"The Class of '44 Ring" by Patricia E. Watts
– legacy passed along
This family story of courage and commitment has a distinctive ring to it.
Patricia E. Watts lives in Mountville, South Carolina where the love of local and family history has given her a passion to write stories to pass down to her children. She has found through stories of tragedies, tears, and triumphs and even mysteries that she has a rich heritage worth telling. Four stories have appeared in previous PSPP anthologies: “A Real Small Town” in That Southern Thing, paired stories “Sometimes the Prize Goes to the Wrong Person” and “The Orphan Train” in Luck and Opportunity, and “Chancing the Buddy System” in Trouble.
Author’s Talk
Jimmy Winebrenner, Clemson Corps
Patricia E. Watts
The stories of those who so willingly served for the freedom of our country and especially those who “gave all,” have always had a place in my heart. The Jimmy Winebrenner Story has been one that has been predominate because it was so personal to the family. You could not read through the letters written to Jimmy’s mother from two of the soldiers who survived that bloody assault without hearing the compassion flowing to a grieving mother just searching for answers in the loss of her only son. A scrapbook with the letters were kept and each reading always brought tears.
The one treasure that always brought to memory that sacrifice of the one who left college so young, so willing to serve, was the treasure of his class ring. One could not see the ring without remembering the soldier called to duty. It was such an honor this spring for the ring to be passed on to our grandson. The legacy will live on. The soldier will always be remembered.
