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Witten, who dedicated more than twenty years to the US Air Force, recounts his life journey from a poor upbringing in rural West Virginia to his military ventures and adulthood successes. After forty years in treacherous coal mines, Witten’s father retired with heart conditions and black lung disease. His mother, raising six children, endured but forgave his father’s recklessness and rages, while Witten attempted to ease his parents’ financial burdens with small jobs. Yet, Witten still enjoyed happy moments despite economic and social hardships, such as homemade toys, the county fair, and the New Orleans’ traveling Black circus. Witten succeeded academically and excelled in sports before enlisting in the US Air Force, leading him to a globetrotting and decorated military career. He eventually received the Bronze Star Medal. Unfortunately, Witten faced continued discrimination while earning higher education degrees after his military days. He laments the inequities and decline of today’s culture in the aftermath of 9/11 and the loss of his wife after fifty years.
Readers are given fascinating insights into coal mining culture and the coal miner’s grueling, punishing, and often deadly existence. However, Witten expresses gratitude for this background, acknowledging how it gave him the ethics, courage, and creativity to help him during his journey, a recurring theme in Witten’s book. At first, his memoir seems like a hefty read, but Witten includes several interesting supplemental materials. Photographs, newspaper clippings, letters, maps, diplomas, political opinions, and even a Rudyard Kipling poem fill many of its pages. Part memoir, part history book, Witten’s work touches on a multitude of topics regarding personal beliefs, recollections of failures and achievements, and historical events that shaped his worldview, the US, and the Appalachia region. This intriguing read may resonate with many.