KPC News Article on Michael McCoy.

Albion Man Publishes Books About Area Vets

By Dennis Nartker – [email protected]

Friday, 04 February 2011

ALBION — An Albion man has turned his interest in history and area veterans’ war stories into two five-star-rated hardbound books.

In 2005 Mike McCoy wrote and published “Bootprints,” the story of U.S. Army Sgt. Hobert Winbrenner’s experiences on the front lines in northern Europe during World War II. He followed that up in November last year by writing and publishing “Everytown, USA: From Main Street to the Front Lines,” with more true stories of area war veterans.

Both books have received five-star ratings by customers on Amazon.com.

Manny Liscum, a University of Missouri professor of history, said of McCoy’s latest book, “While one has to give McCoy credit for bringing these stories to life and having the passion to lead the charge to bring stories from other Everytowns across the country to light, it is the individuals and their experiences forming the narrative that are so compelling.”

McCoy owns and operates R.A. McCoy, Inc., a small machine shop in Albion, with his brother. Writing is a hobby. “It’s more enjoyable that way,” said the father of four, who grew up in Albion and graduated from Central Noble High School.

How did he go about writing the stories of area veterans? Why did he choose to publish his own books?

McCoy said he always enjoyed history. “My father was interested in history and genealogy. He read a lot of history, and we’d visit old cemeteries. He was my inspiration,” he said.

When asked why his specific interest involves veterans, McCoy said he read in a magazine in 2001 that about 1,500 World War II veterans were passing away each day.

“That got me to thinking. They have stories about that war, and there’s an urgency because those stories will soon be lost,” he said. McCoy was at the American Legion in Albion one day in 2001 when he learned about Winebrenner.

“When I met him, Hobert had not talked to anyone about his war experiences,” said McCoy. “At first, he didn’t want to talk to me, but we became friends, and I interviewed him many times over the next two years.”

In the 1950s and 1960s, Winebrenner had written down a lot about his experiences, and he had it still together when he talked to McCoy.

“He thought it was important to write it down for his family and so the guys who didn’t come back weren’t forgotten,” McCoy said.

That’s something McCoy discovered with the veterans he interviewed for both books. They thought more about their comrades-in-arms and those who gave their lives than their own contributions. “Bootprints” is full of photos and references to Winebrenners’ fellow soldiers, many of them killed in action.

When McCoy recently spoke at Oak Farm Montessori School about “Bootprints,” he reminded the upper elementary students — who each had a copy of the book — how important it was to remember World War II veterans, because they’ll be gone in the next 10 to 20 years.

Winebrenner served with the 358th Regiment, 90th Infantry Division, and saw action from his landing at Utah Beach in 1944 through the hedgerows of Normandy, the liberation of France, the Battle of the Bulge, the assault on Germany and the chaos in Czechoslovakia. He described to McCoy in graphic detail the foot soldier’s traumatic experiences on the battlefield. McCoy realized over time he had a story that should be told in book form.

McCoy talked to the families of soldiers in Winebrenner’s regiment and obtained photos from them for his book. He contacted the 90th Infantry Division historian, who sent him U.S. Army Signal Corps war photos from the National Archives.

In his spare time and with the blessing of his wife, Nikole, and their four children, McCoy went about publishing his first book. He had written several newspaper articles before, but didn’t know how to get his book published. One way was to send it to an online publisher, who would print it and then sell it to the author. That can cost a lot per copy, according to McCoy.

“I didn’t think a big publisher in New York would be interested in this, because it was about a local vet, so I decided to publish it myself,” he said.

McCoy formed his own publishing company called Camp Comamajo Press, had friends help him edit his manuscript and hired a proofreader to check it. He located a small printing company in Michigan and bought 3,000 copies. He markets “Bootprints” himself and sells copies through Amazon.com, Summer’s Stories in Kendallville and Albion Village Foods in Albion. His books also are available through his website, everytownusa.com.

“Everytown, USA” has 76 chapters, generally less than 10 pages in length, each giving an account of an area veteran — except for Gertrude Fulk, an Albion woman who spent 43 years establishing hospitals and schools in Haiti. Fulk’s sacrifice without self-interest is like the American soldiers’ tales in the book. McCoy published “Everytown,USA” himself, and like “Bootprint” it’s available at Amazon.com.

Among the veterans featured in “Everytown, USA,” is Scotty Greiling, a 1953 Kendallville High School graduate and U.S. Navy aviator whose aircraft went missing over North Vietnam during the Vietnam War. McCoy describes the remarkable events that led to Greiling being listed as missing-in-action to prisoner of war.