Author Bill Peters gave a Veteran’s Day themed presentation at the Batesville Memorial Public Library, Monday, November 11. Peters is the author of “Intertwine: A WWII Soldier’s Memoir,” a book sharing conversations Peters and his father, William H.H. Peters, had about the elder Peters’s service in World War Two between 1943 and 1944, as well as Peters’s own experiences growing up with a disabled veteran for a father. Peters noted his father had, for most of his life, been reluctant to speak about his experiences during the war, however after his father went into assisted living, he was more open to sharing his story.
William H.H. Peters was from New Point, IN, he relocated to Anderson, IN after graduating from high school in 1941 and took a job at a factory. As the U.S. grew more involved in World War Two, Peters joined the U.S. Army in February 1943 and ultimately was sent to fight in France. He was injured near the border of France and Germany in an explosion that destroyed the jeep he was in. Peters was pinned between the jeep and a tank behind the jeep. His left leg was broken and he received shrapnel wounds. Bill Peters shared that his father’s friend placed his father beside a tree, gave him a bottle of peppermint schnapps and said, “I’m praying for you.” When William H.H. Peters woke up approximately a day later, he was strapped to a gurney and being loaded onto another jeep by some American soldiers who took him to the nearest field hospital. The staff at the field hospital tried to reset his leg but ultimately, upon arriving at a larger hospital in England, it turned out his leg hadn’t been set correctly and it had to be re-broken. William H.H. Peters came back home to the US “crippled, with one leg shorter than the other,” Bill Peters noted. William H.H. Peters worked as a farmer and died in 2019 at age 95.
When asked why he chose not only to write a book but self-publish it and sell it, Bill Peters said, “A couple of things – I have a number of family members,” who he felt would be interested, “most of my aunts and uncles have passed, but, we were a close family. I didn’t do it for money, I did it so more of the family and friends would have an opportunity to read and know about him and know his stories. A lot of authors are in it for making money, I’m not into it for making money.” When asked what he hopes readers gain from his book, Peters said, “I hope they gain an appreciation for a couple of things – one is the personal sacrifice and feelings that a soldier deals with, about fighting and fear and doubts about, ‘am I going to make it to the next day?’ The second thing is really a greater appreciation for World War Two history – this group of veterans are passing on, there are just a few left.”
“Intertwined” is available to purchase via Amazon as an eBook for $7, in hardcover for $35 or in paperback for $25.
Photo: Author Bill Peters
Story and Photo submitted by Noelle Maxwell
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