James Rada will join us at noon to discuss Chuck Caldwell, a local resident who fought at Guadalcanal and Tarawa. He was a well-known resident of the area who sculpted figurines or sports, military, music, and historical people. James is a bestselling local author who has written a number of books about the Civil War and WWII. His biography, Clay Soldiers: One Marine’s Story of War, Art, & Atomic Energy tells the story of Chuck Caldwell.

Charlene Briggs joins us at 1:00pm with a book reading and discussion from Letters to Lida, a war memoir based on 150 letters her father, B29 Tail Gunner S/Sgt David J. Lemal, wrote to his mother during WWII. Charlene is an environmental scientist and educator. She teaches Environmental Science at Temple University as an adjunct professor.

Local author, Leon Reed will discuss, Gettysburg and the Bulge in Fact and Memory: Five Soldiers’ Experience During and After America’s Two Greatest Battles. Leon is a retired U.S. Senate Aide, defense consultant, and history teacher. He lives in Gettysburg and is the co-author of A Combat Engineer with Patton’s Army: The Fight Across Europe with the Eightieth “Blue Ridge” Division in World War II. He is also the editor of Bulge Bugle, the quarterly magazine of the Battle of the Bulge Association.

Award-winning author and journalist Joseph David Cress will talk about his book series World War II Memories. During the presentation, Cress will share stories of Veterans who fought Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan. A full-time reporter for over 32 years, Cress is the author of ten books covering the topics of local history, true crime and World War II history.

Author talks will begin at noon and continue hourly. Authors will be available before and after to meet, discuss, and sign their books.