I have, how I fought and, the times.”
What else might you find interesting about Bert?
- He worked three years in a rendering plant to help pay for college. (Rendering is the process of cooking raw animal material to remove the moisture and fat.) Bert says it smelled terrible but the pay didn’t smell at all!
- A trained pastor, he graduated from seminary school in Denver
- A movie lover, he was an extra (as a reenactor), on the movie "Crazy Horse".
- His middle name is "Lee". He was given that name because his father admired Robert E. Lee, the Confederate general.
- He likes reading books about the British Navy during the Napoleonic War.
- And the third President? Given Bert’s penchant for Civil War history, I suggest that Abraham Lincoln fits the bill.
I have touched upon only a few of the varied aspects of Bert’s life. On his site he has posted many aticles about himself, his life and his ideas. And among his many interesting articles, I find this one most intriguing: I Am A Civil War Soldier.
Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
(c) 2007 PT Griffin
Best and keep shining ,
PamelaClick here to Visit SHINE...THE JOURNAL
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