Growing up on a dairy farm, John W. Peace II spent nearly all his time right beside his Papaw, Jimmie Galloway, the Captain of a B-17 bomber crew that flew enough missions to obtain membership in the Lucky Bastard Club (completing no fewer than 30 missions). As they milked the Holsteins, John heard the stories of life in their small coal mining town before, during, and after World War II. Blessed with the same storytelling talent as his Papaw, John Peace has masterfully compiled the entertaining and important stories he was told in A Boy from Crackers Neck.

The title is intended to introduce the small community Captain Jimmie Galloway grew up in, located in Virginia where the coal industry was booming but everyday life was slow and impoverished. It is a story about all those in his Papaw's life... family, friends, and comrades... whose experiences capture the essence of existence from a time when life was so harsh, it seemed to have no value, yet these are the stories that make us who we are today!

John Peace wrote this book from the stories he frequently heard by the members of the Greatest Generation. John says, "Whenever they started telling a story, it never occurred to me to interrupt and say, 'You've told me this before.' I was always mesmerized, just like someone watching a favorite movie or listening to a beloved song many times over." Hearing these stories was comforting as John found himself transported to a different time and era. John says, "The men who shared these stories loved telling and hearing them as much as this current generation enjoys their social media on their phones."

John Peace heard the stories he shares in A Boy from Crackers Neck so many times, he wrote them in a way that takes you there as if you are witnessing the events in real-time. John says, "Although I had to use some imagination to describe these experiences as if I was there, these stories were told so vividly, and so often, I assure you, everything you are reading is true to what I was told!"

In this book, you will meet many colorful and fascinating people including Papaw Jimmie's parents, brothers, schoolmates, neighbors, and fellow veterans. Throughout many of the chapters, John provides additional details and information in grey-shaded boxes that expand the story into the present. You will be entertained, educated, and much wiser as you take the opportunity to meet the Boy from Crackers Neck!