Charles Thomas Joyner, son of the Humble Hero, is a twelfth-generation Virginian. With his wife, Margaret Barron Joyner, he lives in Poquoson, Virginia, near the waters and wildlife of the Chesapeake Bay. He attended St. Paul’s High School, and Old Dominion and Christopher Newport Universities, where he majored in literature and history. He served in the Vietnam War and returned home a disabled veteran. After his military service, he enjoyed a career in the hospitality and food services industries, in entrepreneurial, executive, and managerial roles. Upon retirement, he conducted historic tours of Colonial Williamsburg, Yorktown, Jamestown, and Washington DC before writing this memoir of his beloved father. He is a strong supporter of veterans’ organizations and participated in the Honor Flight program, assisting World War II and Korean War veterans on Washington DC tours. Mr. Joyner is an active writer, penning commentaries and fictional pieces on his “Final Lap” Blogspot. Humble Hero is his first book.
Humble Hero
by Charles T. Joyner
Humble Hero
by Charles T. Joyner
Published Dec 04, 2018
270 Pages
Genre: BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Military
Book Details
Humble Hero Presents a Saga of Suffering, Survival, Love, and Deep Faith
Charles Robert began life as an orphan and a street ruffian before finding Catherine Lee, the love of his life, and shipping off to the army during World War II. In the Philippines, he suffered retreat and defeat in the Battle of Bataan and the infamous Bataan Death March. He was a prisoner of war at Camp O’Donnell and forced into slave labor until he made a daring escape from his Japanese captors. Joining guerrilla forces of Filipino and Allied insurgents, he battled the enemy until betrayed. Narrowly avoiding recapture, he spent more than a year lost and isolated in the remote jungles and mountains of northern Luzon. There he escaped headhunters, dangerous animals, and the enemy, while learning primitive survival skills. He rejoined the guerrilla forces, but because he suffered the effects of tropical diseases, hunger, and mental stress, he was medically evacuated in late 1944.
Relying on the hope of a merciful God and a faithful, loving wife, Charles Robert overcame incredible hardships and survived the Great Depression and World War II. Humble Hero is a memoir of one man’s difficult journey through life, finding his faith and a sixty-year love affair with his darling Catherine.