The Generation that Saved America
Surviving the Great Depression
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The Generation that Saved America Surviving the Great Depression & World War II The Third Novel in the Trilogy The Generation that Saved America opens with the continuing story of the Burel family as they faced the rise of a New South during and after Reconstruction. John Harrison, son of William Riley and great-grandson of Dr. John Burel, was just a toddler when his family pioneered over 600 miles in covered wagons from South Carolina to Mississippi. As a young man he proudly helped William Riley bellwether his family through the aftermath of the tragic Civil War and into the rebirth of the New South. His relentless determination to succeed, and his never wavering faith in young America’s future built a good life for him and his family. Sit back and enjoy one of the great storytellers of all time as John Harrison’s grandson, Cecil Allen Burrell, The Man Himself, revisits his Grandpa’s old farm and great house built around 1899 — the place where he was born and raised as a child. On a cold December morning, feel the biting north wind when Grandpa walked out on the front porch, cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted, “It’s hog-killing day!” Join the bustling families as they rushed to the great house to slaughter and butcher a dozen hogs to carry them through the winter. With great anticipation, summer finally arrived bringing old-time gospel singing and preaching to their little country church on the hill. Mama rose early that Sunday morning and filled her basket to the brim with fried chicken, biscuits, and fried apple pies. After preaching there was going to be another dinner-on-the-ground, and she was ready. Without a doubt, those were the good years. But all that changed. Walk with the Burrell family as they helplessly watched the reckless Roaring Twenties bring a flourishing economy to a halt. Feel John Harrison’s pain during the Great Depression as his home and the last 640-acre farm were snatched away by the local bank and sold for the few dollars’ debt borrowed against his Deed-of-Trust. In the midst of despair from every direction, and while President Roosevelt struggled to prop up the economy, the faltering country was jolted once again when Pearl Harbor was bombed. Cecil shares the chilling and rewarding story of how one of their own airmen missing in action for over sixty years was discovered and brought home with full military honors. On Memorial Day at Arlington Cemetery, President George W. Bush acknowledged the airmen who crashed into the Mediterranean Sea that fateful day so long ago. As we all watched the President, he proudly reminded us our World War II freedom fighters were the generation that saved America and the world. On the heels of the Great Depression and World War II, The Man Himself gives detailed accounts of how he and his family survived the Depression and navigated their way back into prosperity. Working smartly and tirelessly with their eyes on the future, they eventually claimed their part of the American dream — the same dream brought to America in 1778 by their Great3-Grandfather, Dr. Jean-Baptiste Elzèar Burel.
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About the Book
History, Romance, & Destiny
The Third Novel in the Trilogy
Dr. John Burel's great-grandson, John Harrison, was a toddler when his family pioneered from South Carolina to Mississippi. As a youngster, he proudly helped his family bellwether the Civil War and rebirth of the New South. By the early 1900s, he was a prosperous farmer and landowner. Time passed quickly, and too soon he was an old man. Join Grandpa and feel the biting north wind as he shuffled onto the front porch, cupped his hands around his mouth, and shouted, "It's hog-killing day!" Watch the bustling families rush toward the big house to slaughter enough hogs to carry them through the winter. Summer finally arrived and brought old-time gospel singing and preaching to their country church on the hill. Mama rose early on Sunday morning and filled her basket with fried chicken, biscuits, baked sweet potatoes, and fried apple pies. After preaching there was going to be another dinner-on-the-ground. Everyone was excited. Without a doubt, those were the good years.
But all that changed. Walk down the dismal road with the Burrell family as they helplessly watched the reckless Roaring Twenties and Great Depression bring a flourishing economy and their comfortable lifestyle to a grinding halt. Feel Grandpa's pain and humiliation when the bank called in his Deed-of-Trust, and he was forced to sell his last 640-acre farm and home for a few dollars. Sit for awhile and listen to his grandson, Cecil Allen Burrell, The Man Himself, as his thought-provoking stories detail how they all survived those disastrous years. With their eyes on the future, John Harrison's children and grandchildren navigated their way back into prosperity and eventually reclaimed their part of the American dream & the same dream brought to America by their Great3-Grandfather, Dr. Jean-Baptiste Elzear Burel in 1778.
About the Author
Bettye Burrell Burkhalter is a Vice President, Associate Provost, and Professor Emerita at Auburn University. Academic research and fellowships with Auburn University, the International Academy of Astronautics, and the British Interplanetary Society sent her around the world. Why this book? To give her eighty-nine-year-old father, Cecil A. Burrell, something to look forward to each day as his fast declining health sent him down his last road into the sunset. The second reason was to capture universal rudiments lying at the heart of the human spirit: loyalty to God and country with a deep and abiding love for family. Although this book is the third one in the trilogy, it was the first one written. It is a testament to the author’s uncompromising vision to recapture the lifestyle and times of the Burrell Clan as they rebuilt the New South after the Civil War, survived the Great Depression, and accepted the tragedies of World War II. Oftentimes, those years were difficult and brutal, but the independent and determined family, along with thousands of other hard-working ordinary families, emerged stronger and more prosperous than before. It was the American way — and who they were as a people. Although Dr. Burkhalter worked and visited in over a dozen countries, she prefers the quiet countryside at her rustic log home retreat in west Alabama. There in the unique beauty and quiet of nature she does most of her writing. “There is no substitute for awakening to a sunrise with singing birds, hearing a whippoorwill’s lonesome call to his mate at dusk, or watching lightning bugs flash by on a warm summer night,” she explains. Bettye and her husband Boyd have two wonderful daughters, Angela (Angie) and April, and one granddaughter, Katherine (Katie). She and Boyd also live in Auburn, Alabama.