Chapter 1Dawn licked across the furrowed fields, capping the mounds of dusky earth in gold. They weren’t frozen yet in their winter sculpture, but soon. Temperatures in the Ohio River Valley had been below freezing for weeks, and reports said 1954 was going to end with a silent, icy scream. Everyone in town was already buckling down; Harvey Kramer saw it as just another winter to endure.
His bitter coffee scalded his tongue as he stood at the back door of his house and gazed out at the horizon. It was going to be a long day. He’d woken up at five-thirty, just like he’d done for the past twelve years, and it wasn’t until he was standing in the shower that he remembered he had the day off. Not by choice.
“I won’t have you working on the day we’re honoring what you’ve done for this country.
